Hi and welcome to our forum, @brands. Yours is a detailed and interesting report of how you’ve seen your symptoms progress. Everyone here is very supportive and I’m sure they will want to talk to you very soon.
I’m very sorry that you’re facing these issues at very young age and that your symptoms have become more and more pronounced and challenging over the years. This can’t be easy for you but you’ve come to the right place to talk about this.
First, it’s extremely important to know that the only person who can diagnose Parkinson’s is a specialist and you can certainly start with your GP and go from there. People with essential tremor have an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s, but not all do and there are some distinct differences that your healthcare team can explain to you or you can investigate online, if you haven’t already done so. We do have an older thread on this forum that could be useful: Parkinson's or Essential Tremor diagnosis. There’s some good advice there on second opinions too. I’d strongly encourage you to book a GP appointment as soon as you can to get your questions answered. Whether or not you have Parkinson’s, there’s definitely good reason to find out what’s going on and how this can be treated.
There’s a great section about diagnosis on our website: Do I have Parkinson's?. Read through the different subsections and you’ll learn more about how Parkinson’s is diagnosed.
Finally, our helpline advisers are there to talk to you about your concerns and support you while you wait for some answers, Ring them on 0808 800 0303.
I do hope that you let us know how things go with the doctor, Brandon.
Janice
Forum Moderation Team