-
Before I was diagnosed with PD a friend pulled me aside and told me he thought my job was “killing” me. I had sharp pain in my left shoulder for almost two years and this caused my left arm to not swing when I walked. I believe the “frozen shoulder” was the result of extensive high stress in both my personal life and with my job. Being a Type A person I work hard, was in an office tied to a laptop often 10- 12 hours a day, had a very full personal schedule, slept little, ate junk food, took meds for cholesterol which caused my blook sugar to run high. Constipation was a constant problem. Basically I pushed myself hard. I tried acupuncture to reduce stress and my shoulder pain but it only worked for a short-time so I was sent to physical therapy. The physical therapist is who told me to see a neurologist. This is when I was told I had PD but I never had any test other than when I was given levodopa the symptoms improved. I think the cortisol which results from stress burned out my brain and reduced my dopamine production. I am not sure if levodopa helps or causes some symptoms. I have been treated for PD for over 7 years but in the last couple months my doctor added Amantadine which has helped a lot. This a type of flu med which is supposed to minimize inflammation. Not sure where this will go. My version of Parkinson’s is all about gait/mobility issues. My focus is on limiting anything that creates cortisol and increasing anything that increases dopamine. Does this sound familiar to anyone??