Thread: Parkinsonism
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Old 02-16-2013, 03:42 PM
Israel Israel is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vermont
Posts: 25
10 yr Member
Israel Israel is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vermont
Posts: 25
10 yr Member
Default Parkinsonism

New member.

In early October I was diagnosed with Parkinsonism.

Last May/June I was able to hike/backpack five to ten miles with elevation gains as much as 1000 feet+. Today I can hardly walk two blocks.

Late August I had to take a medical leave of absence from job due to inability to carry out my duties. Subsequently job officially terminated. Unable to drive.

Symptoms:

Nerves feel on edge, like burning, for lack of a better word. Entire body inner and outer trembling. Numbness in body - hands, arms, legs. Muscles hurt/tingle, sometimes quite uncomfortable.

Constant varying levels of dizziness/lightheadedness, usually worse when I stand up from sitting, but also while sitting or laying down. Head with inner trembling, feels like it is going to explode. Palms of hands sensitive, fingers hurt when using. Pain in ears, fullness, throbbing, sensitivity to noise, constant ringing, sometimes hearing strange noises. Light pain in eyes. Pain in face. Sometimes, very short lived dull headaches above and behind eyes. When walking, feel like my legs are rubbery. Hands and feet often cold. Big toe pain. Mind racing.

Brain fog: Cognitive problems. Inability to concentrate, focus, hold on to a thought, express myself, speech problems, slow processing problems, find a word. Example: Getting dressed, take out a pair of socks, then take another pair out.. Doing a task that involves two procedures, turn around and forget what the next procedure is, etc. Difficulty making a decision or solving a problem. Mentally it takes longer to decide what to wear than physically getting dressed. Unable to read. Watch TV, but stare.

No motivation. Look at a task and unable to follow through, forget I want to do it. etc. Occasional (not often) what I call, walking blackouts. Brain shuts off, unaware of being conscious. Of short duration. During one of these occurrences, fell down stairs, hit head but not badly, and not hurt. Only occasional nausea. Use spoon to eat, usually evening meal. By end of day difficulty coping. Tire easily. Sleep averages six hours. Sometimes breath through mouth, not nose. Occasionally sinuses feel like they are draining, but unable to. Stress a big problem.

Unable to be in a situation outside the home such as going to church or library, or store. Getting to the point that I won’t put myself in such a situation. Exercising a problem. Do leg exercises while sitting in bed, when motivated..

I live in a converted garage. It gets boring. I am sedentary and don’t exercise. There is a bone builders group half a block up the street, but I haven’t made it there, yet. There are not any support groups here in town. My days aren’t always that bad, though. They seem to get worse as the day goes on. My largest complaint is the dizziness/lightheadedness that doesn’t seem to go away.

I have been on two other meds before the one I am on now, but they made my symptoms worse. I am now on Caridopa /Levodopa 25/100 mg - 4 per day. It has taken me nearly three weeks to work up to this dosage because of my sensitivity to medication.
I had one really really good day this week, one half good day, and now am back to the usual. Perhaps I am not giving it long enough to work.
I am waiting to have a neuro (something) tests that takes about three hours. It takes up to six weeks for them to call me to set up an appointment. Then I will have to wait however long after that for the actual tests.
Well, this is already too long. I have been writing this over a period of a couple weeks so it will make a little sense.

I have been reading the threads posted. They are informative. However, my brain just doesn’t seem to comprehend much of it.
At times I feel that the above is psychological. I look at the above, and it appears not to make any sense to somebody reading it.
Thanks for listening
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