My Cousin Is 60 Years Old. Her Symptoms Include Burning

Brief Answer:
Symptoms are certainly consistent with form of psychosis

Detailed Answer:
Good morning. I'm very to hear your cousin is experiencing such problems.

The spectrum of symptoms you have delineated seem to point very strongly toward a psychogenic underlying cause which could be anything from severe depression, anxiety, hallucinatory spells, and psychosis. For everything she's had to deal with in a relatively short amount of time it does seem likely that she really should speak with a counselor or therapist and even psychiatrist who can do appropriate testing and come to a clinical decision regarding interventional methods which would likely include the use of medications. You mention that she is not compliant with medications that have been given to her (tranquilizers), however, her psychoses may require different approaches that will recruit her into the concept that certain medications can actually help her get a better hold of these situations and calm down her paranoia and fears of things/people around her.

A neuropsychological evaluation at first (before seeing a psychiatrist) may be very useful.

I would also encourage a medical workup to check for things such as thyroid and other related hormonal levels since some of the symptoms you mention could be triggered by low or imbalanced hormonal levels. I would also check her Vitamin B12 and D levels carefully. She may not be eating very well or hydrating properly with these sorts of symptoms and that in itself can cause cognitive, hallucinatory, and other physical problems that may appear to be psychological or psychiatric but can be remedied with something simple as being well nourished and hydrated.

It remains to be seen if the feelings on the top of her head are really representative of headaches (they don't sound migrainous except for the TV sounds being too loud...PHONOPHOBIA) which could very well be STRESS or PSYCHOLOGICALLY INDUCED.

The other part of the story having to do with her cognitive dysfunction and paranoia have to do with a question as to whether or not she could be showing any signs of PARKINSONISMS.....not PARKINSON'S disease....but rather PARKINSONISMS, some tremulousness in the hand or hands, perhaps a hunched posture while walking, a slowness or stiffness to the joints that makes her appear as if it she's not able to move her limbs or trunk as fluidly or agilely as before.....change in her gait (how she walks)....Have you seen any of these symptoms appear? As a neurologist I'm always vigilant for this type of picture when I hear the psychiatric part of a patient's story (which usually precedes the parkinsonisms by a period of months to years) because there is an entity known as LEWY BODY DISEASE or LEWY BODY DEMENTIA that she may be at risk for and perhaps showing signs of but only in the context of also demonstrating PARKINSONISMS or at least by neurological testing showing signs of parkinsonian features that may be in their earliest stages.

If I've provided useful or helpful information to your questions could you do me the utmost of favors in not forgetting to close the query along with a few POSITIVE words of feedback and maybe even a 5 STAR rating if you feel it is deserving? I am definitely interested in getting updated information on how things are going in the next few weeks if you'd drop me a line at www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi

You can always reach me at that address for this or other questions. I wish you the best with everything and hope this information does help you.

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