My father, who has Parkinson's disease, has been experiencing sundown syndrome. Is this normal or a side effect of a medication?

5 answers | Last updated: Jan 20, 2011

My Father was diagnosed with Parkinson's five years ago, within the last few months, he has shown signs of sundown syndrome. During these episodes, he is very agitated and confused(very paranoid) worried something is going on, that he does not know about. Can you tell me if the paranoid behavior is side affects from meds, and what can I do do calm him down? I have tried talking calmly, sitting him down, this also is wearing on my mother.

drew2010

drew2010 said...

I feel for you, as I am experiencing the same thing. My father was diagnosed 5yrs ago also, he is 86. He is to the point now where he gets See also:
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See all 113 questions about Parkinson's Disease up during the day for a few minutes at a time, then wants to go back to bed because he complains of his back hurting him. Then at night he gets up at all hours of the night looking for my mom who sleeps in another room. At times he gets agitated and moody, he also wants his wallet and his money but my mom hesitates to let him have it because he misplaces it and that agitates him even more. It is a vicious cycle.His Dr. did say that the meds could cause some of his side effects and since we have to keep changing his meds and dosage we are hoping a combination of these two will help. It is very hard on my mom and we are trying to figure out how we can help her without removing him from her care.

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ELAINEJ

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ELAINEJ said...

HI MY HUSBAND HAD BEEN DOING THIS ALSO WE WENT TO HIS DR AND IT WAS ONE OF HIS MEDS PLEASE HAVE THAT CHECKED OUT, ELAINE

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drew2010

drew2010 said...

Thanks Elaine, We took my father off of his meds and he is very responsive, it is like he did a 180.

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ELAINEJ

ELAINEJ said...

SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT IT IS HARD ENOUGH TO CARE FOR THE PD AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS OTHER STUFF, GOOD LUCK ELAINE

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SandwichINK

SandwichINK said...

My senior dad experienced this during his last few months after he entered the end stage of Parkinsons Disease and hospice. It was primarily due to a new medication he got in the hospital - I believe it was called Haldol. They changed him to risperadol and that made a tremendous difference. It's definitely worthy checking into the medication as I've heard that from several other sources too, and not just Parkinsons.

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