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Jack and Jean, I'm not an expert at anything but I just wanted to say as a part of this group Best Wishes to you both where ever life leads you. Shirley ----------------------------------------------------- Click here for Free Video!! http://www.gohip.com/freevideo/ ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack and Jean Corzine <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2000 12:29 PM Subject: Introduction > Hello, > My wife has recently been to a local neurologist who specializes in muscle > disease and motion disorders. This is after going to a regular neurologist > for almost a month for what we had originally thought of as being > stress-related tremors to her right arm. The original dr. (we'll call him > Dr. A) prescribed Xanax at 0.25 mg three times a day for two weeks. After > only 3 doses we called the dr. on call for side effects consisting of > increased tremors, severe depression and chest pain. We were advised to take > her off of the Xanax and to take her to the emergency room for the chest > pains (the ER found nothing wrong with her heart). After taking her off of > the Xanax she returned to having just her right arm tremors. We saw Dr. A > and he set up a EMG for the following Friday to rule out a pinched nerve or > any other nerve damage (Jean had already had a MRI of the head and a EEG > along with 4 blood tests). The EMG showed normal function and Dr. A > prescribed Zoloft at 50 mg once per day for two weeks. He told us that there > were little to be concerned about with side effects and the drug would take > up to two weeks to show results. > > The very next night (after two doses) we were at a hockey game when Jean > started complaining about increased tremors in her right arm, muscle > contractions in her right leg and tremors in her right leg as well. We left > the game early to take her back into the ER where the E.R. Dr. called the > dr. on call for Dr. A's neurology group. Jean was prescribed Skelaxin 800 > mg. for relaxing the muscles. I took her back to see Dr. A the following > Monday (two days after the leg problems manifested. Dr. A saw us for about > 10 minutes (charged us $80 U.S.) and basically told us that we were not > giving the medicine time to take effect, that he thought it was just stress > (even though we had de-stressed our life as much as is possible) and that > he had no further answers for us. He did say that he would refer us to the > Dr. in Peoria for his recommendations (we will call him Dr. B for now). We > got our records from Dr. A only to find out that the majority of the history > that we had told him had been transcribed incorrectly. > > We went to Dr. B one week after seeing Dr. A for the last time. Dr. B did a > fairly thorough exam of Jean's arm and leg (Dr. A did not even exam Jean's > leg but felt that it was only "stress"). During the exam by Dr. B, he noted > stiffness and slowness in the leg and arm muscles on the right side of the > body as well as the tremors. He listened to us while we discussed different > aspects of this affliction and made the decision that he thought that it was > Parkinson's Disease. He has prescribed Symmetrel 100 mg. twice a day. Jean > has also mentioned a couple of instances of tremors to the head area but > they have not re-manifested since two instances last week. The symmetrel has > reduced the tremors to a more manageable state but she still has some > difficulty with walking (her right leg still "drags" and is slower to > maneuver). Dr. B has also mentioned having a PET scan done to see the > dopamine levels in the brain cells. We are curious as to exactly what the > PET scan is and whether or not it is actually useful for diagnosis. If > anyone has some expertise or experience in the PET scan we would appreciate > any information on it. > > My wife has just given me permission to mention her age so here goes.... she > is 32 and the mother of three currently (we have two of our own children and > one foster son). She is adopted so we do not have much in the way of family > history. We do have contact with her birth mother but have had no luck with > contact with her natural father. As far as we know there is no history of PD > in her family. I'm not real sure what else is relevant but I'm sure you will > let me know if I have left anything out. Thanks for listening. > > > > Jack and Jean Corzine > www.geocities.com/~fosterparents > Herp enthusiasts > Foster Parents > Proud mom and dad >