I do NOT have Parkinson's

Well, Dr. Round says I do not have Parkinson’s, but I do have something called Essential Tremors in just my left thumb, which happens to some people as they age.  He said that essential tremors (sometimes called Familial Tremors), over time, can morph into Parkinson’s, but that doesn’t happen often and if it does, it takes many years for that to happen. And as he pointed out, I am about to turn 72 and I will die of something else before any of that would happen.

His exam was interesting.  The exam I got from the neurologist at the University was all visual.  She did not touch me much at all, just had me do some movements while she watched.  Dr. Round had me do some of the same things but he was hands-on while I was doing them.  He said he could feel the tremors in my left thumb (even though I was not aware of the tremors right then). 

He asked me if anything made the tremors worse or better.  I said coffee made it worse and if I stopped coffee it got better.  He said that coffee made all tremors worse, no matter what caused the tremors to begin with.  The good news there is that I can now have coffee if I want it, as long as I’m willing to accept the increase in tremors that may come with it.

He said that exercise, strength training and losing weight would have a positive effect on the Essential Tremors.  He also suggested that I Google all this stuff.  I told him it was very rare for a doctor to actually suggest a person do some internet research.  He said he thought it was a great source of information as long as you did it responsibly and didn’t go into the bogus advertising sites.  I really liked this guy.

Then he looked at my medications and noticed that I take Flecainide.  I have suspected that the Flecainide was the cause of some of the tremors but no one would listen to me.  Dr. Round noticed the drug and immediately said that one of the side effects of Flecainide was tremors.  I asked him what I could do about that and he said unfortunately there wasn’t anything I could do.  There was another drug out there that could take the place of the Flecainide but it caused even worse tremors.  So I will discuss that with the cardiologist the next time I see him.  He reduced the dose for me once, maybe we’ll be able to reduce it again as time goes on.

But here’s an interesting tidbit:  I had told him that the first neurologist I went to was at the University of Colorado Neurology Department and that doctor told me she was positive I had Parkinson’s and that she wanted to put me on medication immediately and send me over to get enrolled in their clinical trial for early onset Parkinson’s.  Dr. Round said that when you go to a research hospital for diagnosis and treatment, their doctors are encouraged to try out their medications and to get as many new patients as possible into their clinical trials.  I guess that makes sense but it sure makes me look at the University differently.

So Dr. Round told me to come back in a year.  And I am very very happy.  I can even enjoy coffee again.