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Early signs and symptoms
Do you remember what your earliest Parkinson’s symptom was? Did you suspect it was Parkinson’s at the time?
In this flash briefing, Jo Gambosi recalls some of her sister’s earliest Parkinson’s symptoms, which at the time she dismissed as normal signs of aging (or wasn’t aware they were happening until someone pointed them out).
How similar is your experience to that of Jo’s sister?
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19 Replies
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I am Ram from Chennai, India. I was 63 when diagnoised PD. I was surprised at the finding. I was having trouble with my bike with bad battery for self starting, thus i was kicking my bike for every start and felt by left hand stiff and tight. But the same was not easing at all for more than 6 months. I went to an orthopedic clinic and found nothing wrong and then went to a neurologist, Dr Satish Kumar who immediately identified as PD and suggested medication. After 6 month of treatment I was feeling drowsy and dizzy. I went to another neurologist Dr Natarajan and who reduced the drug intake and stabilize my disorder. Due to corona virus I could not visit Dr. I continue medicines as suggested, now.
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About 3 years ago (and 3 years before diagnosis) a long term patient and friend I hadn’t seen for a couple of years came into my dental office for routine care and asked me, “Why are you walking like that? Are you ok?”
I wasn’t sure what she meant, but looking back she had noticed me shuffling, unliked I had walked before. Shortly after I began to notice a slight occasional tremor in my left hand, but at the time I did not associate either condition with Parkinson’s.
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I thought my first symptom was a fluttering tremor in my left thumb at the age of 56. When I researched the list of Parkinson’s symptoms I learned that my loss of smell 5 years earlier was on the list too!
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I was having slight stiffness on the left elbow and fingers i could not clench, i felt like having put on left hand glove and the slight difficulty in clenching fingers together.
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Hi,
I am new to the group and newly diagnosed. One of the symptoms I have is my arms feel like lead and the top of my arms feel like I have been punched or dead armed. I also can’t lift my arms above my head without pain. My right hand shakes all the time and I have a finger permanently pulled into my palm. I have many other problems but I was wondering if anyone else had this problem with there arms.-
Hi Michelle, thanks for sharing your experience and welcome to the forum community. I don’t personally share your experience, but there are a lot of diverse perspectives in this group and there may be another member (or several) who can relate.
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Your inability to raise your arms over your head sounds like frozen shoulder, a condition my wife (not a PwP) had which was resolved through surgery and lots of physical therapy. You likely have more than one thing going on. PD is not the source of all our ailments.
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Hello everyone, my first symptom was tremor in my right hand. It started at least 10 years before I was diagnosed and it would start for no reason. My first PD symptom was my right foot sticking to the floor. I suspected PD right away. This was November 1, 2019. Another symptom I look back and see, is my voice being hoarse for the first few days of school. I thought it might be sinus related but it could also have been PD. My voice is usually hoarse now. But if I use it, it clears up. So far exercise has reduced my tremor substantially. An interesting symptom I have at this time is that my skin is peeling on my eyelids.
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Hi Gary, thanks for sharing your experience. I think you’re the first person I’ve heard of with the skin peeling symptom. I wonder if anyone else in this forum can relate. You mentioned that exercise helps – what kind of exercise do you do?
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My diagnosis came 11 years ago. A neighbor whose father had PD told me I was walking like he did, shuffling my feet. When I called my brother who is a GP doctor, he immediately agreed with my neighbor. Since we zoom once a week he told me he had seen that I had very little facial expression and he should have put 2+2 together.
Stiffness, poker face, writing terribly small were the first signs of PD.
Now when I meet someone who obviously has PD I wonder whether I should check to see if they know they have it. But I discovered people don’t always want to know!
Sincerely
Tom
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Ally, My exercise consists of treadmill for two half hour periods per day. I try to stretch my movement over all my waking hours. I don’t want to compact them. If my hunting or fishing is strenuous I’ll take those as a substitute. One of my earliest symptoms was a feeling of lactic acid in my muscles. But in my mind it went against all the advice on the value of exercise when having PD. Found an exceptional physical therapist in La Crosse that has given me stretching to assist getting in and out of bed. I lift weights to help me carry a gun all day. I shoot archery to keep my right hand tremor in check but for various reasons had to get more consistent so went back to pushups. Time will tell. I like touch your toes; deep squats; an elastic band around my knees just to name a few that I can explain. Find a good physical therapist. Get to a health club or YMCA and explore. Working new muscle groups helps. There is something like half of a round 10 foot diameter cage that I have found to be very useful. It has a chart with pictures of how this apparatus can be used for stretching though it would seem to help with muscle tone also. It gives me new options and keeps my efforts interesting.
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I was formally diagnosed around 4 years ago. I’d intermittently had signs of tremors, slow movement, and falling but was it just age? I was volunteering as a deejay in Santa Fe one morning. The weather was bad so I rushed and fell. I didn’t associate that with Parkinson’s at that point but I got up and rushed again. I fell again and I knew it was more. I checked with my GP who wouldn’t confirm it but I made a neurologist appointment. It was indeed Pd. I’ve increased my exercise a lot since then, taken classes, and started carbidopa/Levadopa. Walking distances (a lifelong passion) has grown more difficult but I do exercise at least 90 minutes a day.
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Hi Steve, thanks for sharing. I, too, love walking long distances. I’m sorry PD has made this difficult. What form(s) of exercise do you enjoy now?
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The first thing that bothered me was that I couldn’t blow a straight note on my French horn. I thought it was just age related – but then I developed a tremor in my left hand.
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Hello Wobblygirl, and hello to a fellow musician. 🙂 I’m a former clarinetist. Do you play professionally or as a hobby? Have you had to find another instrument or interest since developing PD?
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Sorry. I’ve just seen this. I’m very much an amateur – especially on French horn. I play in a brass band and a concert band. Before I was diagnosed I thought I would have to give up playing, but I respond well to Azilect and Madopar. I get a bit shaky if I’m nervous but I’ve dropped down to second horn in the brass band – boring music but at least I’m still part of things. I’ve been the only horn in the concert band for a few months which certainly has been stressful, but I tell myself I’m all they’ve got so they’ll just have to put up with me! I’d hate to give up the music. I don’t know much about woodwind. Is it the breathing that bothers you or just general shakiness? Wouldn’t it be good if we could form a PD band!
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Hi Wobblygirl, I’m sure your band is very glad to have you, and yes, I would love to see a band made up of PWP! I haven’t played clarinet since my early twenties and my mouth hurts just thinking about having to relearn how to play with a reed … but maybe I should give it another whirl. I loved playing when I was younger and I really miss being part of a band. 🙂 There’s nothing quite like being in the mix of that sound!
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I was diagnosed in 2017. In 2015 I was in a car accident and my right leg immediately started shaking. I had lost my sense of smell years before. Also I was a coordinated athlete and felt off playing soccer. I would get unexplained muscle cramps as well . Looking back, it was all from PD.
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Hi Sharon, thanks for sharing your experience. Are you still able to play soccer or enjoy some of the athletic activities you participated in pre-diagnosis?
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