Recently my MIL started having a stiff back upon waking up for the day. She has no flexibility whatsoever. It takes me a while to get her into a sitting position. She is pretty much non-verbal except for her scripts, so she could not tell me if she was in pain. Has anybody else encountered this? This is not every day, just on occasion.

Has anyone mentioned ataxia? My dad had that, and it was impossible for him to bend over, reach down, pivot the top half of his body at all, etc. because his whole core was so stiff. I don't think it was painful but it made most ADLs impossible. Then again, his ability to experience and communicate pain was all mixed up. When he should have been in pain he said he wasn't, then in the end every body part seemed to be extremely sensitive and painful so he was on a lot of morphine. Thank goodness for the morphine!
I'd report this to the dr. in case there is something they may be able to do. Good luck, Lynn

Does she take Sinemet or another levodopa compound? I has made a world of difference for my husband over the years. Movement is very difficult for him, now, even with the Sinemet but he would have been totally immobile years ago without it. His neuro has increased it several times.

This sort of extreme rigidity is very common in a similar disorder, PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy). What those in our local PSP support group do is leave the person in bed or reclined as much as possible. There is something called a "geri chair" that allows for this sort of reclining position. Many use a Hoyer lift to move the person from bed to a reclined chair.

My father was mute the last 18 months or so of his life. The last several months he was unable to communicate at all -- no eyelid blinks, no squeezing hands, no fingers, no foot movement. We used expressions on his face and the color of his face to determine if he was in pain or not.

Robin, that must have been very upsetting!.