Someone suggested Benedryl for drooling. The Dr at the VA in Reno said to never take it because can cause problems when taken with Parkinson medicine.
The speech and swallowing therapist Marie Sterkel at the VA hospital in Reno really helped my husband with both speech and swallowing.
With swallowing she said we all have the same amount of saliva but in people with Parkinson they do not swallow enough and it pools in their mouth. She said to try swallowing more often. If my husband is watching TV to try swallowing at all the commercials. Try to figure out a system to make yourself swallow or the caregiver can tell you to swallow every so often. It has really helped my husband. He seldom drools even at night on the pillow now. She said this will help for a long time. The swallowing test also showed that my husband has a very narrow throat and that is what has been causing him swallowing problems. The food would not all empty out each time he swallowed. She taught him how to hold his head and swallow so that the food will empty out each time instead of sticking in his throat.
With speech she taught us exercises to make his voice stronger so that people will be able to hear him. That has helped immensely as well. Marie Sterkel is incredible, taking time and showing pictures every step of the way so you will understand.
It is true about watching your eyes with the medicine for Parkinson. I thought my husband could see perfect but because of the suggestions on this list I asked them to check his eyes. It turned out that he has large cataract on both eyes. They were going to operate on him two weeks ago but he got a viral infection in one eye. This has already scared that eye. We are still putting in drops every hour. This is making his walking more difficult because it makes his vision blurry. I just wasn't looking for something to come from this direction.
