What to do when your loved one 'sees' things that are not there:
Be aware that these hallucinations are, to the Parkinson's person, non-threatening ie. They just NEED you, the Carer, to SEE what they are seeing. Now, this is the difficult part. You cannot tell them an outright lie, it sits badly with your perception of yourself as Caregiver, BUT you Can acknowledge that they are 'seeing' something - over there. The strange thing is though that once you the Carer, have acknowledged that there is something 'there', the person is satisfied that they are not going mad and seeing things, but that someone else (YOU) have acknowledged they 'see' something.
So, don't tell them they are 'seeing' things that are not there. Don't tell them that they are mad. Don't tell them that it is all in their head and that they are just imagining 'things'. All that is required from YOU is an acknowledgement that they are 'seeing' something 'over there' and then they will cease to be disturbed, relax and go back to whatever is happening around them.
This is strange, I know, and completely non-intuitive BUT it is what YOU need to do, Every time it happens :-) Your loved one Needs YOU and you are there! They then feel looked after and secure and will relax again.
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With my Don, I came to realize that I "needed" to accept that what he "saw" was, to him - real. Now, I know this is different, but Don used to "see" rats on the the walls and ceiling. It took me a while, with Don getting ever more agitated, for me to realize that he "needed" me to see what he saw. Now, he was graphically describing the actions of the rats in great details crawling along the high window sill, along the wall and up around the top of the bedroom door and up onto the ceiling, but after about the fifth time of him describing what he "saw", I realized that it Repeated, Repeated... Don actually Saw this happen, the same thing, again and again and again... he was not just repeating it. SO, after the fifth time I cottoned on and said, "Oh, yes look it is going there and pointed along the ??? path that the rats were taking (same repeat, repeat...), and Don then felt that I "saw" it too and then he was quite happy and simply went on to speak of something else entirely!! So, each time the various different hallucinations played out (we had a man who lived in our bathroom?) I realized that he simply Needed me to acknowledge what it was that he was seeing = one Happy Don! What more can we ask of our man :-)
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Do take them to their doctor, who will do a thorough background check into their history in order to rule out any other conditions which could cause hallucinations, delusions or paranoia (feelings of being followed or beliefs that you are going to be harmed in some unforeseen way). Things your doctor will look for are imbalances in the chemicals in blood that help to control the levels of water in the body and transmitting nerve impulses. Other infections such as those of the kidney and liver or lung failure can also cause mental disturbances.
The side effects of some of the medications used in the treatment of Parkinson's can also cause mental disturbances, with some medications being more likely to cause problems than others. In patients who are affected in this way by their medication then their doctor will probably recommend switching to a different form of medication.
Patients who are affected but who cannot easily accept changes in their medication without it causing problems with their motor skills symptoms might be better treated with anti-psychotic medications.
Older neuroleptics such as Melleril and Haldol have been known to worsen motor skill symptoms and other alternatives can now be used such as Zyprexa, Seroquel and Clozaril.
These are all known to control hallucinations effectively without worsening the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The downside is that there will be a 2% chance that there will be a drop in the white blood cell count and frequent blood testing will be required.
Be aware that these hallucinations are, to the Parkinson's person, non-threatening ie. They just NEED you, the Carer, to SEE what they are seeing. Now, this is the difficult part. You cannot tell them an outright lie, it sits badly with your perception of yourself as Caregiver, BUT you Can acknowledge that they are 'seeing' something - over there. The strange thing is though that once you the Carer, have acknowledged that there is something 'there', the person is satisfied that they are not going mad and seeing things, but that someone else (YOU) have acknowledged they 'see' something.
So, don't tell them they are 'seeing' things that are not there. Don't tell them that they are mad. Don't tell them that it is all in their head and that they are just imagining 'things'. All that is required from YOU is an acknowledgement that they are 'seeing' something 'over there' and then they will cease to be disturbed, relax and go back to whatever is happening around them.
This is strange, I know, and completely non-intuitive BUT it is what YOU need to do, Every time it happens :-) Your loved one Needs YOU and you are there! They then feel looked after and secure and will relax again.
---------
With my Don, I came to realize that I "needed" to accept that what he "saw" was, to him - real. Now, I know this is different, but Don used to "see" rats on the the walls and ceiling. It took me a while, with Don getting ever more agitated, for me to realize that he "needed" me to see what he saw. Now, he was graphically describing the actions of the rats in great details crawling along the high window sill, along the wall and up around the top of the bedroom door and up onto the ceiling, but after about the fifth time of him describing what he "saw", I realized that it Repeated, Repeated... Don actually Saw this happen, the same thing, again and again and again... he was not just repeating it. SO, after the fifth time I cottoned on and said, "Oh, yes look it is going there and pointed along the ??? path that the rats were taking (same repeat, repeat...), and Don then felt that I "saw" it too and then he was quite happy and simply went on to speak of something else entirely!! So, each time the various different hallucinations played out (we had a man who lived in our bathroom?) I realized that he simply Needed me to acknowledge what it was that he was seeing = one Happy Don! What more can we ask of our man :-)
---------
Do take them to their doctor, who will do a thorough background check into their history in order to rule out any other conditions which could cause hallucinations, delusions or paranoia (feelings of being followed or beliefs that you are going to be harmed in some unforeseen way). Things your doctor will look for are imbalances in the chemicals in blood that help to control the levels of water in the body and transmitting nerve impulses. Other infections such as those of the kidney and liver or lung failure can also cause mental disturbances.
The side effects of some of the medications used in the treatment of Parkinson's can also cause mental disturbances, with some medications being more likely to cause problems than others. In patients who are affected in this way by their medication then their doctor will probably recommend switching to a different form of medication.
Patients who are affected but who cannot easily accept changes in their medication without it causing problems with their motor skills symptoms might be better treated with anti-psychotic medications.
Older neuroleptics such as Melleril and Haldol have been known to worsen motor skill symptoms and other alternatives can now be used such as Zyprexa, Seroquel and Clozaril.
These are all known to control hallucinations effectively without worsening the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The downside is that there will be a 2% chance that there will be a drop in the white blood cell count and frequent blood testing will be required.