Panic attacks and anxiety
Hi there,
I am just curious if someone can help me with my thoughts. My Dad is 76 and is in late stage Parkinsons. He can still walk, talk and do the odd things like picking up food but requires 24/7 care and help with most day to day tasks.
I am his primary carer and look after him day and night at the moment. One of the things that wears me out a bit (I hope I don't sound horrible for saying that) is that he is in his "off period" he absolutely insist on immediately going for a walk around the house or going to the toilet and gets visibly distraught and keeps mentioning it constantly until we take him. 90% of the time this is not an issue but sometimes it can be really frequent like every 10 minutes which can get really exhausting as I am not only having to constantly get him up and down but am also getting up and down to do other things so sometimes I don't have half an hour to sit down in a day.
What I have come to notice is that the distress, pain and anxiety seem to vanish or at least subside as soon as we get him up for his walk or like when he is sitting on the toilet. I used to suffer from panic disorder myself when I was younger and I remember how I always wanted to leave wherever I was whenever I had them and would freak out until I could leave the room/place (proper fight or flight).
So I am starting to wonder if these episodes aren't so much that he is in a huge amount of pain but is more a bit if pain and discomfort but mostly just the pill withdrawal causing a huge wave of anxiety. Knowing which it is could really help me with working out how best to help him. I have spoke to his Specialist and Nurses about this but sadly their answer is always to just change pills but I wondered if it is anxiety whether I could use some of my experience to help him a bit.
Thanks in advance for an replies.