My grandmother had Parkinsons, and I've been going to see a neurologist for a year now trying to figure out what's wrong with me. She does not think I have Parkinsons but since she couldn't find anything through all the neuro tests, an emg, an sfemg, three MRI's she's now offering a referral to a movement disorder specialist.

So I thought I would ask everyone what their first symptom were and if mine sound like anything similar. I tremble nearly all the time except after about 12 hours of sleep. I do not have a hand tremor at all, but I do have sort of this electrical shock feeling that pulses through my whole body but most noticeably at the back of my neck. I also have a thing where if I am sitting up for too long on the computer I can feel my head start to bobble and I'll feel like it's too hard to continue typing/reading because I'm feeling dizzy. A lot of times I'll feel the muscles flickering in my back and I'll get this shock/tremble feeling at the bottom of my spine. These are daily things, they don't get better but in a year they haven't gotten worse either.

Sometimes I'll feel the nerves jangling in my arms and legs like a bell that got rung. My neck and jaw can get very tight on the right side and it feels like my right and left sides don't match.

However my arms do swing when I walk and I don't have balance problems. Sometimes when I hold my phone a certain way my thumb will start to tremor but it's very occasional and occurs on both sides.

I have some autonomic symptoms -- very bad stomach ( not constipation though), occasional tachycardia, and then odd things that come and go like hot flashes, insomnia, etc. I've given up gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, caffeine and alcohol and really seen no difference although eating this way does seem to help my stomach. I take methyl b12 plus a small amount of folate with no change.

Does it sound like Parkinson's? I've been working on this for a full year and I'm just not any closer to a diagnosis. Thanks!

don't think you have pd but i'm not a healthcare professional.

my mds diagnosed me on the slightest of symptoms, all classic pd. took him 5minutes.
1. all on 1 side, decreased dexterity on right hand, slight rigidity in right arm, i dragged my right heel just a little at times, he pointed out my right heel was more worn down than left.
i was 48, playing competitive soccer, shocked at the diagnosis. i continued to progress, symptoms developed on both sides, went onto meds 2-3 years later. i have pd.
2. got a 2nd opinion from a 2nd mds, she said she could tell i had pd in the waiting room from some rigidity in my facial expression.
3. was given mri which doesn't detect pd but rules out other possibilities.
4. my mds was so sure i had pd that he didn't even bother seeing if sinemet, a pd drug, treated my symptoms, this is one method used to formulate an opinion.


a mds hopefully will suppy a piece of the puzzle, but we both know you need something to try to alleviate your symptoms. i wouldn't dare try to guess at what you have. best of luck.

Thanks for your thoughts. The reason I'm asking is because -- even though it should seem like the easiest thing in the world to begin to suspect PD the literature isn't that clear if there isn't a "pill rolling tremor". Odd neurological symptoms like mine eventually are diagnosed as *something* that comes together with the initiation of an additional symptoms. Like, if I did have a pill rolling tremor I'd be diagnosed with PD instantly and all these other little things I'm describing would be attributed to PD also. Very frustrating.