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Hi again- PD is often misdiagnosed early in its course. However I believe that it is usually diagnosed as something else. As a physician I didn't seriously consider PD, when I started developing symptoms 1-2 years prior to diagnosis. My main contact with PD as a psychiatrist was drug induced parkinsonism like Delda's husband had experienced. As my symptoms gradually increased which were what I perceived as weakness in the left arm and slowing of my walking. It was complicated by the fact that I had polio as a child and I thought I had post-polio syndrome. I worked with a neurologist who was a good friend and that was a mistake. As I went through multiple mri's and other tests and found nothing and symptoms progressed we both became more frustrated. At one point I saw a diagnosis of a conversion disorder by someone who had given me an EMG. (That is another way of saying "Its all in your head".) I wasn't referred to a psychiatrist because one of the psychiatrists they refer to was ME!!! After consulting with a neurosurgeon because I had some arthritic changes in my neck and finding out I did not have spinal cord compression, I asked my then very distraught neurologist friend if because of our relationship (my wife was also a good friend of hers as were 2 of our kids), if she would prefer that I see someone else. She jumped at the opportunity and I wound up seeing one of her partners who I knew only as a professional colleague and not socially and by that time my symptoms had progressed to the point that he made the diagnosis on the first visit. I think my story especially for at that age (early 40's), and the fact that I had some other conditions confusing the clinical picture- is rather typical. For physicians who don't work with PD day in and day out there is a tendancy to miss the diagnosis especially in younger people. I have heard relatively few cases of PD being diagnosed in people who don't have it (except for PSP) and some other first cousins of PD. Benign Familial tremor might be another exception but that can be differentiated especially on clinical course. Charlie Bob Anibal wrote: > > My wife, Cecily 77/20 was working as a payroll clerk when she came down > with PD. She didn't really notice any particular symptoms, just sort of > slowing down in her work, missing little things here and there, but no > tremor etc. She felt something was wrong and consulted MD. He put her in > hospital and a neurologist diagnosed PD. Some time later we went to a > Movement Disorders Clinic. The head of the clinic said that he didn't think > she had PD, took her off sinemet and had her return in 2 weeks. He then > decided she did have PD, but said that he had never seen it so early. He > administered a flock of special tests (gratis, because of the earliness). > As time went on calling for adjustments of medication, it was obvious she > did have PD. The progress has been very slow, thank Heaven. > My question is this. I notice newbies coming on the forum in common, report > that they had symptoms for varying periods before diagnosis and treatment > started. Did they recognize the symptoms as PD and go into denial or didn't > think of PD and just waited until symptoms developed to the point that they > had to find out what's wrong?? > If I get any answers to this I will try and give a report when I get enough > to report. > Bob Anibal > [log in to unmask] -- CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D. Middleton, WI [log in to unmask]