34 year old son diagnosed with Parkinson's
 

Hello all, my son had developed a tremor a few years back but didn't pursue medical attention. He lives in an isolated area in Canada. I went with him to the neurologist last week and I concur it's Parkinson's because of the tremor and associated rigidity and lack of arm swing. I am devastated for him. He is devastated and not handling this very well. He has a family including a 16 month old baby. I am afraid because it seems the tremor has markedly increased over the last 2 years. I am terrified even to ask questions or should I say hear the answers.

If anyone who has early onset Parkinson's, I would appreciate an outreach.

My son has been very athletic, including being an expert Class IV kayaker. He almost died last time he went down river (3 months ago) because of loss of control on right side of body.

I don't know what I want from my post since I'm afraid of any answer I might hear. But I know I need to confront this so I can support him.

Thanks.

Hi nicric2020

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

I am sorry to read about your son. I don't live with PD though an uncle of mine in NZ did for some years. My whanau (kinship group) responsibility was to translate what his medics told him into understandable English (this was not always their greatest skill).

The PD forum here (https://www.neurotalk.org/parkinson-s-disease/), specially its "Sticky" threads may help you.

Best wishes.

Asking questions & getting knowledge will help you both to find the best care.
You can use our site search for symptoms, medications, diet , supplements in the PD forum. That might be the quickest way to find some past discussion on topics of interest.

[How do I search for something?

To quickly find a thread or post of interest anywhere on the bulletin board, click on the 'Search' link in the navigation bar at the top of most forum pages. Then, type in the keyword or phrase you wish to search for, and select either 'Show Threads' or 'Show Posts' to view the results. By selecting posts, you will be shown only the actual post in which the search word appears.

For more control over the search, select 'Advanced Search' from the drop-down box. The advanced search page allows you to restrict your search to individual forums, find posts or threads by user, or return results based on tags (?). There are also options to find posts from a certain date, or threads with a certain number of replies.

How do I search a specific forum or thread?

If you are browsing a forum, you can quickly search for a thread or post within it by clicking on the 'Search this forum' link near the top of the page (it's above the list of threads). You can also search for individual posts within a thread by clicking on the 'Search this Thread' link at the top of any thread view page.]

Welcome nicric2020. :Wave-Hello:

Hello Nicric,

So sorry to hear about your son. It is a heartbreaking thing to find out. I was just diagnosed as probable parkinsons last week, although I’m not in the early onset category. It’s good that your son is an athlete. Staying active and exercise are very helpful.

My neurologist did mention cycling as an activity that may delay progression. Here’s one site I found that discusses some of the cycling research. Cycling and Parkinson's: What We Know (and are learning) So Far - Davis Phinney Foundation

Here’s an article on Alan Alda that I’ve included because of his positive attitude. Here he talks about what he does to stave off parkinsons symptoms. Alan Alda on how he keeps Parkinson's symptoms at bay

I’m just getting started trying to figure out the best way forward and will pass along anything else I run across that looks helpful. Best of luck and hugs for both you and your son. :grouphug: