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I've been following this list for a little over a week now and thought it was about time to introduce myself. I'm Phil Gesotti 47 (1) although the diagnosis explained a lot of aches and pains I had for about 3 years prior. I'm on Sinemet 25/100 4 times a day. My neuro prescribed two 5 mg tablets of Eldepryl per day, but one seems to work better for me. My symptoms were gait problems with the right leg due to turning in of my foot and loss of right arm swing. The Sinemet restored most of the arm swing. The most annoying problem I have now is the tendency for my right shoulder and forearm to tighten up. The upper arm and shoulder ache, my elbow bends to 90 degrees, my fingers curl in and my thumb points out. Just like in the textbook. It is aggrevated by stress and fatigue. I started taking the Eldepryl about two months ago. I had to switch to decaf tea in the morning as the caffenine in regular tea aggrevated the stiffness. I've been using a 2 1/2 pound leg weight periodically on my wrist to stretch my arm. This helps quite a bit and makes it easier to go back to my computer. The weight has Everlast (the same people that make boxing gloves) printed on them so it always causing a reaction when I walk into a meeting. I'm an electrical engineer and work for a large defense contractor. I have thick skin so keep up the debates on defense versus medical research spending. I have a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters (elementary and middle school). I've been coaching youth soccer for about 5 years. I started a girls division two years ago which has now grown to seven teams. I'm coaching my younger daughter and assistant coaching on my older daughters team. I started doing this before the PD medication so it isn't a side effect. The PD has affected my coordination and I can't demonstrate as well as I once could. It doesn't matter with my older daughter as her team is embarking on the teenage years. Sometimes between yak attacks and their space voyages, I can get a point across. I made peace with the disease about four months after diagnosis. My decision to start medication immediately after diagnosis was based on the need to provide for my family and the realization that it doesn't get any better than this. The mind is still intact. I just have a little electromechanical problem. My neuro pointed out that I am in my peak earning years and I should make the best of them. With quarterly visits, he sure will. :-) The diagnosis has had positive effects. I leave work at a reasonable hour now. The management team recognizes that I can no longer physically work 60 hour weeks to help pull programs out of the fire. They happily take whatever overtime I can muster. I told my wife that if tremors eventually develop or wild uncontrolled movements, I'll simply move to Vegas and become an Elvis impersonator. In closing, a data point for the diabetes survey. There were eleven children in my mothers family. We have a good distribution of just about every other disease including MS, but no diabetes. My take on this whole PD thing is one of scientific curiosity. One book I read on the subject speculated that only 75% of the people diagnosed with PD actually have a dying off of the portion of the brain that produces dopamine. Since we really can't test for PD and really can't quantitatively measure the effect of medication on nerve cells, we can only observe the effect on symptoms. I saw a lot of irony in this when the issue of using mice for testing drugs was brought up. In effect, we are the mice. We pour in the drugs and observe what happens. Wasn't this done back in the sixties? Never mind, another story. The good news is we can talk and we're wired. What a world! :-) Never let the glass be half empty. It is always half full. regards to all, Phil Gesotti ([log in to unmask])