Hello Guys and Gals! How have you all been? I have been just trying to hang in there this week. I can't wait for my appointment with my MDS tomorrow...we have a lot to talk about. My physical symptoms have been pretty frustrating for me. Three months off of PD meds has not been good for me. My stiffness and ratchety movements are just off the charts right now. My eleven year old son started to rub my shoulders ratchet as I sat in front of the computer. He commented on how hard my back and shoulders were. He tried doing a little kneading massage on my back, but couldn't even pull anything up to knead! His little fingers actually popped at times! In his curiosity, he went to his dad and tried to massage his shoulders and back. He came back and reported to me that his dad's back wasn't hard like mine. I explained that I have a lot of rigidity in my back, probably related to PD. His reply, "That stinks!" Yep...it sure does.

What has been worse for me lately has been the anxiety and emotions that I have been dealing with. I mentioned my new job last week in my post. New things always stir up anxiety for me, among other things. This morning I replied to a post by Floridagal on last weeks check in thread. If you read my reply, you will get a picture of what I have been dealing with. In the last couple of days things have really come to a head for me and I am going to talk to my MDS about medication for anxiety and depression. Life has to get better than this.

Last week my husband had his head resting on my left arm/shoulder. He asked me if I was cold. I told him that I wasn't cold and I asked him why he asked me that. He told me that he could feel me shaking. I thought that was strange, because I couldn't even feel myself shaking! What I felt was more like a vibration running up and down my arm. As I have said before, I do have a resting tremor in my left arm and hand, but it usually only kicks up if I am cold, nervous, or stressed out. None of those things were an issue because I was about to fall asleep at the time he felt this shaking. I am curious if anybody else has had this type of experience before. I am going to mention it to my doctor tomorrow and see what he has to say about it.

I will post an update on how my appointment went with my MDS tomorrow. I hope that you are all doing well.

Evonne

Hi Evonne!..Good luck with your appointment..Ive been in out out of some depression too, and anxiety..Not as symptomatic the past few days though..I havent been shuffling around at all..But I knew that the shuffling was tied to emotional stress, and as the stress disapates, I find myself feeling much better..As Ive mentioned, stress puts me down big time..Any kind of emotional turmoil does, and the grander the turmoil, the worse the symptoms..So Ive been keeping myself busy, and getting out of the house, and doing things

I got on the scale today, and Im at 168 lbs!..I was 197 in October..I havent been trying to lose weight and have been eating good..This is strange!

A few days ago I started getting my boat ready to put back in the water..I had bought a new transducer for my depth sounder because I was having trouble with the sounder, and discovered that the wire was pulling out of the transducer..So I pulled the old one out and replaced it

Then I hit the power tilt and trim button, and nothing was happening..So I fiddled around with the wires on the trim pump, and it worked again..Hope it keeps working..I have a bad feeling about that..Also filled up the pump reservoir with hydraulic oil

Then the teleflex streering was jammed up solid, so I had to disconnect everything from the steering ram, and tap it back through the steeering tube on the outboard, and clean the shaft off with steel wool, and clean the steering tube out as well..Oil everything, and put it back together, and work the steering back and forth, untill it was reasonably loose

The I hit the pot hauler switch, and the damned hauler discs were jammed up right solid..The discs were full of scale rust, and the rope knife was hanging up on it, so I screwed around trying to chip the scale rust off the discs with a screw driver....so the rope knife wouldnt jam it up, with no luck..This is what you do out of desperation, when you try to Mickey Mouse something with out taking it apart like you're supposed to..So, I ended up taking the two disks off, pounded the scale rust off of them, and hit them with a grinder to clean them off good..put it back together, and voo-waa-la!!..Works like brand new..What a concept!!..I hadnt even looked at that damn boat since I hauled it out four months ago, and thats what happens when you let stuff sit around on a boat..Everything either gets glued or comes unglued

My buddy Danny came over this morning and we put her back in the water..The motor ran great..Shhhhhhhhhh!!

