Hi Everyone,

My mum is 85 years old and has recently been diagnosed with parkinson's by her GP.

My mum,who is effectively housebound,insisted on seeing a specialist for confirmation as she wanted an expert in this field to make this diagnosis, something he first refused to do.

She was given medication for the disease but her side effects were horrendous and consequently telephoned the GP regarding this.She informed him that she wants to see a specialist for confirmation and he reluctantly agreed to a referral.She also said that she wants to leave off the medication until the diagnosis has been confirmed by a specialist and that she will then take whatever medication s/he prescribes as suitable.

The GP's response was to say quote:'It is best if you find another GP'

Since he made this impulsive comment her symptoms have become worse and she has felt extremely upset because should wanted confirmation from someone who is trained in Neurology/Parkinsons.

During the interim, she has received a standardised letter from the Health centre informing her that she is being struck off for a porr Doctor/Patient relationship.

This has had a dreadful affect on her complaint as she has had to find a new doctor quickly as she takes many other types of medication for other ailments and needs to take these daily.

She has now become very stressed due to the callous behaviour of this GP and this brings me to this post.

Does stress exercabate parkinson's?because her condition has deteriorated quite noticeably since the her GP displayed such callous behaviour towards her.

PS: I am making an official complaint to the local PCT over this matter.

Hello Faraway, I am so sorry to hear of your mothers experience. This GP should be reported to the medical council in my opinion!

In answer to your question, stress does exasperation the condition. It would be interesting to know what meds your mother was prescribed ect and what her symptoms were when the GP prescribed for her. The meds which are usually taken for PD are heavy duty stuff and it can take ages to find a suitable drug for each individual. If you speak to others with the condition you will find we are all on different concoctions of medication.

I have been diagnosed for 11 years now and it took me along time to become established on my medication. Personally, if your mum's presenting symptoms are not too bad, I would suggest not starting on a drug regime at all. At her age who wants to feel awful every day, because that's what she might have to endure until she does stabilize on a particular drug regime, she will also need to ensure that any meds do not interfere with her regulars.

Your mother has a right to see a specialist in PD, a GP should not take it upon himself/herself to make such a dx and indeed not prescribe the drugs without specialist intervention. My guess is that the GP is trying to save money and thats the top and bottom of it all. God help us all if the GP's get a hold of all the finances...some of us will never see our neuro's again.

Please do let us know how thing progress and if you have any questions please ask. There is always some body that has an answer on the forum

In my haste I forgot to say welcome to the forum!!!

Glenchass

First welcome to the forum.~I cannot believe the arrogance of your doctor. Could I suggest that you google "NICE Parkinson's" (NICE stands for National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence,whose guidelines. I thought all GPs were supposed to try and follow these guidelines. )There you will find the following written and I quote,"The following recommendations have been identified as priorities forimplementation.
Referral to expert for accurate diagnosis
• People with suspected PD should be referred quickly(2) and untreated to a
specialist with expertise in the differential diagnosis of this condition."
Also you say your mother is taking a number of medications.could I also suggest that you go to the main home page on this site and in the search option you put in ,drug induced Parkinson's, and check it against your mother's medication. I can only guess that your mother in her understandable frustration was too direct,rude even, to her doctor. Maybe this will be a blessing in disquise as this doctor seems not to have her welfare at heart and certainly seems preoccupied with his own importance.

Yes,I think you should complain, as even if your mother was a bit too direct the doctor should realise that she is an old lady who is probably frightened as well as frustrated.

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the warm greetings.

Her only symptom she was displaying was shuffling but once she started walking these symptoms disappeared.Her problem was getting started but i have noticed that she appears to be getting 'stuck' now, then after about 30 seconds she starts again.She now has problems walking through door ways.I agree that perhaps the motive for his behaviour was a financial one and it beggars belief as to the state of her if i was not living here and helping her.

The medication given was Sinemet CR 50mg/200mg

And to English country dancer, i agree about the arrogance of the GP and i said the same thing as you 'what makes him think he is so important'? I have checked the nice guidelines and it does indeed say exactly what you have written.

Initially, i wil be filling in a PCT complaints form however i dont think that will go further as he has a seat on the board so i would think they will close ranks on this.However,once i have followed this procedure i will then take things further like, as Glenchass as mentioned, the General medical council.

I think it is scandalous the way the NHS is being run and it seems those that are suffering the most are those that are most vunerable.

Hi Faraway

Stress i sa big factor in making my symptoms worse. I really shake in even slightly stressful situations, bit of a challenge when standing in front of a room full of delegates I am supposed to be training. I even get stressed cooking a meal for all my kids (grown up now and living away from home)rediculous but true.

Hi,

I'm new to the forum (and with 1 year diagnosed relatively new to the disease).

I think to put it simply Dopamine is the key in Parkinson's and hence stress has definitely an effect. (Even non-Parkinson people tremble when stressed out, see?)

In defense of the GP (don't bite my head off) I'd say that the only confirmation of Parkinson's is whether Parkinson's medication has an effect. Still, I think the specialist will always test to exclude other reasons (e.g. trapped nerves), and whether the nerves respond to electric stimulation OK etc.

I hope your mother will find with her doctor/s the right combination for maximum symptom relief and minimum side effects? It seems to be a very individual process for each patient...I hope and pray she'll not get discouraged, untreated the illness will progress and impair her quality of life...

best of luck
love

ihave been under a lot of stress the last few weeks agin and it makes me pd bad,im sure me pd meds dunna work proper then ,i shake alot more ,memory is efected alot more and i just carnt think proper ,i no when people who have not got pd but have stress have effects to there lifes to but havin pd seems to add alot more pressure to the neouves sytom to my experence

Hi aliJ you sound a little down , you made me laugh the first time i came on the forum and it was so good Im on my new laptop so my spelling mite not always be that briliant but whose worried Take care Chris46