I am 31 years old. My grandfather had Parkinson’s disease. He died. My mom came down with it at age 51. I was 10 years old. She doesn’t shake like my grandfather did but she shuffles and now trips and falls. She is very resistant to using a wheelchair but she does have a walker. She also has narcolepsy that she has had since college. Her father also had that disease too. She recently fell and broke her femur.
One day I described in detail what a fall looked like to his neuro doc. The doc said, ah ha! That sounds like a narcoleptic episode. He consulted a sleep psychiatrist and they concluded it was worth trying the drug that is most often used for excessive daytime sleepiness for people with narcolepsy. He had to write a letter to justify it to the insurance company! This was our second miracle pill. My husband stopped falling! This would not help with loss of balance or general weakness or blood pressure drops -- it helped for this specific problem.
The doctor said it was as if his legs (and perhaps his whole body) fell asleep while he was walking. His brain didn't -- he was still conscious but he had limited control over his body.
Is your mother expected to recover fully and be able to walk again?
Since PD and LBD are related, and since Mom has officially the diagnosis of narcolepsy, I suggest bringing this up with her neuro doc. Is there anything for her narcolepsy that might help with the falling?
And yes, staying mobile as long as you can with PD makes caregiving easier and is better for the patient, all around.
If you have a ?? come back and ask it.