How to manage tremor, insomnia and depression associated with Parkinson’s disease?

  Parkinson’s disease is a common degenerative disease of the nervous system, prevalent in the elderly, with an average age of onset of about 60 years, and less common in young people with Parkinson’s disease starting under the age of 40. So, how to deal with tremor, insomnia and depression associated with Parkinson’s disease? The following is a description of the management of tremor, insomnia and depression associated with Parkinson’s disease: 1. Management of action tremor Tremor in patients with Parkinson’s disease is usually resting. It is manifested by involuntary tremors of the limbs or trunk when they are stationary, and the tremor is reduced or disappears when they move or change their posture. However, a small number of patients have a combination of motor tremor, which occurs when the limb moves or in certain postures. The resting tremor disappears after the application of anti-Parkinson’s disease drugs, but the tremor is present again when the limb moves or in a certain posture. In this case, if the symptoms are severe, you can consider adding a beta-blocker – Takayasu or Almare. Pay attention to your blood pressure and pulse during the application process. You need to have a blood pressure of no less than 90/60 mmHg and a pulse of no less than 60 beats per minute.  2, the treatment of insomnia Insomnia is not a symptom specific to Parkinson’s disease, anyone may exist, especially in the elderly is more common, its causes are multifaceted, but there are two cases of insomnia associated with Parkinson’s disease need to be noted. One is when the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are poorly controlled due to insufficient amounts of anti-Parkinson’s drugs, which can lead to difficulty falling asleep or waking up early. For example, poorly controlled tremor often leads to difficulty falling asleep. And during sleep, muscle stiffness leads to difficulty in turning over on one’s own or limb spasms, often causing the patient to wake up early. If this is the case, the amount or type of anti-Parkinson’s disease medication should be increased to control the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Another condition is psychiatric symptoms caused by an overdose of anti-Parkinson’s disease medications, such as levodopa, dopamine agonists or amantadine, which may cause insomnia. If this is the case, you can reduce the amount of medication you take at night. However, this must be approved by the physician, and the principle of medication reduction is that the later added medication is reduced first. If the effect of all the above treatments is not good, you can use some sleeping pills to help sleep appropriately under the guidance of your doctor. For example, tricyclic drugs, benzodiazepines and chloral hydrate can be used for those who have difficulty falling asleep; for those who wake up early in the middle of the night, tricyclic drugs or clonidine can be used.  3, the treatment of depression and anxiety We often see Parkinson’s disease patients with serious expressions, rarely smiling, depressed, not easy to control their emotions, easy to shed tears. In watching television when encountering some slightly touching scenes will be full of tears, in real life a little aggravation will also be sad. This is more common in those patients with predominantly rigid, bradykinetic movements, and less common in those with significant tremor. Patients and family members may rarely realize that the patient is actually in a state of depression, or in severe cases, comorbid depression!  According to studies, about 25-61% of patients with Parkinson’s disease are accompanied by depressive symptoms. The causes are twofold. The first is psychogenic, meaning that the patient is depressed because he or she is overly worried about his or her disease. The first is psychogenic, meaning that the depressed mood is caused by excessive worry about the disease. This condition tends to decrease or disappear as the symptoms improve with treatment. The other condition is somatic, in which the patient’s mood does not improve or even worsens even though the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease have improved significantly, which requires antidepressant treatment. At present, the clinical treatment of depression in patients with Parkinson’s disease is mostly carried out with the use of “Bacitracin”, which has a good effect and also helps to relieve the symptoms of hypermobility. Of course, patients should consult with their doctors whether they need to use the medication.