How to soothe and reassure a PD patient?

Please take the speech therapist seriously! Regardless of how well he is doing eating. Have them perform a swallow evaluation in which he is scanned while he drinks and eats. My dad had Aspirated Pneumonia. The speech pathologist suggested the swallow evaluation, but at that time he dismissed it because he was doing so good with the suggestions the speech therapist gave him. He should still do one anyways. My dad did so well with the suggestions we didn't get any swallowing evaluation, he choked on some soup, that was the downturn of his health. He died 3 weeks later.

Edit: A fever of 104 degrees is typically considered a medical *emergency.*

MaryBX: This post of your's was only available to me today, which was four days after you had posted it. That said, a fever of 104 degrees is typically considered a medical emergeny, especially with an individual with Parkinson's Disease.

My husband was first diagnosed 2003. For the hallucinations talk to his neurologist about Nuplazid. My husband had extreme ones and this medication is designed specifically for people with hallucinations specifically related to Parkinson's Disease. It made a night and day difference. Also if your dad only has a general neurologist ask about being referred to a movement specialist. My husband made such significant progress with the movement specialist that his neurologist has deferred primary care to that dr. and we only go to the general neuro. every 6 months. The movement specialist made medication adjustments that also contributed to his improvement.
I also suggest that you look into connecting with Parkinson's Resource Organization. The group is run by a wonderful lady named Jo Rosen whose husband passed away from PD . They are based in Palm Springs,CA but have great highly informational virtual meetings. Some specifically for caregivers and others for person with PD and caregiver and others with guest speakers.Also the website has excellent info and resources. Due to Covid-19 the inperson group meetings became virtual meetings and have allowed for people to gather and share from all over the country. We have learned that PD affects people in so many different ways. PRO has helped us learn alot.
www.parkinsonsresource.org

As for the high fever talk to your dad's primary care dr. it could be due to an undiagnosed UTI which is common for older people. A few years back my husband spiked a fever of 107 and one reason was due to dehydration and an undiagnosed UTI( urinary tract infection)

Hope this helps.

The high temp likely created the issues you saw. Need to find the source of a fever. Infection of some kind.

BACK RUBS !! AND warm chocolate milk with thick cream -- if he will not choke.. on it-- soft chocolate chip cookies... is what calmed down my father...
104 is way too hot-- an ice pack on the back of the neck .... a Tylenol for pain-- nothing stronger-- if you cannot get it down his gullet-- crush it and put in chocolate pudding. Herb tea-- sleepy time-- with a wedge of lemon--- and more back rubs... talk softly and tell him how much he is loved... even reading from the Psalms are good... also---- rubbing the abdomen area will make for a bowel movement which could also bring relief... bad breath says he was not digesting something heavy he ate-- in the evening-- if this is a more than often occurrence-- do chicken soup made with mushy brown rice-- make brown rice with 4 cups of water to one cup of brown rice-- then heat up two cups of mushy brown rice plus a can of good health food chicken soup add celery and maybe mushrooms. red onions will purify the blood. Organic apple sauce will also help with great sleep... Good luck. God bless your Dad.

please call dr, My Moms med for depression/anxiety gave her re-occuring hallucinations with severe confusion and denial, called me dads name etc. Once med was stopped all better. I would tell her they were dreams, tc, prayers

CALL 911

Panic does not induce fever. If he is on psychiatric medications he may be having a reaction to them...OR he has an infection. Get him to the hospital IMMEDIATELY for evaluation and treatment. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a life-threatening idiosyncratic reaction to antipsychotic drugs; symptoms include fever, altered mental status, muscle rigidity, and inability to control breathing. It is a medical emergency.

Of course he could also have COVID, or some other infection.

well with a fever of 104, i would have called 911......it sounds like he has an infection going on which would cause the sweating, pain, etc. Now if he didn't have the high fever........maybe some soothing music, calming words. wishing you luck.

Something is going on - infection of some sort - as well as his PD. A temperature of 104 is alarming. Please take him an ER/ED.

