I had several bouts of frozen shoulder prior to dx. I was teaching at the time and had to support my right hand with my left hand in order to write on the white board.
I also found that as i walked around when shopping my arms would start to ache to the point where I would have to put my hands in my pockets to take their weight off my shoulders.
Since I have been on medication this has mostly stopped although sometimes get shoulder pain when meds are wearing off.
My earliest symptom was also frozen shoulder. It is a well documented early sign if you google it. My initial physio then ortho consultant immediately referred me into a neurologist once a normal shoulder MRI was established. Plus I pointed out my more obvious neuro signs likes small handwriting and loss of certain hand movements. This quote below is lifted from just one of many articles out there I've seen when doing my own research into what was wrong with me in the early days before DX. Hope that helps. Unfortunately the link is well documented but not known by all medical professionals it would seem. I was lucky to see a neuro physio by chance I think.
"One of the most common musculoskeletal complaints is shoulder stiffness, sometimes called a frozen shoulder (this may in fact be the first sign of PD)."
http://www.pdf.org/en/winter04_05_pain_in_parkinsons_disease
Bad link above. Here's another article. Hope this works.
I give up! None of the links work. In case of interest, I just searched "frozen shoulder and Parkinson's" and loads came up.
My husband at one point had two frozen shoulders about 4 years ago and was diagnosed last month, looking back he has had a lot of symptoms which were put down to other things but it wasn't until his gait changed that we asked our Dr could it be Parkinson's, he's been started on Madopar 3 times a day, have noticed a change in his slowness but not much else
Give it some time Tarabuckle it can take a while for Madopar to get established into the system can I ask what dosage he is on if 62.5 MG x 3 this is quite a low dose,
Best Wishes BB x
Hi Bettyblue, yes it's 62.5mg he's been put on, it's only been since 30th April, he is gradually moving better and faster, his confidence has had quite a knock so would love to see him get back to normal although I no nothing will be normal again! Can I ask he seems to be a lot more chatty and upbeat, I'm not knocking it, it's good to see and hear but is this a symptom relief or is it a side effect of the meds?
Tara xx
I would say it because he is feeling more positive there is a fair bit of room for upping his dose when required
so just keep that in mind if he starts to feel bad again he should have at least a 6 monthly check up.
I am on 6 x 62.5mg per day at moment and I need to take more.
BB xx
He has an appointment with Parkinson's nurse on 8th June, I have been keeping notes on changes etc, he works a lot of night shifts so it's been hard to get timings right esp his days off and also he has some concerns about when he is tired his symptoms are a lot worse xx
tiredness is a bad for PWP i sleep lousy seriously think he should look into dropping the nights must be stressful and stress is the worse thing for us hope it all goes ok on the 8th got my review on the 6th.
bbxx
Hi betty blue
Since dx in 2012 I have had 3 operations on my shoulders.
After my first one my arm started twitching and that was when I was sent for scans etc and dx with PD.
Each op was for impingement and shaving of bone on both shoulders. I have full use of my shoulders now and pain free
.
I have, however, now had a fusion of my big toe which left me in severe pain when trying to walk, The consultant blamed it on PD, but I got a second opinion and have had a second op to put things right and am now recovering well from that.
Is there a link between PD and arthritis?
nocksy x
Funny you should say that Nocksy, just before my husbands diagnosis he was also diagnosed with arthritis in both his hips, I think this was the reason he started meds as he thought arthritis and PD together was causing the pain as his gait is strange, he has since be prescribed anti inflammatories and the pain has gone, we can't really tell which Med has helped he is down to his last AF so we'll see what happens after that, Bettyblue I have tried to get him to slow down but I think he sees working as keeping him going he is very stubborn, hope all goes well on the 6th!! Xx
Tara x
I understand Tara, unfortunately there will come a point when he will have to start to slow down might be 2 or 20 years no one can predict how PD will progress some would say I am as stubborn as a mule myself.
Best wishes BB xx
Interesting thread, I had a terrible time a couple of years ago with my right shoulder, almost constant pain and unable to raise my arm above shoulder height. Diagnosed last week, though my increased tone and tremor is on the opposite side.
Martin.
I`m just dx. I have had a painful shoulder on the left for about 2 years. Hope the Sinemet relieves it, as with others who have found meds helpful.
I was dx in 2009.I frequently had and still have, stiff shoulders, usally my rt shoulder and i'm, rt handed. After a stupid move to reach something in the rear footwell, I had a long term injury which still gives me pain. I had physio,mainly heat and exercise , but its just about the same, more than 8 yrs ago.
Was the original stiffness the cause of problem ?What do I do now? Any answers?
I was diagnosed in the summer with PD. It started with shoulder pain about a year before and I gradually lost dexterity in my right hand. I still have mild pain in my shoulder occasionally, but physio helped a lot.
Been having Physiotherapy for over a year on my right shoulder but since dx for PD (last week) have now been referred to a neurophysiotherpist. Not sure what the difference is yet. My PD problems are all on my right side.
neurophysiotherpist are specially trained to treat us because normal physo can cause us some problems i have since staring this post now have shoulder pain on the right after what happen re my left shoulder i will really have to consider weather or not it is worth going down the surgery root again. dont want the right sided tremors as well as the left.
