Over the past several years I have been to two Neurologists and both felt I had Benin Essential Tremor. The second Neurologist started to have second thoughts after first trying me on medications used to treat Benin Essential Tremor. My tremors did not improve on these medications. After further discussions with me on my symptoms and the fact that I was have these tremors when I was at rest, caused him to think I could have PD instead. He decided to try me on the starting dose of Sinemet and said if it worked then I have PD. I did have a vast improvement on the Sinemet and he is now treating me for PD. He has not mentioned me having any kind of tests such as any scans and I am wondering if I should have had any of these tests performed. I have been on Sinemet for more than 8 weeks now and this medication does control the tremors for me most of the time. Would there be any benefit for me to have any testing at this time.

Hi,

It is not uncommon to start out with an Essential Tremor diagnosis; in fact, researchers are showing that it may be linked to PD somehow. I presented with a tremor atypical of both disorders but after one year I had foot cramping which is nearly always PD.

Do you have any of the other symptoms of PD? There are 3 cardinal signs of tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia (slow movements). A doctor should not diagnose PD on tremor alone; clinically 2 of 3 means probable PD. There are no definitive biochemical diagnostics for this disorder, so doctors do use a Sinemet challenge. My tremor responds to both Proponolol and Sinemet. Plus there are other conditions that do respond to Sinemet. As you have likely gathered by now this diagnosis thing is all rather nebulous to say the least.

Even if you do respond to levodopa, it is a probability diagnosis at best. Ask your doc for a DATscan if you want something more definitive. I believe it is covered by most major insurers. However, this scan will just separate what looks like PD from other disorders, so if your don't have it the test will not reveal any more info on what you do have.

see this article for link between ET and PD

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3572635/