Anyone here have experience with Parkinsons, either Personally, or Family?
5My dad is nearly 71.
couple years back he started occasionally Shuffling when he walks, has gotten progressively more frequent, and pronounced.
lately added issues using his left side, ie: writing getting smaller, difficulty cutting food, etc. ( the Shuffling really concerned my cousin, who is a Nurse in an Alzheimer’s unit…)
it finally got to the point he talked to his doctor. however he told the doc it started suddenly about 6 months ago( about 2 years ago in reality). since “it started suddenly”, and was only on 1 side, doc said parkinsons was out, and it was possibly a stroke. sends dad in for a non contrast CT of his head.
CT was fine, no stroke evidence, (as a doctor friend of mine whom i had translate the results for me said " he’s basically got an old man’s brain, and a healthy one, but i’m not a neurologist")
Few days back he finally has his Neurology appt. according to the Neurologist, after observation and interview, It IS Parkinsons. It can manifest on a single side.
they’ve started him on a low dose med, started really low, slowly stepping up over the next week or so until he hits the “Maintenance Dose”
he’s relieved to at least have a diagnosis, and a path forward.
anyone have any parkinsons experience( either personally, or family)?
- 10 comments, 1 reply
- Comment
I really hope he is able to be treated and to function the way he wishes.
No info tho. Just hopes on his behalf.
I don’t carry the Parkinson’s mutation, but Sergey Brin, the world’s 18th richest man (as of January) does, and he is funding some very serious research into a cure. You might want to look at Calico Labs, one of the Google spinoff organizations, because that’s where the research is taking place. He is highly motivated. One article is here; you can find many others: http://www.wired.com/2010/06/ff_sergeys_search/
@OldCatLady I’m actually half expecting dad to end up in a study of some sort, as he is an identical twin, and his brother has no symptoms so far.
they’ve already been in local advertisements for the local heart center…(twins at the end of the ad)
my uncle had a heart attack, as soon as the surgeon heard he was a twin, he told dad he wanted to see him in the office ASAP.
dad had the same blockage, just to a lesser extent.
when said cardiologist heard that dad has type 2 Diabetes, he turned to my uncle and said, " Guess what? you do too!"
This probably isn’t going to be very helpful or interesting, and I’m hesistant to waste your time…
My grandfather-in-law had Parkinson’s as long as I knew him. I can’t tell you how it affected his mental health, as he only spoke Italian + a one very clean joke in English, which he told every time I saw him. That said, he lived to be 99. I’m not sure when he was diagnosed, but it was as longer than I knew him… easily 10+ years. He lost some mobility over the years and ultimately had to go to a nursing home in his last year, but he was 99. Not sure how much of that is Parkinson’s and how much of it is being 99.
my grandfather had parkinson’s. the medication did help for quite a while actually. i’m not exactly sure when he was diagnosed, but he had it to some extent for at least 25 years. i think they’ve made a lot of advances in treatment since then though.
My grandmother had Parkinson’s. She passed back in '95, and I don’t think it had been very long since her diagnosis (maybe a couple years, if that). She was only in her 80s, but I think they’ve made huge strides in treatment since then, so any other input I might have likely wouldn’t be relevant. I just wanted to say that I hope your dad responds well to the treatment and I’m glad he’s figured out what is going on.
My aunt has had it for the past 15+ years. And as someone else has said, they have made a lot of advances, a number of clinical trials out there…
my grandpa, had Parkinson’s, no real treatment, not at that time … i first remember going to the nursing homes when i was five (1965). they were horrific places then… this was in canada… lot’s of younger people there with different physical disabilities too… many
Hydrocephalus (Water On The Brain) young people… nursing homes then were like the place they put people, that they had no idea what to do with them… we went to see him often… i never saw my grandpa walk or stand… he could not much talk either… and his shaking was so bad he could not feed himself… my dad would go get him in the earlier years and bring him in a wheelchair to our house, for the holidays and such… but after a time, he could not sit at all. as the many years went by…places got better, care got better, better helpful medicine’s… too little too late for my grandpa… he died bedridden at 72 in 1984… you said…anyone have any parkinsons experience( either personally, or family)?..this was my parkinson’s experience… so thankful, not the same for folks anymore…
things now? in this time?? care, knowledge? meds!! are so much more advanced for your dad… !!! i wish you and your dad only the best!!!
Check out Michael J. Fox’s site. His information is very well organized and useful. https://www.michaeljfox.org/
You might want to take a DNA test (there are three companies), download your raw data, then run it through an independent analysis program (costs $5.) to find whether or not you have the gene. The DNA companies won’t tell you, as that would be medical advice and they can’t do it- but the data are yours to do with as you like.
Good luck. Now that you know, you can work towards limiting progression. Also, as everyone has said, there is great research out there. I hope it works out
My aunt was dx’d with Parkinson’s in the 60’s…early 70’s. They started her on the L-dopa regimen and she took that without any further testing for the next 22 years. About a year before her death from metastasized abdominal cancer she finally had eeg’s and some other tests because her disease had been too stable for too long. Ultimately it was found that she never had Parkinson’s but because of the meds (L-dopa I think but I was preteen/teenager) she now had medically induced Parkinson type deficiency in her brain. None of this really matters in your situation except the truth that a second opinion is never a waste of time or money. There are other deficiencies in the elderly that can mimic Parkinson’s.
Good luck to your grand. Things are nowhere near as scary or dark as they used to be. New breakthroughs are happening daily thanks to famous people coming out about their health challenges. Big hugs.