A few weeks ago, I started a thread titled I Think I have Parkinson's, but my Doctor says I'm Depressed. I thought some of the folks who contributed to or read that thread might like to know how things developed.

So, even though I've had trouble with the side effects of SSRI's before (i.e. Zoloft), I went ahead and started Cymbalta for no other reason than to satisfy the doctor. As before, I developed headaches, tinnitus, anxiety, insomnia and several other unpleasant symptoms. It did help with the myalgia, but the remainder of my PD symptoms were only slightly reduced if affected at all. I didn't notice any improvement in my mood. My wife saw that I was getting worse and complained directly to the doctor.

As a bit of an historical side note: A previous doctor who put me on large doses of Zoloft prescribed Valium, Xanax, and Klonopin to offset the side-effects of the Zoloft. Then he prescribed Zyprexa to offset the side-effects of the Valium, Xanax, and Klonopin. That was a very bad time for me--parts of which I can barely remember. I missed nine months of work as the doctor was just adamant that I was chronically depressed (dysthymic disorder was the dx). This awful over-prescription of drugs made me very leery of trying anti-depressants again. So this time, when I saw that I was heading down the same path with the new doctor, I just said "no."

This time, the new doctor agreed that anti-depressants weren't the solution and has allowed me to take Sinemet 25/100 three times a day. I still don't have a diagnosis of PD. This would be helpful for insurance and job protection benefits.

I am feeling much better. I'm going to go back to work a few hours a day starting later this week. The plan is to try to return to full time. The doctor wants to increase my work hours gradually.

The really good news is, I'm feeling much better now that I'm getting the medications that work for me. I may still need to tweak the medications some because I'm still a little stiff in places and still have trouble with my balance. But I can walk normally now, stand up straight, and the myoclonic jerks are significantly diminished.

I really want to thank those members of this forum who provided support. It seems that it really is important to be assertive when dealing with our doctors. PD, being so hard to describe, makes this so much more important.

Thanks to everyone,

Karl