Been diagnosed now for over 3 years. Since then my diagnosis has changed from PD to essential tremor to having both. I still don’t know what I’ve got but hopefully I will soon. Tomorrow I have a NM Brain Ioflupane DaTSCAN. Unfortunately I won’t find out anything till the 8 March my next appointment. I am not on any tablets having. Recently been.taken of. Propannol. My only question is ,”Does the above scan,scan for everything or does it just tell me if I have PD or not.
It does diagnose PD, in colour, according to my knowledge the best way to find out if it is a PD; much more reliable than a dopamine test. Even if it will not answer all questins, it will give you an answer to a major one…
I think a Datscan only scans for dopamine levels so won’t tell you about other things. When I was looking for diagnosis I had an MRI scan as well as a datscan.
Hi @prentonboy,
Good to see that you’ve received some helpful comments. Diagnosing Parkinson’s can take some time as there are other conditions, such as essential tremor with similar symptoms. There is also currently no definitive test for diagnosing Parkinson’s which i’m sure isn’t ideal for people like yourself. However, the most common ways to diagnose Parkinson’s is via a MRI or CT scan or a SPECT or DATSCAN. All these options can tell your specialist how different areas of your brain works.
We go into this in a lot of detail on our website here - https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/how-parkinsons-diagnosed. Hopefully this will give you some clarity on the matter, however, if you have any more questions, please feel free to give our helpline a call and speak to one of our advisers who would be happy to answer any of your questions.
Best wishes,
Reah
Thanks for everyone’s advice, it was very welcome and it helped me undetsand the procedure better. After a hard day I received 2 tablets, 1 injection and a 30 minutes Brain Scan. The only problem was as far as I could see was that my hands was shaking so much that it was hard for me to see how a decent scan coul be obtained.
Thanks to the NHS and for everyone’s help.
Waiting for result now.
prentonboy this tom from the USA. My MRI scan the tech that was doing the scan kept insisting I keep still.I am glad you mentioned about shaking. I even hand some muscle cramps.
Our insurance companies hate paying for allot of the scans.
They almost always deny a datscan for they run about $15,000 USA dollars.
So here what happens allot in the USA. If the insurance you have does not work with the best hospital, that have the best movement specialists your stuck. IF you go there you pay a very large out of pocket fee. The rich get the best health care.
So here we get the wait and see how the symptoms progress. Then once they get worse and you shake, have stiff arm pulls, stoop, and so on. You finally get to take sinemet if it works then you might get a diagnosis. The doctor has follow up visits on progress. Most of us when talking together here seem to be in limbo for about three years for a final diagnosis.
I use your forum to listen to the UK’s treatments. I have watched many videos your expert doctors have given on the disease. I am impressed. Thanks tom