Janice.....

If only our species could have been graced with continuous
hindsight PRIOR to individual life-events as one of the senses
we are born with!

Unfortunately, the symptoms you refer to are SOOO
common in virtually all humans, I'd betcha you'd find that
at one time or another virtually every individual who's
walked God's green earth has had one or another in their life.

Over the course of my life I've had several  - no, make that
MOST symptoms, if not all - and they were so insignificant
to me THEN I would never have tied them together and
thought they were the first signs of some disease.  I'd have
been embarrassed to go to my physician with such vague
but persistent symptoms, tho I DID have 'em all at one time
or another over my lifetime.  In fact, I wouldn't have even
thought of them as actual "symptoms," 'cause of so many
other people I knew (and know) who live with them.

I would have been called a hypochondriac and a whiner if in
my late teens, and or twenties and thirties I'd commented
about such vague symptoms regularly and it would have been
suggested that I should "get a life."

Now..... today.... after 24 years of living with PD (16 or 17
years since diagnosis), I CAN tie these symptoms into the
Parkinson's Disease I ended up with.   BUT I keep in mind
even if I HAD recognized these vague and annoying
symptoms as PD, most others who have the same symptoms
at some time in their life do NOT have Parkinson's (tho they MAY
have some other disease or condition which has the same or similar
symptoms).

My point is (gee, sometimes it sure takes me lotta time to GET to
a point!) <grin> we are encouraged, even TAUGHT, from our
childhood on not to complain about vague aches, pains, and other
little things that are common in life and a HUGE number of others
live with them as well.  It's generally only YEARS after keeping
silent that we FINALLY get a diagnosis and begin our journey into
hindsight and can then say, "Ah HA!  THAT'S when I first realized
I might have a REAL medical problem instead of a vague compendium
of symptoms."

For ME, it's become a stand-off with PD - I'm forced by a slow but
continuous degeneration to take each day as it comes, grappling
with issues, symptoms, and feelings I'd never even heard of or
imagined in past years.  Because of that, I find it difficult to
dwell on the "what ifs" of the PAST.  It's tough enough just
dealing with TODAY.

Barb Mallut
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-----Original Message-----
From: Jennifer Smith <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, May 10, 1999 3:03 AM
Subject: Questions about possible early symptoms


>I am reposting this message from earlier.  When I posted it
before it
>was not under a subject heading that described the contents
fairly.  I
>recieved no responses or comments so I assume it kind of got lost
in the
>shuffle.  Either that or no one had anything to say about it.  In
any
>case, I am running it up the flagpole one more time and see if
anyone
>salutes it:
>
>Dear Listmembers,
>I have been following the posts about vision problems, dry
scalp/skin
>and moving crumbs with great interest.  Many of these things have
been
>minor problems or observations for me for a number of  years.  My
>question is
>this: of the above mentioned, are any of these PD relatated or
drug
>related?  What I am looking for here are some possible warning
signs of
>PD that were ignored by me as just some wierd thing.  As far as
vision
>goes, I have had problems with tired eyes since my late teens.
>Convergence problems and left eye drooping when I got tired,
sometimes
>double vision.  I wore glasses for a while to help with the
convergence
>problem which was attributed to weak muscles in my eyes.  I hated
them
>and stopped wearing them and just lived with it.  I have also had
>floaters in my eyes but they come and go.  I see things moving
that
>aren't moving but, there again, ususally when my eyes were tired.
Most
>of these things along with itchy scalp and dry skin began in my
late
>teens and early twenties.  I just lived with them because there
were no
>other strange things happening to my body at the time so I just
figured
>they were just part of my chemistry.  I have also remembered that
since
>those years I have had bouts of depression but also figured that
was
>just part of life.  I only began to worry when I developed
numbness and
>later a tremor in my right hand which progressed over the course
of
>about eight months into breathing problems, left foot tremor,
stiffness
>and rigidity and loss of balance.  I was diagnosed in January
of this
>year (now age 41) with PD when the doctor I was seeing gave me a
>dose of Sinemet and breathing, tremors and rigidity returned to
normal
>and loss of balance improved dramatically.
>
>Could it be that some of these things were beginning symptoms?
Call me
>crazy (it wouldn't be the first time) but would like to hear
comments on
>
>this.  Thanks in advance for any replies.
>Jennifer Smith
>
>
>
>--
>Ars Longa - Vita Brevis
>Art is Long - Life is short
>:(:) )
>