So a little update!
My daddy was taken to the hospital around 9:30 am yesterday morning. We put him in a room alone and I was able to stay with him. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, he had all the symptoms although I didn't detail in the first post. He is very very weak but he was able to sleep a little bit. He is normally in hospital for a month, depending on how his condition progresses.
He had a softer fever, he was 101 ° F, he no longer had hallucinations but he stills exhausted. He does manage to talk a little anyway, but it tires him, he is mostly drowsy, he is on oxygen and they have given him an IV for water and food.

He would like the children to come by and see him and I feel that he would really like that. But I'm afraid his condition will impress them and it will hurt him afterwards. What do you think ?

The doctors are pretty positive, they think he will be okay with the right medications and that the pneumonia was taken on time, which worried him when I read your answers. They're going to try and get him to gain weight at the same time because he's not that thick for sure.

To tell the truth I am completely lost and the speech of the doctor of the last night does not correspond at all with that of the doctors of the hospital ... if he had to speak to me about pneumonia it is certain that he would go to the hospital before ... anyway. I'll try to calm him down a bit and help him fall asleep before I go to bed too. It’s really reassuring to be able to sleep with him.
Mary

Very glad to hear your dad is at the hospital, has a diagnosis, and is being treated. Anything that stresses a person with PD can exacerbate the PD symptoms, both motor and non-motor symptoms such as hallucinations. Stressors could include infection, being overheated, too much exercise, mental stress over something, etc. Anxiety is pretty common in Parkinson's, and if your dad was already prone to anxiety attacks, the Parkinson's can certainly add to that. My husband with PD has had pneumonia twice now, and both times he first had a fever which greatly exacerbated his Parkinson's symptoms--in his case affecting his ability to walk or even move in the bed. (His fever wasn't as high as your dad's.) You mention the pneumonia is Parkinson's related; I presume you mean they think it's aspiration pneumonia. If your Dad hasn't yet had a swallowing ealuaton, it's well worth getting one and then working with a speech therapist on safe swallowing techniques, ways to strengthen the swallowing process, and modifiations that might be needed in his food.

Oh dear, my dad died from PD related illnesses, but seriously a fever of 104 is way more than a panic attack. He may have a UTI and be slipping into sepsis. He really should be in the ER getting evaluated. If you haven't already, please call 911. He needs care urgently.

A fever in an elder of over 101 is considered life-threatening.

104? He could start seizing and there could be brain damage. Nothing to play around with.

My dad had PD and he also had panic attacks. When mother discovered that his behavior was that of a panic attack and they'd medicate for it, he was much happier and more easily dealt with.

Do not worry about addiction in this case. But please get your dad to a dr. Something is going on.

Must have an ambulance associated with a hospital. Not so with ours. They are part of our Fire Depts and there are no doctors on sight just EMTs.

Panic attacks and fevers have nothing whatsoever to do with one another. Your father is likely very ill. He could have pneumonia or UTI. Call 911 for transport to hospital ER today. His hallucinations could be coming from the fever. And the fever indicates INFECTION, not mental disorder. Get to the hospital TODAY and without delay. Hope you will update us and good luck.

I wont speculate about fever.

So what I did because hallucinations are bad at night is set a TV timer, no TV after 11:15 pm when the obits play on the nightly news. I make sure she gets meds around 11 because the narco will knock her out but I have enough time to toilet. The tv stays off til 7 am but in reality, she is no longer up until about 8.

Then I bought a weighted blanket higher quality so a few hundred dollars, which is suggested for security during an attack (I have one for myself too and maybe it is mental on my part but it seems to work). I also bought her a cheap bamboo cooling blanket from Amazon for just under $40 for the heat.

Is your father receiving medical care?

104 degree fever is generally an indication of an infection.

I think the most important thing to do, is concentrate on getting his fever down, as a fever that high will cause delirium in a person,(which can cause hallucinations and of course sweating) so first you must work on getting the fever lowered, with Tylenol, putting cold cloths on forehead, and underarms. Also remove as much clothing as he will allow so his body can cool down, as a fever that high is very dangerous.
I believe that once his fever lowers, his anxiety and everything will/should return to his normal.

All other factors notwithstanding, I’d be calling an ambulance immediately for a fever of 104°.

I would suggest to him (and to myself) that trained medical help (hopefully the ambulance team) would have the expertise to make him more comfortable, assess his immediate needs, and act on them.

Hoping that he’s ready for follow-up and that he’s feeling much better this morning.