Mild shakes are scaring me... Parkinson's?

M

Marie-Lise

New member
I am a teenager who is in good shape (I exercise at least once a day and don't eat very much junk food) and I am not overweight. When I was a young kid, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He was mostly able to cope with it, but only recently has it started to really deteriorate him - he can't walk well, is hunched over, finds it hard to remember things every so often, and can't drive anymore.

Now I know that Parkinson's is a disease that middle-aged and senior adults get, and that it is not passed down to the next generation. I watched a documentary regarding the disease, and it mentioned that Parkinson's dates back to Norwegian vikings (my dad is 1/2 Norwegian - I am 1/4). The guy they interviewed was Norwegian, and both his dad and brother had the disease.

My dad's main symptom is that his left arm shakes, and it gets really bad. About a month ago, I started feeling like MY left arm was shaking, yet whenever I look down at it I hardly see it move at all. When I get cold, by body shivers, but it always feels like my left arm more than the other. I consider the possibility that my mind is conceiving the thought that my left arm is worse because it relates it to my dad's problem, and if that is the truth then I can just leave it at that.

BUT, my final question is this: Although kids/teens cannot get Parkinson's, are these mild shakes/tremors acting as "previews" for Parkinson's to come later in my life?

Thank you so much to anyone who has an answer. :)
 
I suspect your symptoms are somatic (imaginary), that does not mean that they aren't real, they are to you. I get somatic symptoms of different diseases quite often, I have to go to the Doctor to be reassured they aren't real and they eventually go away. I can assure you worrying about getting a disease will cause this. I have never heard of previews to Parkinsons. All the best.
 
I would agree with the above poster that it is probably your mind playing tricks on you. The telling thing is that you say it shakes more when you shiver. Parkinson's is a resting tremor disorder, which means just that...you have tremors when your body is at rest and have trouble initiating movement. It's not something that gets worse when your body is moving. In fact....if people with parkinson's can keep moving (such as micheal j. fox) it's hard to tell they have tremors.

Might also be a muscle spasms going on....

If you are otherwise healthy, I don't think I would worry about it.
 
I am 51 and Have A Movement Disorder called spasmodic torticollis. My head twitches and shacks alot at times. Was diagnosed by nerology specilist. Botox helps me. Have had for 8 yrs now. Let me know if this helps. God Bless!
 
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