Lexiegirl,

If I had have been there I would have been the sole ex smoker then! I smoked for 15 years, probably around 20 a day, and it was after giving up smoking that I started to develop PD symptoms, and spent around 7 years trying to find out what was the matter with me. Interestingly I went to a rally recently, here in the UK, protesting about welfare cuts to disabled people, and through our UK parkinsons org met a person from Wales who had the same experience as me. She had given up smoking, expecting to feel a lot better, but deteriorated instead.....

You might ask then why I did not resume smoking - simple, I had a young child, and I was shocked into giving up by contracting serious pneumonia. And of course it is not a socially acceptable thing now....... I do not miss it.

The same person shared another experience with me. We had both done a considerable amount of Tai Chi, and enjoyed it greatly, but had noted prior to diagnosis and treatment that practicing the main 'form' and chi exercises we had lost the ability to feel 'energy'. This is a difficult concept for those who have not studied anergy work at all, but there is an indubitable 'flow' that occurs when practicing. I have since treatment regained this ability, but cannot say that it is there with anything near the level prior to PD.

Acupuncturists I know say that PD is intractable to work with, and it is very difficult to establish 'flow' too. But I digress - don't want to hijack this thread which is about lithium really, and very interesting.....

Lindy