Evonne,

I presented with an atypical PD and ET tremor. My initial diagnosis was ET- I began having a painful foot cramping that almost always indicates young onset PD. My neuro, I believe, placed me on a 'watch list' or listed me in his charts as 'possible PD'. I didn't receive the official 'upgrade' until six years later. Many movement disorder specialists need to see you over the course of years when you have atypical stuff going on. My other, secondary PD signs did not become noticeable to me or my MDS until last year!

I don't mean to scare you, but early on it's extremely hard to nail down a PD diagnosis; especially when all the neuro really has to go on is tremor. My head tremored and still does -this is not PD. I still have an atypical PD tremor; it is action oriented and a high frequency, though in the last year, I developed a resting tremor. My secondary PD symptoms are slowness and stiffness.

After awhile of living with any of this, it becomes difficult to differentiate any symptom from side effect once you start taking drugs. For my life as a person with ET, I took Inderal and Klonopin. It worked fairly well; my tremor really only emerged in social situations when self-conscious. It never helped with my foot cramping; only Sinemet did that and this was undeniable PD in my mind.

Please don't drive yourself crazy with second guessing all this- it's not good for you no matter what. Stress triggers illness in many of us, so why welcome something with open arms. Take your neuro's word for it, and unless you have any major 'red flag'...just focus on being well; eat well, exercise, reduce stress, and eat neuroprotective foods like blueberries and look into supplements to keep your oxidative processes in check.

Laura