When I moved from the wilds of Shropshire to God’s waiting room down here on the Sussex South coast 5 years ago. I needed a new GP as my back was troublesome. The GP I saw was the head of the practice, a very bright man who was also a teaching GP. His diagnosis was that I had Parkinson’s. Fast forward 3 years & I see a neurologist, have a datscan which is positive for Parkinson’s. Later I find I have neuropathy & start getting A-Fib episodes.
So lot’s of medications that cause other symptoms. One of which is REM episodes, nightmares & insomnia. I often wake up with pains in my back, knees or ankles.
Walking much more than 50-100 yards is a challenge.
A few weeks ago I saw an excellent neurologist through the Benenden Health insurance I have. I had wondered if my neuropathy is the problem that is stopping me walking. He thoroughly examined me & found that my neuropathy was “mild”. He said he said …
“The patient has been diagnosed with Parkinsonism and is under your care. As far as his neuropathy is concerned, this is mild clinically and there are few signs. His problems are mostly musculoskeletal - I have encouraged him to continue with physiotherapy as required. He should pay attention to his posture and try to keep himself active”. [I stoop a lot].
So I wrang my GP to ask for a phone-back about my neurologist’s letter to me. It turned out my experienced GP had left the practice & I was put through to my new GP, a GP who was recently qualified. She wanted to see me & I got an appointment a few hours later. I had a 1 hour appointment & a thorough examination. I was very impressed with this lady who had been a medic, whatever that means. She seemed very knowledgeable about my issues.
I told her that I had frequent episodes of gait freezing when ever I stood still or got up from a seated position & that I was tired all the time. I told her I was taking Clonazepam that helped me sleep but left me fatigued the next day. She prescribed Melatonin which in the past I had tried [over the pharmacy counter] but found it useless. I took a Melatonin pill last night with the Clonazepam & had my best night’s sleep for some time. My walking in consequence is much better today.
Last Wednesday I had an appointment with the head neurological physiotherapist at the local Conquest hospital. She had a lady with her who was from the hospital’s musculoskeletal department. She had examined the spine mri scan I had two years ago which showed 3 areas of age related degeneration. So I will be attending the hospital’s swimming pool for some sort of Aqua therapy course.
The lady GP has also arranged for me to have my hips x ray’d to see if this is causing my difficulty walking having been seated.
Progress I hope.
Best wishes
Steve2