Then finally I took a ride down to the beach and picked four buckets of rocks to put under the bow to compenste for the weight of the cabin, gas, and batteries in the stern..It only took two buckets, but the exercise did me good..Back in business!..Tomorrow Im gonna hang a new set of 16' clam tongs, and Tuesday Im going to work

Life is what happens when you're not fishing

Steve,

How exciting! I am so glad you were able to fix the boat up and get it back in the water. I hope that you have a wonderful day on Tuesday. You will have to let us know how you do on your first day out. I have to comment on the picture you took of all of the rocks on the shore. It is beautiful!I can't wait until we have some sun around here again and we can go play at the lake for a day!

Bad news...I thought that my doctors appointment was at 8:40 this morning. I left the house early because I hate to be late anywhere. As I was driving along, just after 8:00 I got a phone call. It was the receptionist from my doctors office. Apparently, I was late because my appointment was at 8:00...not 8:40! Then, in my frenzy, I passed the off ramp and wound up going into Idaho. I had to get off of the freeway and turn around. I wound up in dead stop traffic because of road work. I called the office to let them know. She said that she was going to have to talk to the doctor about rescheduling me for another day. I burst into tears! I had hot flashes and slept horrible last night. Obviously I am over tired, sick of feeling like crap... and just drained. I think the lady on the other end of the phone thought I was a nut! I am just hanging by a thread right now and I was hoping to go to this appointment and get some relief. Not gonna happen today. Fortunately, they rescheduled me for 6:30am on this Wednesday. Thank God. I called my husband at work(near the doctor's office) and I wound up meeting him for breakfast. It was nice. It made up for the quarter of a tank of gas I used driving all the way out there!

So, I will be waiting patiently for Wednesday to come. I just hurt so bad right now that I can hardly stand being in my own skin. My right shoulder, neck, and back are all so stiff. On top of that I have been having really bad headaches from all of the tightness. I need something to loosen my muscles up before I lose it! I am going to try and lay down and take a nap. Hopefully, I will feel a little bit better when I wake up.

TTYL,

Evonne

[QUOTE=stevem53;466285]Hi Evonne!..Good luck with your appointment..Ive been in out out of some depression too, and anxiety..Not as symptomatic the past few days though..I havent been shuffling around at all..But I knew that the shuffling was tied to emotional stress, and as the stress disapates, I find myself feeling much better..As Ive mentioned, stress puts me down big time..Any kind of emotional turmoil does, and the grander the turmoil, the worse the symptoms..So Ive been keeping myself busy, and getting out of the house, and doing things

I got on the scale today, and Im at 168 lbs!..I was 197 in October..I havent been trying to lose weight and have been eating good..This is strange!

A few days ago I started getting my boat ready to put back in the water..I had bought a new transducer for my depth sounder because I was having trouble with the sounder, and discovered that the wire was pulling out of the transducer..So I pulled the old one out and replaced it

Then I hit the power tilt and trim button, and nothing was happening..So I fiddled around with the wires on the trim pump, and it worked again..Hope it keeps working..I have a bad feeling about that..Also filled up the pump reservoir with hydraulic oil

Then the teleflex streering was jammed up solid, so I had to disconnect everything from the steering ram, and tap it back through the steeering tube on the outboard, and clean the shaft off with steel wool, and clean the steering tube out as well..Oil everything, and put it back together, and work the steering back and forth, untill it was reasonably loose

The I hit the pot hauler switch, and the damned hauler discs were jammed up right solid..The discs were full of scale rust, and the rope knife was hanging up on it, so I screwed around trying to chip the scale rust off the discs with a screw driver....so the rope knife wouldnt jam it up, with no luck..This is what you do out of desperation, when you try to Mickey Mouse something with out taking it apart like you're supposed to..So, I ended up taking the two disks off, pounded the scale rust off of them, and hit them with a grinder to clean them off good..put it back together, and voo-waa-la!!..Works like brand new..What a concept!!..I hadnt even looked at that damn boat since I hauled it out four months ago, and thats what happens when you let stuff sit around on a boat..Everything either gets glued or comes unglued

My buddy Danny came over this morning and we put her back in the water..The motor ran great..Shhhhhhhhhh!!

