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Kathy Draeger wrote: > > My mother is in the hospital and just received a firm diagnosis of Parkinson's > and they just put her on sinemet?. She refused to see doctor's most of the > time and the few times she did go they would say that it looked like she had > PD but that they needed to follow her for a while to make sure. She has > tremors that started in one hand and then went on to her legs. She walks with > short shuffling steps and says that sometimes it feels like her feet are glued > to the floor. It is very difficult for her to get up out of a chair. She > also has severe arthritis in her spine as well as osteoporosis. Her tremors > started about 4 years ago, but she had a lot of muscle weakness and fatigue > for about 16 years prior to the tremors. She had a frozen shoulder about 20 > years ago. This was followed by a lot of fatigue and muscle weakness, gastro > paresis(the muscles in her stomach weren't working properly), bladder > problems, and various other complaints. Could all of these muscle problems > and weakness been the early stages of PD even though the tremors didn't start > until much later. I am very concerned because I have been suffering from > muscle fatigue and weakness for many years myself. I was diagnosed with > Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 10 years ago. I especially have trouble with the > right side of my body. I get spasms in my right shoulder that affect my right > arm and hand and my right leg gets very stiff and I find myself dragging my > foot on that side. I cannot walk very far without running out of steam and > then my movements become very slow and stiff and my arms don't swing when I > walk unless I make them swing. Then I have to sit down and wait until I > regain some steam. I do not have tremors at this time. Is PD hereditary? > Can it start with exhausion and muscle problems before the tremors begin? > > I have read before about a possible connection between PD and > pesticides/herbicides. When I was little we had a farmer's field directly > behind our house and we had well water with the well being right on the very > edge of the farmer's field. Could this cause PD? > > Please excuse the length of this post but I am very concerned and upset right > now. Thanks for listening and I would appreciate any response. > > Kathy Hi, Kathy, When I was diagnosed (almost 9 years ago at age 41), I had been battling occasional shoulder and arm pain on my right side for about 20 years. In my early 20's my GP gave me a shot of cortisone which helped temporarily. In my 30's an orthopaedist diagnosed the problem as a "rotater cuff problem" and gave me a set of exercises to do which seemed to help temporarily but the pain always returned even if I did the exercises faithfully. In my 40's when I was diagnosed with PD and started Sinemet, my pain went away, and I have not been bothered by it since. My diagnosis came after I went to a GP (a different one from the one I saw in my 20's) after I noticed a slight tremor in my thumb, a lack of swing in my right arm, and the shoulder/arm/finger movement problems noted earlier which had begun to affect my typing. He referred me to a neurologist who did several different tests to rule out other possibilities and then had me try Sinemet which helped immediately. Regarding any connection to pesticides/herbicides/well water, I grew up on a farm and drank well water for 18 years from a well that was about 40 feet from a corn field. Also, a farmer neighbor of mine had similar shoulder symptoms and was diagnosed with PD 15 to 20 years ago. I certainly don't want to scare you or add to your concern, but it sounds like a possibility I would want to have checked out by a good movement disorder specialist. Let us know what you decide to do for yourself and how your mom is doing. Julie 49/9