Non motor symtoms

many non-motor symtoms of pd can be overlooked,for example loosing sense of your smell is a sign of pd.sleep problems,rapid eye movements,memory problems ,concentrating on things and multitasking.some people have to stop work as they find they carnt carry on.wondering wots rong with erm.involertery muscle function,like constipation,uriary incontinence,sweating low blood pressure can all be blamed on aging.even treatments for pd can cause non motor symtoms.treatments to restore dopamine in pd sufferes.people have nown to have compulsive gambling and eating problems,shopping,over spending,going mad with your pennies,and aslo sexual problems.all of these non -motor symtoms make youwonder.look back before dx,some may have seen the signs.
Hi Ali J, I always read your posts cos you seem pretty clued up about pd. I have had PD for over 35 years apparently I inherited it from my dearly loved and now , sadly dearly departed Grandmother. I have recently started having panic attacks which, I am told are definately related to my having had PD for the length of time I have had it.

I was wondering if you,or anyone else who reads this, can tell me anything about this and , has it happened to them, and how was it dealt with ???
I have no sense of smell, unbelievable insomnia, memory.....wotsits, obsessively do one thing at a time............you might be onto something, real killer, increased libido coupled with impotence.......IT’S NOT BLOODY FUNNY!

I also started panicking whilst driving. All I could do was drive steadily and work through it. I didn’t let the panic stop me, and I’m glad to say after some months it went away. Now to get to work on some of these other things.
i suffer with panic attacks and have anxierty alot.some thing simple as in a shop feeling people looking at me,laughing ,pointing etc of the movements iam making.i feel like im goin out of control inside,i go all seaty and carnt breath.i have a blue and brown inhaler to help with air ways,but sometimes they dont work.i spoke to me neuroligist about pd and panic attacks and he said they were connected,usually when your on a off period.gait and freezing can bring on a panic attack also.i get alot of guilt in me,i blame meself for things which ant my fault.i begin to feel like a failure and have to try much much harder to escape the panic attack from happning.dopamine can also play a part with anxierty,i have found exercise helps,or trying to relax my mind and body.so the answer is yes panic attacks are related to parkinsons,but the only way to take them in to control is speak to a thearpist or gp about wot brings the anxierty on,let them help you either with talking to them,or depression meds if it has to be.honestly speaking to a occupational thearpist has helped me,getting thing off my chest,has reduced some of the anxierty i have in me,which then for some reason has reduced my panic with in some places ,personally im not sure if parkinsons is completly to do with panic attacks or if a portion of it is when in that off mode like the neuroligist says.i thinkits only us the pd sufferes that can answer our own situation we are in to make us panic.i was attacked a few months back and the panic i had then was so differnt to the pd panic ,my body reacted in differnt ways.so i hope who ever reads all of this can relate to some of it.ino ive rambbled on here,i do hope i have helped at least one person on this forum with anxierty.:smile:
I have a rather embarrassing non-motor symptom which I believe is called urge incontinence. That is when I am out and get the urge to pee I have to find a loo quickly, otherwise I start to dribble. Now I always make sure I take my radar key with me as this gives me access to disabled toilets 24/7. I really have no desire to start wearing incontinence pads.
I finally lost all bladder function 6 half years ago.it started me having to plan toilet routes when out and about.i tgen had no choice pads it had to be and now i have the supa pubic catherter which is hole in bladder abd tube come out velow belly hutton for me to pee.i dont wont to scare anyone. This happined to me it not mean all pd people will get urine probkens,or even goingvas far as the permanant catherter fitted. I do advice though to ve checked out by gp or be refered to uroligist if things go bad.all the luck i can give to all people having embarsing non motor problems x:smile:
christo - have you tried pelvic floor exercises? i have found them useful for this problem.
ps - my sense of taste seems to have improved - no idea why. can now drink beer and wine again and gone off sweet stuff. most peculiar but not complaining. (sips glass of aussie shiraz).
Hi Ali J

Interesting,reading your post Re.non motor symptoms. It opens up my mind that a great deal of the symptoms you mention I can relate to before being dx with pd, and some even back to younger years. And yes, like you, anxiety to me is the big baddie. I've come to terms of acceptance, that if it happens we can't change it, so I don't worry about fixing it. Ex. if you drop a plate and it breaks you can't put it back together, so why worry and cause ourselves anxiety we can't manage. I have some times wondered if I'm like one of the trio with Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, when like you, I can't concentrate and my mind just drifts into oblivion. Was it, the lion who'd lost his courage, the scare crow who'd got no brain, and,dam, I can't remember, but so what. But I do sympathise with you regarding other peoples perception of you when they're gorping. In their ignorance, they only relate to parkinson's sufferers being people who shake and dribble badly.

Oh well, Tommy Cooper has just come on TV. At least I don't have to concentrate too much. Just like that.

pp :grin:
turnip,have a good drink on me at xmas,xx:smile:


hiya pegasuspaul,non-motor symtoms happinined to me as far back as seniour school,my rite hand two fingers always used to have a twitch,i never new wot it was,but always put it to back of me mind and thought it just nerves,cus i was so shy and nervous person.as time went on and other motor symtoms became more and more noticible people began to speak about me,which made me go in to me shell and wonder why,wots rong with me,i became a supeviser dinner lady and a classroom helper in a infant school,i spent many years doin this joband loved it,but still these symtoms were getting worse,finally after teachers,kid parents looking at me,chatting to me and telling me to go to the gp to find out wot rong with me ,i was dropping things by then,me riting was getting bad and could not concentrate reading a book to the kids in the book corner.this was finally when i was told it was pd.so like i said motor symtoms can go back way before the dx,please everyone think back if you can of your past,it be so intrested to read about peoples lives.:smile:
More of a query than a reply.
I am seeing visual disturbances, particularly with the left eye.
at night principally I can close my right eye and concentrate on a distant point light source e.g. a star or a far street lamp and it seems to waver about. is this 'normal' for a pd sufferer? the equivalent of a hand tremor or the like?
I see cats out of the corner of my eye as well but I like cats!
Yes, I catch movement where there is non, it's also very easy to make me jump. I also see cats, but we have cats so that's fine.
I often wake up to see giant spiders on my bedroom wall. They look very real, but I have now convinced myself that they are not, and they soon disappear.
i have a giant spider in my letter box. unfortunately it is real.
Hi Ali j
As you know like you I've got all the non motor symptoms, but when I was dx I asked a mate how long had I been shuffling my feet.he told me 15 years,I read fon the forum someone had cramps like being pulled out of bed and then pressure coming up on the chest.i had this and told my brother who said great you've got a ghost and he made a bg thing of it!so ao I asked him and he told mue 1989.ive always had joint problems since my early twenties when a finger swollen up for no reason and stayed like it.
At school I never run or played football but I also realised I'd gotta stooped posture.then I wonder if I can go back 35 year or so how long have I got leftism forgetting things and saying different things in conversations that don't fit in.just another thing I've noticed is the miners I worked with we're getting older looking whilst I stayed wrinkle free.yes facial masking so then when do you start to get wrinkles,crows feet etc..then you have to ask how long do you have to have pd to prevent wrinkles.at this rate I'll have beed born with pd.saying that I think my mothers got pd ,she's never done alot of exercise anyway,she shuffles her frett.feels cold has pain.and low blood pressure and panic attacks.sorry for going on.atb john