Here we are at Friday and I am feeling good this morning and being Friday I am doing a post about Parkinson’s.
This week we are talking about Parkinson’s and the older person, being older means we have symptoms that just go with being older.
Things like arthritis, vision problems, shortness of breath and with men prostate problems, as well as having a bad memory, falling over and becoming confused.
There is also the pain that comes with Parkinson’s due to our bodies not moving and rigidity we have but when you throw in having arthritis it can be more frustrating.
These things can make being diagnosed with Parkinson’s when you are over 60 a bit difficult because many doctors will just write those symptoms of as being older.
You may be thinking what about the tremor well that can also just be put down to getting older as some older people will have a slight tremor due to their age.
Some people don’t realise that someone can have Parkinson’s for years before being diagnosed. I first noticed a slight tremor in my little finger in my right hand which I took no notice of until it spread to the whole hand. I asked the GP I was seeing at the time he just shrugged it off and said I was getting older. I was around 54 at the time, but after I changed doctors, the new doctor took it more seriously and referred me to a neurologist over at the hospital.
The neurologist said I had a functional tremor that would not get worse. As time went on things got worse and the GP I was seeing left the practice and I started seeing someone else, who contacted the hospital’s neurology department I should be seen again, I was but was still told it was a functional tremor even the hospital movement disorder doctor said it was functional.
Things continued to get worse and when I asked my GP about the pain in my arms and the stiffness as well as other things would say it is the Parkinson’s you don’t have.
I finally got so bad that I asked to be referred to another neurologist which I was, but that guy wasn’t sure what was wrong and referred me to another one in Sydney and it was Dr Babu who arranged for me to be seen a movement disorder team not just one person. That was when I was diagnosed.
Jo-AnneRamplings 
Dearest Jo-Anne,
Kudos to you for being persistent and asking for a referral of a ‘better’ neurologist!
Yes, we rely on their opinion and action and often a lot is at stake.
Discovering things timely can help minimizing the negative outcome and delaying any progress.
Wishing you all the very best as you move through time and things are seldom reversing and being better—for whatever ailment.
It is excellent that you write about it and inform others. Also it is good for your mental wellbeing to activate your brain and to share emotions. Writing is a very positive action!
Big hugs and admiration,
Mariette
Thanks Mariette, I write about my struggle with Parkinson’s as a way of coping with it especially when things don’t seem to be going my way, like this afternoon when nothing feels like it is going right.
Feel warmly embraced! 💞
Oh, why does the health ‘care’ profession have to be such a lottery?!?
The infographic you posted shows 5 ways to improve your health – I noticed number 1 is doing things that you enjoy add value to your life… does blogging count for you?
Linda xx
Blogging and writing to pen pals helps me a lot and when I am having an afternoon like todays when I feel nothing is going right and life is so hard but tomorrow will be a new day
Hang in there – it’s 3.30pm and I finally got out of bed after a migraine-shocker… I popped into Blog-land and there’s lots of support, so feeling better already. Yay for finding pen-pals (digital or otherwise) xx