A list of mom’s symptoms (not every symptom of LBD, just mom’s):
- Tenderness and extreme stiffness of muscles – the first symptom
- Oxybutynin patch reaction – stroke-like symptoms and near coma – hospitalized
- Shuffling gait – inability to “unglue” feet from the floor
- Lack of balance – lack of sense of where she is spatially
- Falls – falls without attempting to catch herself
- Sensitivity to painkillers – cause confusion and interrupted sleep
- Cognitive issues – time of day, how to read clocks, etc.
- Benadryl reaction – causes confusion and lethargy
- Anesthetic reaction – weakness, confusion, extreme lethargy, sleepiness
- Very slow movements (bradykinesia) – slow putting on glasses, feeding herself, moving her feet
- Hallucinations – she sees people and things that aren’t there, asks if they have left yet – mostly visitors or relatives around the house
- Delusions (reduplicative paramnesia + others) – thinks there are two of things – two of me, two houses, two bedrooms – thinks we live in her old home town – confuses things on TV with real life
- Visual acuity – has trouble reading, complains of not being able to see, despite eye tests and glasses being perfect
- Excessive salivation – she’s complained about this a long time
- Constant headache – mostly caused by motion – in head and neck and shoulders – for the last six months
- Trouble swallowing – holds liquids in her mouth, chokes easily
- Spinal lean – she can’t sit up without leaning to the right
- Temperature fluctuation – nighttime sweats when she used to be cold all the time
- Low voice volume – on very bad days, she whispers
- And ALL of these fluctuate – she has good days, bad days, good hours and bad hours
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