Hello All,
Just thought id share an introduction. Also, im really at the moment just looking to see if my symptoms so far ring true, or similar with anybody. I have just been referred to Neurologist by my GP, appointment is a little over 10 days time. Im in a fortunate position to be able to go private, which i am thankful for after seeing some of the stories on here around the NHS route.
I wont muddy the waters to much, but im 37 and otherwise fit and healthy. Except for having a few spinal surgeries 10 years or so ago, which left me with some nerve damage and lower back pain, but managed fine by medication. And more recently, increasing over the past 6 months bouts of Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia, with chest pain and shortness of breath. Had emergency Angiogram 2 weeks ago, arteries are all clear. So now they are looking at electrical signal issue, but anyway, theory at the moment is this is unrelated (except i have read, that there have been causes of PD internal tremors affecting the Sinus node and causing Tachycardia, so who knows…)
Point of the above, is, during the various hospital and GP visits, reviewing the potential heart issue - it was flagged up by my GP, and consultant, they had noticed some Parkinson’s symptoms, as well as when they delved into my history, especially over the past year, id been noticing quite a lot of changes in me, which i had put down to other factors. Long story short, GP wanted me to go asap to movement specialist neurologist to be checked for Parkinson’s.
So, this arrives to where i am now. Ill go, and see how things turn out. If it is - ok, ill deal with that, im generally overly positive much to the annoyance of my partner and work colleagues - don’t get me wrong, im aware PD is a terrible disease, but equally, ill make the best of life however i can.
So main reason for this post is to see if any of my symptoms resonate with others. Or, if others have been in a similar position, and it turned out not to be PD, it was some other cause, which i think is equally as important.
All of the below are essentially over the last year, with some more recently, with slightly different progression rates in each:
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Resting tremor in my right hand + shaking right arm. Also To a lesser degree but noticeable the same in the left.
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Jerky movements of the right wrist, so if rotate my wrist slowly, there are points where it has quite a violent tremor + noticing to lesser degree some jerky movements every now and then in other locations.
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Dropping a lot of items, where i either misjudge my fingers closing, or they work a bit slower, or my grip weakens + much more clumsy with balance issues.
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My right hand seizes up with any repetitive movement’s. If i do that bradykineasia test of finger tapping, or palm clench/open - it visibly slows down quite quickly, until i can hardly move the hand
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Memory is getting worse + im finding descriptive words, or names aren’t there sometimes when i need them, and takes a few seconds to think of the word.
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Attention span, and ability to sit and do written work at the computer, or organise time is starting to be a bit of a pain and take longer to think things through and plan work (luckily im the CEO/owner of my company, so, im thankful, for the time being of being secure-ish in work)
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Im often fatigued, not hugely though, just that i dont feel rested. More and more vivid dreams, sleep talking, and i wake up for several half hour blocks each night + also need to pee quite a few times during the night.
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Quite a lot of aches and pains, but i had always put these down to the back issue. But noticing now these are more whole body type, rather than lower back. Bear in mind due to my back im on hi dose synthetic opiates, which mask a LOT of general pain, so would hate to think what its like without them.
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Reasonably rigid, felt like my body has aged a fair bit in the past 12 months, much more groaning when i need to bend down or stand up, bit more effort required to do things or get my body moving.
SO yeah, just a short list - i realise now, i must have just been putting all these things to the back of my mind. I work usually 14 hour days, 7 days a week, and am always busy, so i can have a bad habit of neglecting myself sometimes. If it turns out PD, ill of course be re-evaluating priorities of what’s important now, whilst taking into account how long i may have left to work etc.
So yes, hopefully it isnt PD - but when i told my partner id been referred to the Neuroligist, she burst into tears a bit later after she had looked up PD, as she said i was text book.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Hopefully im not here for the long run (no offence)! But if i am, it seems a good place for support.
Ryan
but yes, distinctly worse. Its a weird one, the more into a sentence i write the worse its gets, i can feel my hand movements getting smaller and slower. Im also noticing it at work with screwdrivers and other hand tools. A few repetitions, and everything is slowing down and then locking up.
