Hello!
I am so happy and it’s a relief to have this website to ask all my questions about Parkinson's and being a caregiver.
Anyway my dad had a panic attack last night, due to heat, tiredness, pain and anxiety. He had a fever of 104°F and he was so so anxious, he was paining very much, was sweating, his breath was quite bad and he had some hallucinations. So what could be the tips to sooth and reassure him during those moments?
Thanks for your kind help,
Mary
I am really sorry for your husband. It must be so hard, seeing people we love so ill is really heartbreaking.
PD is really an awful disease and he is paining so so much because of it. Yes it’s an aspiration pneumonia. He start seeing a speech therapist a year ago twice a week and it helps him a lot. But now he should see him four times a week when he will be out the hospital.
Mary
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
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.
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.
Actually we did call the an ambulance and a doctor was there and he said it was due to heat, tiredness and the hallucinations to his medications...
He is feeling tired of course but much better. But I will call his doctor and try to get an appointment as soon as I can. I am really anxious about it.
Thanks for your help !
Mary
I believe that once his fever lowers, his anxiety and everything will/should return to his normal.
I won’t forget to update us.
Thanks
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