Unexplained extreme heat sensation + chills + internal tremors in 80-year-old female - temporarily improves after levodopa
I’m trying to figure out a really strange symptom pattern my 80-year-old mom has been dealing with for months.
She has episodes of alternating sensations where she feels intensely hot or like her body is burning, and very cold with chills and internal shaking. Her actual temperature is usually normal when this happens. At first it was mostly later in the day, but now it can happen in the morning too. She can barely sleep at night.
She has Parkinson’s, but her movement symptoms are actually fairly mild. What really confuses me is that the only thing that seems to consistently give her relief is her carbidopa/levodopa. She takes IR + CR together four times a day, and after a dose she usually feels much better for about 1–2 hours. She also gets very sleepy and often sleeps during that time. Then the symptoms gradually come back. Needless to say, her quality of life drastically deteriorated.
She also has diabetes, vascular issues, an L3 compression fracture with spinal stenosis, and recently low sodium, so there are obviously several possible causes and I don’t know what is connected to what anymore.
I’m especially wondering if anyone with Parkinson’s has experienced burning, chills, internal shaking, or abnormal hot/cold sensations as an OFF symptom or autonomic symptom, especially if levodopa helped temporarily. Or if this is some crazy nervous system disorder. Her primary doctor, Neuro, Parkinson's specialist, etc. all seem to be confused.
If you’ve seen anything like this, I’d really appreciate hearing what it turned out to be and what helped.