Why I Refuse to Give in to Parkinson's Disease

CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images The appointment with the neurologist was on March 21, 2007. I was 47 at the time and in pretty good shape. I had never smoked, drank, or took drugs. I worked out four to five times a week. But something was not right. It all began as horrible toe and foot cramps. The little finger on my right (dominant) hand would twitch, and when I played the drums I noticed my right leg was wearing down as if lactic acid was running through my quadriceps. My gait changed; my right arm no longer swinging naturally. Stress brought out the worst of these symptoms; I remember being in a heated phone call where my right leg started bouncing uncontrollably. Finally, I decided it was time to see a specialist. On my visit with the neurologist, he took notes, had me perform half a dozen movements and pronounced me with early onset Parkinson's. He explained PD was caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain. When dopamine is low, movement becomes impaired. This leads to trembling of the limbs, rigidity, slowness, impaired balance, and a Frankenstein-like walk. PD Meds: Not All That Glitters is Gold The more I researched Parkinson's, the more concerns I had about the drugs, which must be steadily increased as the brain gets used to them. Inevitably, this leads to scary side-effects like dyskinesia, the wild involuntary movements that Michael J. Fox sadly experiences. My doctor tried assuring me I would be okay -- "if and when the dyskinesia gets bad, we'll s...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news