New to Parkinsons

I'm relatively new to this business, having only been diagnosed for about a year. Right now, I take Requip plus Azilect and the two in combo seem to be controlling symptoms fairly well. My Doc says to stay away from dopamines as long as you can, but as we know everyone of us has a different type of this disease.
Also, I have tried to change over to walking just about everywhere I go. It keeps me more functional and surely does save a lot of gas!

My husband has been diagnosed for about 2 years now.  He has the tremor in his right arm and on occasion all his limbs. He also dribbles a little and his sleep pattern is all over the place.  He seems to have lost a lot of motivation but I'm not sure if this is due to the PD or his age, he's 65.  Exercise would do him good but he has chronic sciatica, a slipped disc and dodgy knees so that's not much of an option.  He gets a lot of pains in his legs which could be sciatica but having read some posts on here could be due to the PD. 

His physician (we live in the UK) has only given him Azilect so far.  He's told him that other drugs create side affects, such as hallucinations, approximately five years after starting taking them which get worse in time.  Having said that he asked my husband if he wanted to start the treatment, upon which my husband was too frightened to take it.  

I suppose I am looking for advice really, if anyone would like to help it would be very much appreciated.

hello Gezza.....lol.....i have lots of ideas for drugs...none i could mention on ere .....all i can say is be strong...accept what is...is...
if u ever need a chat call me........07501728326....

'the key for me is exercise 1 hour a day incl stretching, strength, aerobic and balance w/Wii Fit. I use Stalevo - I buy generic for big mountain pharmacy in Canada they ship it from Germany their price $360 for 5x/day 90 day supply vs US cost $1290 for the same drug. But you have to plan ahead 2-3 weeks for delivery.

I think that quite often when you find out that you have PD it is an exhausting time. I have recently seen a psychologist becuase after 5 years I have been having a rough time. She was extremely helpful. I felt that I had fully accepted that I had PD. I am 75 years old, have always done everyrthing and the hardest thing for me was to slow down. So I think that some of the fatigue you may be feeling is also due to the fact that you are new to this disease In addition these meds are very difficult to adjust to - the dopamine agonists and sinemet really make massive changes in your body, and the way you feel The afternoon and evening are also not great for me. Good luck - it takes a lot of time to get thsi all worked out.

summer , Welcome to HealingWell.Learn all you can about this disease .Hit all the pd forums,and talk to as many people that have pd as you can.The proper medications taken properly can help you combat this disease.You will also have to educate family,and friends about this disease.This will not be an easy task,but a necessary one.I wish you the best,and I can be reached here at the Healing Well pd forum.Ed

Hi Beau's Mom. What I try to do is go day by day. Look at what you can do now, not what the future will be for you. My dr. told me to focus on the now, there are so many advances in medicine, who knows. Maybe there will be a break through of some sort. If I take care of someone with pd, I can get sad real fast if I start going down the "is that going to me?" road. So day to day. As for the freezing. My feet freeze. I froze on the steps of a public place, funny now, but embarrassing then. I am also on Mirapex. For me, it works great. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas.

I am nowhere near managing PD....I have made some advances but only to an extent.

I have said at other times I could be doing a lot better but I am still lost.

I suppose the problems are in two areas....after working a full day I am too tired for anything much, unfortunately I often have to work on week ends too.

The second problem is that I am capable but too slow.

What all this means is that I cannot do physical activities with   others, yet I am able to do such things but due to me being on my own I do not.

I have very limited support at home because my wife has a very sick father, her mother died of PD, she has had big problems at her previous work etc and I do not think she has the capability to assist me.

An example of what the situation is...in April a group of us are going overseas for several days. I ceased going years ago for three reasons....I cannot manage the flight...the pain I get from sitting in a plane is too much....I have tried all the usual things like moving around etc. The second reason is when I get there I am too tired to get out and do things. The third thing is that I am too slow for everybody so I am left at the resort by the pool and by myself.

My work has become my life because I am able to do it successfully.

There has been one very bright light in my life and that is my personal trainer who to my total amazement understands PD...she is so observant and encouraging and as a consequence our sessions are succesful, some more so than others.

I am now after a psychologist that understands PD.

On the subject of writing a will, yes I have one.

On the subject of life span...I am 56....I want to see my 60th birthday and a few more after that...the object is to see my boys grow up a bit and then the greatest thing to happen to me would be a sudden heart attack when I am 60+ but before I decline too much.

Beau`s Mom
Thanks for your comments. I pay for my trainer out of my own pocket...I think I will try and make a claim on my health fund but it would only cover a minor portion of the costs.
Working with PD in Australia depends on who you work for....if you are a public servant then you are OK....some companies are very understanding, others would just push you out the door. In some cases you may take legal action but the compensation only goes for a very limited time.
My writing is shocking but I do not have to write much....I use a dictaphone...rather old technology but it is so efficient.
Also I own the company I work for and the style of work I do is rather specialised so as long as my mind is OK and I am not too physically affected things are fine. The other side, however, is very long hours of work which has a negative affect on PD as I get so tired.
My environment makes things difficult.....my boys are very high achievers as are our friends and people we associate with.
One psychologist described me as a perfectionist and a driven person...this makes living with PD difficult to accept because I cannot meet the standards I set for myself.