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How do I get my wife with Parkinson's disease to take her medication?

A fellow caregiver asked...

My wife has Parkinson's for 12 years, she recently had her 3rd stroke, sleeps 90% of the time. She is not eating only a couple of bites at each meal. She does not swallow her meds and keeps them in her mouth. We have given her applesauce, pudding and ice cream in an effort to get her meds down, but this is not working. I would appreciate suggests.

Expert Answer

Graham A. Glass, MD, is the co-founder of PEAK Neurology and Sleep Medicine, LLC with multiple locations across Alaska. Previously, he was deputy director of the San Francisco Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Care Center PADRECC and assistant clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Glass received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at the San Antonio School of Medicine and completed his neurology residency at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He subsequently completed a fellowship in movement disorders at the Mayo Clinic.

This sounds like a very difficult situation in which the Parkinson's and stroke are interacting. I would reccomend that you meet with a speech pathologist who can check to see if her ability to swallow is still fully intact. If so, this represents a very difficult situation in which one may need to determine if she is getting enough nutrition overall and how to address those needs in addition to the medications. Hopefully her neurologist or primary care doctor can help pursue specific options. Sorry to not have a great solution for this very difficult problem.