My Story
Somewhere back in our ancestors, our genes were defective as far as Dopamine
is concerned.
My Father had Depression, Anxiety, Prostate Cancer, Parkinson's and aneurysms
Well I picked up that gene failure and have depression, anxiety, prostate cancer
and Parkinson's. I am sure it did not start with my dad, but you have to realize
medicine at that time wasn't the best. No medicine for depression, only shock
treatments. (it was called Melancholy not depression.) Anxiety wasn't understood
so they thought he was having strokes. Prostate Cancer was really a death
sentence because the PSA test was not available so you couldn't find it quick
enough. There wasn't any medicine for Parkinson's.
I had been doing some paint by numbers for my family and it was getting more
difficult as I went along. One day, sitting at the computer, I noticed that the time
was 6 o'clock. Well for at least 5 minutes I could not figure out if it was am or pm.
My clothes were right for either time. No one was up so it could be 6am. I had a
cup of coffee on my computer stand. I then realized that Mil had gone shopping
and taken Butch and that was why no one was around. Long state of confusion. I
found that I could not work on the doll house project. Mitch was cutting my lawn
and even though I wanted to I could not come up with the energy. I usually take Mil
a cup of coffee in the morning and one time I did so and then went to get mine and
completely forgot if I took her coffee.
I could paint by resting my hand on the canvass and using my fingers to brush.
Around December 2007, I noticed that my fingers were trembling and had to quit
painting.
In January 2008, I noticed a slightly more tremor in hands and fingers. In March
2008, went on a cruise and didn't feel anything different. In April 2008, my hands
and whole body had tremors running through them.. I thought maybe a anxiety
attack was causing this. Then the "insides" were seriously trembling and I went to
the doctor.
I was diagnosed as having Parkinson's.
This is usually a long slow moving degeneration, but my symptoms have been
moving quickly and it does bother me a lot. I was given a drug called Sine met.
So far, I would call this a miracle drug. The first pill took the inside shaking away
and I felt a lot better. It is prescribed for three times a day but have found that the
medicine wears out early so my symptoms return for about two hours between
pills..and for a couple of days it didn't work at all. Shaking was very strong.
Remember people, forgetting where you left your keys is not dementia. Walking
into a room and forgetting what you went for is not dementia. Forgetting
someones name is not dementia.
Walking into a room and not know where you are, that's dementia.
Depression and Parkinson's go together like a horse and carriage. So it will be
important to treat the Depression actually more than the Parkinson's.
Well this is my story and as things change I will put it on here.
May 19th. Very nervous (from the shaking) and depressed. Going to Dr, on
Thursday 22nd because medicine is not cutting down the shaking. Sore Shoulder
and sore legs.
May 22nd. Was give prescription for Amantadine 100 mg.
About
Amantadine reduces symptoms of fatigue, tremor, and bradykinesia in early
Parkinson's disease and may reduce dyskinesias in more advanced PD.
Anti-cholinergics may be useful in treating people younger than 70 whose main
symptom is tremor. People with slowness, stiffness, and balance problems, and
people without tremor usually do not benefit from these medications. They also
may be useful in controlling drooling.
Cons and Complications
Side effects of Amantadine may include drowsiness and hallucinations.
Potential side effects of anticholinergics include memory and cognition problems,
hallucinations, constipation, dry mouth, and difficulty initiating urination.
Anticholinergics usually are not used in people older than 70 or people who have
developed mental impairment, such as memory problems, because these people
are more likely to have severe side effects such as confusion and hallucinations
Yes, I am 71 ----- watch out world here I come.
The Doctor said the soreness in shoulder and legs is because the tremors work up
the Arthritis. Nothing to do about that. Am now taking two drugs, hope they do
some good.
One sister has informed me that Restless Leg Syndrome is caused by imbalance
of Dopamine. Wonder do men get Parkinson's and ladies get RLS?
We are thinking that my Dad got Parkinson's when he was around 64 - 65 years old.