Then finally I took a ride down to the beach and picked four buckets of rocks to put under the bow to compenste for the weight of the cabin, gas, and batteries in the stern..It only took two buckets, but the exercise did me good..Back in business!..Tomorrow Im gonna hang a new set of 16' clam tongs, and Tuesday Im going to work

Life is what happens when you're not fishing

Evonne,
Your doctor's appointment episode could have been written by me. I too missed my appointment with my neurologist last week. I thought it was at 4.00pm on friday, but in fact it was at 3.00pm. Doctors office called me at 3'15 to see where I am, and were nice enough to accommodate me for a 15min appointment if I made it there by 3.45pm

Despite using my planners, electronic as well as paper ones , I had already missed a couple of appointments (with diff doctors and a MRI!) prior to last week and I was mad at myself for not paying attention to what I write down.
I get in the car quite upset and worried about recent changes in my mental status. To keep me calm, I started the radio and was listening to NPR. WIht all these thoughts and activities, I didnt realize I was heading south on I-5 rather than north. Had I continued I would have ended up at the Mexican border!! Half way through I realized what I did and turned back. Needless to say, I was nowhere near the doctors office to make it my appointment

This episode made me quite upset and stressed me out. That made my symptoms worse and that was even more annoying. Thank God its a long weekend and I have time to recover!

Thanks for your post, though I feel bad for you (and for me), feels good to know I have company!!
Girija

This afternoon my husband found the original paper stating my appointment date and time. It was SUPPOSED to be at 8:40...so I was right! I called the doctors office to let them know that I found the original paper with the time on it, and to inquire about what happened this morning. They left a message on my home phone on Thursday last week confirming my appointment was at 8:00, but not stating that the time had changed from the original appointment time of 8:40. My husband had heard the message and told me that they had called to confirm the date and time. Earlier last week I had called the office to double check the time and I got a phone call back from one of the girls. She left a message on my cell phone stating the 8:40 time as well. I never listened to the message left on Thursday because I had just gotten the message on my cell phone a few days before. The explanation that I got today was that sometimes they rearrange the appointment times to better accomodate the needs of the patients and allow more time if needed. That is great and all, but they should definitely specify when leaving a message that the time of the appointment has been changed and request that the patient call back to discuss whether or not the new time will work out. I am sure that my husband would have passed that information along to me. Also, she mentioned switching over to a new appointment scheduling system. I have a feeling that there might have been a mistake somewhere in that area as well...who knows???

I had to get to the bottom of this...it was driving me nuts! I kept running over and over it in my head all morning. I don't get the kids out the door for school until 7:30 and the doctors office is a good 40-45 minute drive on a good day. I never would have scheduled an appointment at 8:00am without making plans for my mom to help get the kids off to school so that I could leave the house earlier. That is the kind of stuff that you have to think about when you have kids. It just didn't make sense to me. All this being said...at least it all makes sense to me now. I will be at the doctors office with bells on...at 6:30am on Wednesday! Wish me luck!

Evonne

Good to hear from you all this morning.
Evonne, I'm thinking good thoughts for your having a beneficial and satisfying visit with your MDS tomorrow. You definitely need some relief!

Steve, when you start talking about getting back to fishinig, I start trying to figure out some way to get to RI so I can either get in your way or maybe give you a hand for a day or two of clamming. Maybe later this year!

