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Looking Back - What Were Your Early Warning Signs of Parkinson's?
I'm 51 and do not (currently) have Parkinson's. However, I've been deemed to be "at high risk of developing PD" due to having something called REM Sleep Behavior disorder (RBD), which I was diagnosed with 2 years ago (after suffering from it for 5 years prior).
I did see a neurologist at Mayo after the RBD diagnosis, who ran me through the battery of PD tests, but she said I wasn't showing any detectable signs of it.
She tried to set my mind at ease by saying there IS a (small) chance I'll never actually develop PD. Yay for that, I guess.
For those of you who have Parkinson's, I'm curious:
Looking back over your "healthy years," knowing what you know now, were there any very early (pre-diagnosis) warning signs that you didn't recognize at the time? Anything you ignored or just wrote-off as "normal"?
What I'm getting at here is: short of the obvious symptoms (tremors, walking issues, etc), is there anything subtle I should be on the lookout for... so I know when to reach out to a neurologist again?
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@bmfoster Glad to hear there's something that works. It doesn't happen very often but when and if it does, it will be handy to have this in my questions to ask y neurologist. Thanks!
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1 ReactionSerious lack of stamina, dizzyness, loss of balance, falling for no apparent reason, constipation, central & obstructive sleep apnea, constipation, urinary incontinence, E.D. most started many years before I was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease.
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1 ReactionMy spouse starting writing small and then would not sign anything. Falling at work, essential tremors, poor sleeping. No REM sleep.I asked for Melantonin. It did wonders. He was on CPap until he was unble to benefit from it. Has oxygen due to hypoxia. He really was complaing more of back pain. He also had orthostatic hypotension. I am so sorry you have this horrible disease. 🫂💕
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1 ReactionMy most notable "pre-diagnosis" symptom was anosmia, or the loss of my sense of smell. I also had orthostatic hypotension for more than a few years before my original (mis?) diagnosis of essential tremor. I was finally diagnosed with PD after a Dat-Scan three years ago and several decades after being treated for other symptoms now all consolidated as PD. It does seem as though advances in the admittedly difficult diagnostic process may be advancing which would be helpful to patients while they are still better able to fight back.