May 24: Medicine not working yet. Maybe slight improvement in fatigue)
May 25: Yes medicine is working, less fatigue and shaking is more controlled. It is
really noticeable when the medicine wears off. I become a James Bond Martini,
shaken not stirred. Going out to celebrate Stefani's 17th birthday. Going out is
strange for me, not secure, not confident. Hoping not to embarrass myself.
May 26: Stefani's party went well. As noon pill was wearing off took the third pill
and it lasted until about 8pm. No more pills for the day. Had great time went
swimming. Get confused momentarily. Had to leave around 8pm because shaking
was getting to bad.
May 27: Great news ! The new pill works because I have less fatigue. So I can see
light at the end of the tunnel. I feel that I can accept the Parkinson's problem now
and start learning how to live with it. When my hand is shaking, I cant put it in my
pocket (that doesn't look very good). I can enjoy peeing though.
Seriously the medicine starts to work within a half hour of taking it and it does
reduce to tremors down to a livable acceptance. They wear off in three hours and
it is not time to eat again. So the tremors are usually heavy for about an hour and
half twice a day. Dinner is the last pill so you can understand that about 8pm on
there isn't anything left.
This thing is sort of like the damaged nerve pain problem, the problem finds a way
to get by barriers that are put up. With pain management I have to change
programs and shocked myself for a few hours and then can put it back to my
normal position. It is like fighting a live thing inside you.
So what I am saying is we don't want to up the dosage too soon. What ever you
give it the Parkinson's will get through it, so take everything a step at a time.
I will have to hope that people will accept my shaking as something that I cant do
anything about Maybe we can get some laughs, it is funny to try and get a
cigarette to my mouth. Will I stop smoking? No I will just open wider.
May 28th: Great day ! The second pill must have done the trick. Fatigue and
depression are under control. Now have the hopeful feeling of being able to live
with Parkinson's. I know my mind is still working because i am trying to make up
some Parkinson's jokes. Like the bottle that says shake before drinking. Or how
about; Want a massage, I'll just put my hand on your back.
May 30th: On the road to recovery. Went out yesterday to the cleaners, bank, pool
supply and post office. Every thing is going well. Feeling fine ready to party.
June 2nd: Happy Birthday Margee. Good weekend. This medicine seems to be
doing the trick. Nice of the girls to come over Sunday, enjoyed cookout.
June 3rd: Wanted to cut the grass before Mitch came back from vacation, but the
lawnmower wouldn't start. Now everyone knows I have cut a lot of grass in my
time and should know how to start a lawnmower. But through dementia, I did not
lift the handle to release the blades so it wouldn't start. I have been trying to
exercise my brain along with my body. So I put the Chronicles of the world on the
website. This was a lot of typing and was not an easy job. I am looking at the word
and my fingers wouldn't relate as it usually did. I am looking at the word and my
mind couldn't spell it. So many mistakes I almost gave up. I will have to keep
working to keep the brain working.
June 4th: Can't get over how bad the body is. Legs are so sore, and weak.
Shoulders and arms sore and weak. Will force myself to exercise but it seems the
body I had 6 months ago is gone. Don't feel depressed but sure am weak.
June 6th. If I don't exert myself then it is a pretty good day. Now, how do you get
your exercise without exerting yourself. Anyways, doing fine. Love to all.
June 7th: Medicine not handling the movements. Not a good day...
June 9th Better day
June 12th: Been busy with house repairs. Have noticed that if tired or nervous
then the medicine doesn't work. Other than that am doing fine. No brain fluffs that
I know of. Let's go to once a week posting. So pick a day and just log on once a
week. Love ya all.
June 19th: Doctor visit. Changed Sinemet to four times a day instead three. Since
it was running out all the time. Also stopped taking Amantadine and switching
over to Provigil 200 mg tablets. This medicine is to keep me awake. Seems a little
strange, but I do take naps during the day because of being tired. Will see how
this works.
June 20th: New medicine really did the trick for feeling better. More alert, just
overall better feeling. Shaking still heavy but can handle it. Click on date above
for next posting.