Hi, I'm new here. I've been diagnosed with lupus SLE (an autoimmune disease) in 2012 and since then I struggled to get it it under control with the various medications prescribed for it. A year ago I was moved from one drug to another and the latter, although taken only for a month a low dose, somehow affected my brain. By that I mean I got all kind of twitches on/off, my left eyelid isn't opening at the same time as the right and I get this feeling that my upper body is moving like a pendulum but nothing is really visible on the outside.
After many consultations with different specialisations, I managed to see a movement disorder specialist who noticed that my right arm swing is non-existent and sent me to a DaT scan, which I had yesterday. The proposed diagnostic is early PD or lupus Parkinsonism. I'm still convinced that the drug caused this but it has been already a year and the neuro said that the effects should have improved by now, given that I stopped it.
Now - although autoimmunity has some genetic link to family, I hasten to add that I have no one in my family with that. I have an aunt that has PD but thats it.
While I as going through the nightmare of adjusting to the awful disease that is lupus and whilst trying to now get my head around the fact that I may have PD, my husband started to get cramps in his legs. Then fatigue. Then some cognitive impairment. I've noticed that at one point he got annoyed with something and his right hand was shaking. Then he started acting out his dreams, which is heart wrenching, I promise you. I've read that the acting out of dreams is usually a predictor for PD or multi system atrophy, so I'm now freaked out that not only I managed to be ill, somehow he is too.
My question, after all that intro, is this: have you attributed your PD to a particular cause? The reason I ask is that it seems far too coincidental that 2 people with no family history of autoimmunity and PD could simultaneously develop them, particularly the PD.
I understand that one of the causes is farm pesticides. We live next to a farm and I'm wondering whether they have not somehow contaminated the water.
Do any of you with PD live next to farms, for example?
Many thanks.