@hopeful33250
I am 73 years old and when I was 63, I was diagnosed with artery spasms that eventually required early retirement from working. (I was an oncology chaplain working in three outpatient clinics). March of 2025, I had a follow up with my cardiologist and during the visit a fellow he had working with him examined me and said, (Has anyone talked to you about Parkinson Disease)?"Four months later I was seeing a neurologist who diagnosed me in his office. He also scheduled the skin biopsy test. I had to wait about three weeks for the insurance to approve the test. After the test, it takes around 3 weeks to get result. Result was 95% positive. I was started on Carb/Levo 25-100 mg tablets, three times a day. Nausea was bad and additional 25 mg of Carbidopa was added which helped. Due to restless leg syndrome, Pramipexole 0.25 was prescribe for one week then doubling dose. Worked extremely well. Physical therapy is scheduled starting November 18th. It has been a whirlwind; however, my neurologist is right on top of this and I wouldn't want it any other way. My heart goes out to those folks that I am reading about who have waited and struggled to get the right diagnosis. I am finding the progression to be fairly rapid. Balance is bad, speech is getting blurred, cognition is confused. I have horrible dreams. I experience bouts of fatigue almost daily and after being active, it is difficult to accept that I am slowing down. Great support from family and friends. Thank you for letting me share and join this group of extremely brave individuals along with their caregivers.