I developed a tremor this week. I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones who did not have a tremor with their Parkinson's.

Most of my life I have played guitar at church for no pay. In the last year and a half, I have started playing at some coffee houses and a summer street fair for a little pay. Last week I confirmed my first good paying gig- for the dinner hour in an upscale restaurant. (I play classical guitar.) The day this was confirmed was the day my tremor started. I hope that when I increase my meds, my symptoms will be controlled. I can still play guitar because the tremor stops when I play, but it can be hard getting started if I stop too long in between songs. Plus I have a problem with my pinky finger curling under and not always doing what I want it to.

Chicory

You have not heard the good news obviously.....tremor dominant PD progression is slower than the rigidity type. If you have played guitar for years the tremor won't really interfere for a long time. PD tremor is a resting tremor so once you get the old fingers warmed up you should be good to go.
DO NOT - I repeat DO NOT take extra PD meds to compensate for any perceived problems with tremor. If you are feeling a bit anxious about playing in public with PD get your Dr. to give you an anti-anxiety med. Save your sinemet for the big bad days ahead. Have you read the threads on sinemet use Start with the current one by Fiona (blog about sinemet) then look back a bit for one I started called "Is sinemet addictive".

Congratulations on the gig...may you play happily for many years to come!

for this week's check-in!

Rosie-Joy, good on you for starting the check-in this week!

Steve, here's hoping smooth running for both you and your outboard motor this season.

Jaye, I often can't understand the clock either.

Madelyn, sorry about your contracting the bayou bug. Northwest LA may have a slightly more healthy climate, but look out if you have allergies.

John, steady on! Those twisters seem unusually deadly this year.

Chicory, ditto on Rosie's congrats on your gig.

My latest is a RSD (rem sleep disorder) performance early yesterday morning. I dreamed that someone was throwing a fragmentation grenade at me, so I quickly rolled off the bed, for real! In the process I almost destroyed a floor lamp beside the bed, in addition to alarming my wife, who had already arisen and was in another part of the house. It did wake me up, though, so I survived the attack! Fortunately, my RSD episodes are rare.

best to all
Robert

Hi Robert,

I'm not too concerned about the storms. The way my luck goes, they'll all be dried up by the time I chase. This happened a few weeks ago when I was out in the Great Plains. We had three days in ten that were okay with one storm we could really see the tornados form, and this storm was 5 miles away. The rest of the time I did tourist things like climb Mt. Capulan Volcano, go to a Rockies game in Denver, and eat at some really nice restaurants. The two tours that preceded and folowed my gig have seen more storms on record than anyone else.

It sounds like you've had some fun the other night. I've been busy too with the extra movements and have sucessfully punched myself in the lip the other day. I still have a bruise and there was blood on my pillow! I don't even remember who or what I was fighting this time. All I know is that I woke up with a sore and bloody bottom lip.

John

And I thought I was the only one that did that!!! I once dreamt I was being chased by a bunch of guys with AK-47's. I did a sumersault out of the bed.
My wife saw it and said it was a 6.0.....LOL

Charlie

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I am glad I posted because now I feel better.

I just played tonight from 6-8 for the summer street music series and it went well. The big gig is in July.

My doctor is just having me increase my Requip since I told him about the tremor and I am titrating up from 1 mg to 2 mg. I was on the Neupro patch and just recently switched to Requip when my supply of patches ran out. I also take Stalevo 50. My doctor does not want to increase that (it has levadopa in it).

Congratulations on your gig. The tremor may have been the result of some stress so the more you play outside, the more you'll get used to it. I used to be so bad at public performances, that the keys would be sticking to my hands, my heart was in my head banging, and I had my knees pressed up against the keyboard.

I do know what you mean about your fingers not working. That was one of the reasons I ended up at a neurologist in the first place. Every once in awhile now, my fingers act up and do weird things. I aim for the C and the pinky will go for a G, or if I'm going for a D, the fourth finger will move instead and play anything it wants. Arggg!!! This usually happens when I am really tired and have a hard time coordinating the movements.

Like you, I've barely had any tremor until recently so I was really concerned when it started as well. I have noticed that it is worst in the morning and when I am very stressed.


I'd take it easy on the medication before jumping into it. If anything else, contact your doctor about it and see what he/she has to say.

Good luck and have fun.

John