Hello everyone,
I am Alan and I’m 70 years old. Early this year I noticed that I was “hesitating” whilst walking both indoors and out - my feet seemingly glued to the ground whilsy my legs wanted to move on, I also noticed that my writing was getting smaller especially at the end of sentences or paragraphs and that my speech seemed to be becoming quieter. Only the walking problem made me suspect I may be developing symptoms of Parkinsons - until I started to research this online. and discovered that my writing and speech could also be symptoms. I saw my GP who agreed that they amy be early signs of Parkinons. I was then referred to a neurologist who saw me n April. Her initial diagnosis was " probable early Parkinson’s disease" - although she said I could start to take medication, I wanted to hold off and see how things developed. She gave me the name of a specialist Parkinsons nurse and I have since been seen and well supported by several members of the Neuro Rehabilitation team who have been to assess my walking and exercises, my cooking, my writing, my memory/cognition and my speech - some of these were at my request as some of these issues are compounded for me due to having wet macular degeneration affecting my vision and diabetes type 2. My speech is fine, my ffod prep and cooking is fine, my memory is good for my age (over 70% average) and my writing is better than I thought it was. My walking and “freezing” is my main issue but exercise and preparation is helping. Now this all adds up to early stage Parkinsons I believe so my question is about medication. As I already take several tablets (5 different ones daily) I would like to ask you about dopamine supplements and natural sources (foods). I know that there are many such supplements on the market and that some foods are a natural source of dopamien like avocados, braod beans and oily fish and i have also been told about the LIon’s Mane fungus used as a powder to sprinkle into soups and stews. I know that health professionals are wary of recommending alternative medicines but what do people think ? has anyone had any experience of these. I want to be as pro-active about preventing or reducing and postponing symptoms . Thank you for reading this and I look forward to hearing from you. Alan
Hi Alan,
Please allow us a moment to welcome you to our forum community. It’s a lovely group of people who always have some wisdom to share, some of whom are bound to introduce themselves soon. We’d also like to make sure you’re aware of the resources we provide, along with the forum. We have a website with research, articles, and archived forum threads, here: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/. We also have a free and confidential helpline staffed with advisers who can help with everything from medication questions to finding local support, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can reach them at 0808 800 0303, so please do reach out if you have any questions unaddressed here.
However, I’m sure that one or two of our lovely members will be able to advise about medication or their experiences with alternatives medicines, either way I’ll leave you in their capable hands.
All our best,
Jem
Forum Moderator