My 56-year-old girlfriend was diagnosed with PD about 2 yrs ago, with tremors in her left hand, cogwheeling, and rigidity. Pretty much she has been in denial about it ever since but it's getting to the point where the reality of it can no longer be avoided.

She is a landscape gardener and is finding it harder and harder to work and her finances are in terrible shape and she is at wit's end and she really does need to start doing something to try to manage her symptoms. But she also suffers from some pretty terrible ADD (tho not nearly as badly as her brother, who has been on full disability almost his entire life because of it ..) and has a difficult time getting started on things and then sticking with them.

So, that's where I come in and why I'm here. My first big question is, are we making things worse by doing nothing in terms of medical treatments at this early stage when she is still pretty functional? In other words, are there things we should be doing *right now* that'll help out in the future?

The doctors have pretty much said, Yup, you have PD. And then left it at that. Come back if it gets worse. No talk of medication. Leaving us to gather that, okay, there's nothing to be done for it but see what happens next. Which is how we've played it so far. But things are progressing, and not in a good way. And my gf still refuses to believe it's PD and she won't go back to the the doctor(s) that diagnoses her, though she is going to see a hand doctor in a month to see if the tremors are the result of a dog bite she got right before they started. And so on. So, I'm going to start doing what I can behind the scenes, to be able to help if and when she concludes that it's Pd after all. And lord know I hope it's not, of course, but it probably is.

Also: at what stage does one begin to think about disability payments from the state. I mentioned that to her once and she went ballistic, so if it's better to start on that sooner than later, it's something I'll be getting the ball rolling on, too.

Gawd, there is so much to think about that I don't know what to think about first.

Could someone offer me some suggestions?

Thanks!