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Mark, I thought about whether I would say this or not and decided TO say it. The ER doctor that you saw is Medical Knowledge Challenged! If you can get her email address, send her an education... links are provided. Deborah ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.rush.edu/patients/neuroscience/parkinsons.html States the following: Clinical features of Parkinson's Disease: Parkinson's disease is a disease which generally begins in adult life. The average age of onset is 55 tp 60 years old. The symptoms of Parkinson's disease include tremor when the affected limb is at rest, slowness of initiation and carrying-out of movement, rigidity of the neck, arms or legs and impairments in walking and balance. Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive disease which """usually begins with symptoms in "one" arm or leg""" and which over time progressively worsen and lead to difficulties with independent walking. ------------------------------------------------------- http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/http/depts/clin_neuro/teaching/tutorials/parkinsons/parkinsons1.html Clinical Features The onset is insidious and common presenting symptoms include tremor, stiffness, or clumsiness, usually involving one side. Other presentations include difficulty walking, fatigue, depression, dysarthria, or limb discomfort. """The disease is generally "asymmetrical" at presentation.""" ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.parkinson.org/pdedu.htm What is the pattern of progression in Parkinson's Disease? Parkinson's disease often begins with an episodic tremor of the hand on """one side of the body.""" Tremors may be distressing because of their visibility to others, but fortunately, this symptom rarely lead to serious disability (approximately 25%, of PD patients do not even have tremors). Resting tremors may be accompanied over time with slowness and stiffness on the affected side. As symptoms progress, patients may notice impairment on the other side of the body, almost always less severe than the primary side. _________________________________________________________ Just got back from the ER. I called my Dr. and he told me to go. I was shaking so bad I could barely drive. The ER Dr. was pretty useless. She said that Parkinson's never affects just one side only. I said that I had read that it often begins on one side only and then progresses to both sides. She replied in that tone that only Drs. can do that she had seen very many Parkinson's patients and had never seen it only on one side. I'm not shaking as bad as I was, but still having trouble drinking or smoking (yeah, I know I should quit). She wasn't even willing to give me a prescription for the anitviral flu pill that I can't remember the name of that helps. I have an appointment with my regular Dr. on Friday. I guess I'll just shake til then. Does valium help? I have some left over from episodes of muscle spasms. Anyway, thanks everyone who has replied both on the list and off. Mark _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn