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Last July I was diagnosed with MS and APS: Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Since then I've been on two drugs, monthly Tysabri infusions for the MS and daily Pradaxa for the APS. The MS doctor was never sure about the APS so she referred me to a specialist. I'd had a tremor for months before the MS dx. Also atrocious, small hand-writing.

My doctor tried sinemet. I don't remember the dose. But I never felt it helped. After a month or so the doc switched me to p...ropranolol. I couldn't tell but people I work with said they saw a difference. But I quit using it because of tiredness. It took three months before I could be seen by the new specialist. First a Fellow did a neuro exam then the specialist repeated it. Their findings: I'm weak on my left side. They saw it on the exam and when I walked. I'm left-handed and the tremor is in my left hand/arm. They called it a resting tremor. He says all of these problems can be due to 'Parkinsonism'. For brevity's sake I haven't mentioned the other neurologic signs I've had but he said that could all be explained by PD. But says I wasn't on the proper dose.

So now I'm back on sinemet. The starting dose is 1/2 pill three times daily. They cautioned it should be given on an empty stomach. But one of the side effects is nausea? It's important to avoid high-protein meals? They suggested crackers for any nausea. They drew blood for detailed APS testing. I should get results in a few days. If they say it's not APS then maybe I can stop the Pradaxa? I've seen on tv a lot of law suits over pradaxa.


The specialist said yes, it is possible to have MS and Parkinsons Disease

Hi,

It's a good question.

When I was really sick in 2014/15 the physios kept referring to my clonus and rigidity as Parkinsons. My neurologist never used the word. Usually a brain scan can pick up patterns in the image that are typical of Parkinsons. What is characteristic of MS is different.

The Sinemet is trying to control dopamine production as that is associated with Parkinsons. So I guess the issue is do your scans produce the typical patterns associated with Parkinsons or is the tightness associated with MS being attributed correctly?

Most of the tightness associated with MS is associated with signalling from the neurotransmitter aceytlcholine leading to the release of calcium to make muscles tighten. They are called cholinergic pathways. Dopamine is neurotransmitter that operates in a completely different pathway.

I guess that means you can have both, however, I was sometimes labelled with both when it was not the case. My scans never revealed Parkinsons just demyelination.

Regards,

koneall wrote:The specialist said yes, it is possible to have MS and Parkinsons Disease

You may be interested in reading Norman Doidge's book 'The Brain's Way of Healing.' http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post246721.html#p246721 There's a whole chapter dedicated to the discussion of a patient that uses a special walking technique to suppress the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease. There is also interesting discussion of neurological healing techniques including experimental treatments for MS that are showing positive results.