Parkinson's and sleeplessness (father, facility, mother)

[firebll31]

My father is currently in a rehab facility. He has Parkinson's disease and an illness caused his symptoms to become less controllable. We are working to get his strength back so he can come back home. My mother has had to hire private sitters to stay with him through the night so she can sleep because he has insomnia and hallucinations. He tries to get out of bed sometimes during these episodes and we are afraid of falls. We have tried several medications, but Trazadone made it worse and Vicodin made him unresponsive. He also has severe back pain for which he uses a Durogesic patch, and diabetes. Has anyone found an effective med to reduce the hallucinations and induce sleep? We can't bring him home until we get these symptoms under control.

[WellShoneMoon]

Please be aware that every Parkinson's patient is different, and what works (for a while) for some may be useless in others, or worse, cause different bad side effects. In addition, your father has an unnamed illness and is taking other medications. You don't say what Parkinson's meds he's taking -- some of those can cause hallucinations. And insomnia is a very common symptom of Parkinson's. My husband, who has Parkinson's, sleeps perfectly well during the day but has an awful time trying to sleep at night.

Is your father being treated by a neurologist? If so, have you asked the neurologist about these issues?

Very smart of your mother to hire private sitters to stay with him through the night. There are lots of issues associated with Parkinson's that you cannot improve -- the best you can do is figure out ways to deal with them. To prevent my husband from trying to get out of bed at night and falling (he can't walk and is wheelchair dependent, but sometimes he forgets that little detail), I put heavy dining room chairs up against his side of the bed at night. It's cheaper than buying bed railings.

[ocnjgirl]

I agree to talk to his neuro. If he is on Sinemet or similar for his Parkinson's, hallucinations are a common side effect and it's possible he needs an adjustment.

[firebll31]

He is taking Sinemet, and is at the maximum dosage. When we try to reduce it, the muscle twitches and spasms increase to where he can't stand it. His strength is pretty good, he can use a walker and get up with minimal help. Mom has a hospital bed with rails and we are moving his room to the other end of the house where he will be close to kitchen, living room and bathroom. He was hospitalized initially for a UTI and has a catheter until we can get to the urologist on the 24th. He just went to the neuro a week ago, and he cut the Sinemet back and started the Trazadone which made everything worse. He sleeps a lot during the day then has hallucinations that keep him up at night. He also takes Azilect, and I am not sure what other Parkinson's meds he has tried. He and Mom were doing well on their own until a month ago when everything suddenly went downhill.
Add to this that they are hoarders, and we are having to do some major cleaning just to move his room and make it safe for him to move around, and for a sitter to come stay at night. My sisters and I have all approached them in the past to help get things organized and been turned away. It's only now that we have reached a crisis that they are willing to accept help and try to change things. It's very overwhelming, as my sisters live far away and I work. Trying to clean their house, go to doctor's appointments, support Mom when she is down, sit with Dad when she has errands to run, keep my own household going and work is exhausting. My husband has been a great help, but he is starting his own business and preparing for a major move. So I am dealing with that too. If we could just get these nighttime problems under control, I would feel like we are making progress. Between hallucinations he is very lucid and aware of these "episodes". He keeps asking if he is going crazy, which gets him agitated, then the Parkinson's symptoms worsen...it's a vicious cycle.