My initial PD symptom (handwriting problems) started during a time of intense exposure to chemicals. The organization where I worked occupied one floor of a tall office building. The CEO decided he wanted a major refurbishing job done on the whole floor, and the employees were to continue to work around the refurbishing work. The windows did not open. For about two months, five days a week, I breathed fumes from paint, paint remover, carpet glue, varnish, etc. The odors were intense, and made many of us feel sick; some people temporarily lost their voices. My reaction was intense dizziness, head pounding, and facial flushing so bad that it looked like blood was coming from the pores on my face. After two months of this, I had to take a medical leave of absence, as the project still had another month before completion. It was during these two months that I started experiencing handwriting problems. Over the next few months, the symptoms progressed to neck pain and hand tremor. About nine months after the chemical exposure, I was given the diagnosis of Parkinson's. (No one else in my family has had it.) Who could say if this was what caused my Parkinson's, or if it was just the straw that broke the camel's back.