Girija, I'm so glad I don't have to deal with Southern CA freeways! When we go to Dallas or Houston, I usually let my wife drive because the urban traffic is so crazy and unpredictable. The last time we were in Dallas, I made an exception. I was driving on 635 at night and suddenly there was a large, brown box-like object in my lane no more than 100 feet in front of me! Iwas able to swerve to avoid it, and because the traffic was somewhat lighter than usual, there was no car in the lane into which I swerved. My wife was somewhat alarmed by the manuever, and she said she did not really see the object. Hallucination? I'm not aware of any others up to this point. Another thing to look forward to!

I spent the day yesterday supervising and helping a teenage friend open up new flower beds and vegetable garden plots in our back yard. It was a beautiful day, but, as is my frequent habit, I was enjoying it so much that I forgot to take my afternoon meds on time and my legs were just about paralyzed by the time I finally remembered them! Fortunately, I was able to sit in the recliner for the hour it takes for them to kick in. I feel truly blessed that I feel almost normal when they are working.

Everyone have a good week.

Robert

I am in a hurry, but I wanted to give you some info about my doctor's appointment today. Long story VERY short, he doesn't believe that I have PD. He said that I am having physiological tremors and that I am experiencing muscle weakness, anxiety and depression. He is not sure what is causing the muscle weakness. He ran blood tests to check pyruvic acid, lactic acid, and Co QIDA. Those results should all be in within two weeks. I am supposed to start CO Q10 this week and let him know how I am feeling. He recommended a counselor and I agree that it is a good idea and am more than willing to go. No meds were prescribed at this time.

I will write more later when I have some time.

Evonne..Just some food for thought..In my travels with Laura, she has been through the same stuff, and the jury is still out as to whether she has pd or not..She has been re-dxd with anxiety disorder twice and taken off pd meds, and faced a nightmare both times as a result..She recently saw Dr Joseph Friedman from Rhode Island here, and he saw something odd about her condition and suggested a spect scan which is either in clinical trials, or experimental..anyway..its not available to the public at large yet, for whatever reason..But, Dr Friedman is an excellent MDS and only treats pd, no other illnesses..The spect scan measures the amount of dopamine being produced in the brain, hence a good 2nd opinion if its pd or not..He suspects that Laura may have a Conversion Disorder, caused by anxiety/emotional problems, etc, and it mimics the symptoms of pd

Here is the thread....

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread74976.html


Be very careful of emotional dx's..Ive seen the horrors this can cause

Steve,

Thanks for your thoughts. Honestly, I am not sure what to think about all of this. I feel kind of numb actually. I have so many PD symptoms and it seems weird that I don't have PD. The doctor that I am seeing is an MDS and he deals with PD and movement disorders every day. I would think that if I did have PD, he would recognize it in me. I was sure that after the resting tremor was picked up on the EMG, that would be another indicator that I do have PD. Apparently, the tremor speed is not consistent with a PD tremor. He had told me that at my last appointment in November just from watching my tremor.

Anxiety has been an issue for me. It is a problem with many people in my family as well. My dad is an alcoholic that self medicates to ease his anxiety. My sister has anxiety attacks that make her blood pressure shoot up sky high. I do believe in the mind body connection to a point. It is hard for me to believe that all of this can be caused from anxiety though. I don't think that muscle weakness is caused by anxiety. There has to be a reason for that outside of anxiety. There has to be a reason for the pain that I experience every day. I was told that I have Fibromyalgia, but I never really believed that diagnosis because of the tremulus movements that I experienced. They aren't part of Fibromyalgia. l like my doctor very much. He really believes in treating the whole person, not just the disease. He is very conscientious and very throrough. I think that he will run tests until he figures out what is going on with me. You might see us both on Mystery Diagnosis someday!

I have to get ready to go do work and just keep plugging along for now. I had read that link when it was posted, but I will read it again a little later tonight. It might affect me differently at this point.

TTYL,

Evonne

Yes, she has anxiety in her family too...So many things sound the same Evonne..The difference being, you are recenty dx with pd, and she was dx 24 years ago, which made a big difference because they took her off of her pd meds, and she couldnt walk, etc..You might want to pm her for what its worth