I cannot tell you what it felt like to come back here today and see so many detailed responses. Thanks
When my husband comes come from work I will show him all of your posts.

How about alcohol? Has drinking shown to be a bad idea with PD?

As for the questions asked of me...

Paula- Yes. I have also been wondering if the PD has been rearing its head for a lot longer. My husband has always had shakey hands, insomnia and digestive issues including constipation. He was an ER Nurse for 16 years, which is a highly stressful job. He used to be over 100 pounds overweight and never exercised. 4 years ago he began exercising and lost the weight. 3 years ago he began practicing yoga and tai chi and a year ago he switched to working from home as a nurse for an insurance company. It's gentle hours (9-5) and low stress. 3 weeks ago he was diagnosed with PD. We consider ourselves lucky to already have so many things in place.
As for the movement disorder specilist, we made an appointment. The earliest they could see him is August 3rd 2011.


Jean- This is the beginning of my husband's 3rd week on Axilect. He just moved up to 1mg. He has always had high blood pressure and is on a medication for that. SInce he got on the Azilect his bp has been very high so we may need to get off it regardless. David is a little nervous about doing drug trials but we'll keep talking about it.

English Country Dancer - Thanks for the hopeshot

reverett- I am very interested to read your blogs. Being a yoga teacher I always find a holistic point of view tends to make more sense that splitting the body up into various systems and isolating those systems into tiny pieces and parts. David and I were just getting into water fasting over the summer but then we stopped. I agree it may be a good idea to try it again. Lets stay in touch.

I was diagnosed in 2006 at the age of 55. I had been seeing an oncologist because I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 at age of 52. I thought when my hand started to tremor it was the cancer spreading to the brain. The onc is who sent me to the neurologist after doing a brain MRI. She didn't think it was cancer tho. The neurologist told me PD. He didn't want to start me on medication till I couldn't function. I haven't been back to see him since.

My symptoms have progressed. It is hard to type now and dressing takes a lot of effort. My foot started dragging at some point. It takes a lot to run the vacuum. Even turning clothing right side out or taking wet clothes out of the washer takes a lot of effort.

What makes it worse is the recurring rashes since 2006 and the problem with IBS (irritable bowl). I am afraid taking medication for PD will make this worse. So for now I do nothing. In 2006 I was walking an hour on a treadmill till my toes started curling and had to stop.

I guess that is it. Where I'm at right now. I should have kept a journal and recorded my symptoms for it's hard to say at what point things started. Typing this I remembered the toes curling/treadmill problem. If I had it to do over I would have kept a record of symptoms.

marciaj makes an excellent point. While far from what it should be, I have kept a journal of sorts and it has been of great value. This is particularly true if one self-experiments.

Have no idea how difficult it is to control your husband's hypertension, but you might wish to access posts on this forum discussing an antihypertensive drug, isradipine, a calcium channel blocker, which is currently in trials (i think) to determine if it is a disease modifying drug for PD. There is evidence the use of the drug is associated with decreased incidence of PD; I am unsure about its disease modifying effects.

YogaLife, just to be clear -- MJFox PPMI is not a drug trial, it is a series of tests where de novo people with PD are followed for several years (e.g. blood work, brain scan, spinal fluid test) with the hopes of identifying biomarkers.

Jean

Yes, I'm on this for my hypertension - Isradipine.
jean

Oh I see! Thank you for explaining this. I will tell my husband.

[QUOTE=YogaLife;729178]How about alcohol? Has drinking shown to be a bad idea with PD?

There is a plethora of research on alcohol, dopamine and receptors, but I'm not sure of the real answer. You can find support for any stance out there. Excessive alcohol can be a causal effect of PD symptoms apparently.

I personally drink far too much, and find the first drink or two helps my tremor, but my foot drags increasingly as I drink more. However, in my defence, I don't have to take anti-depressants or sleeping pills

I guess a glass or two to help you relax is ideal, BUT I understand that alcohol interacts with certain meds, including some of the PD ones. That you need to check
Cheers
Peter

i drink a glass of wine daily and liquor once in awhile. noone lives forever.

My husband phoned up Parkinson's U.K help line about medication and having a drink.They said this was one of the most frequently asked questions.They said also that you really have to judge for yourself how your body reacts.He is on Requip and Madopar and has wine with his evening meal and a couple of pints of beer with his mates,once a week.Life is for living.