*Isabelle's Healthful Journey™ with Parkinson's Disease

*Isabelle's Healthful Journey™ with Parkinson's Disease

Join us for an interview with Isabelle and discover how she has been able to manage through her journey after diagnosis with Parkinson’s. This is Isabelle’s Healthful Story™. Please note that the video may only play in landscape mode on a mobile phone.

Navigate Isabelle's Journey with Parkinson's Disease

5:32 So I went back to the doctor I saw two doctors both of whom said you definitely don’t present as someone with Parkinson’s. You don’t have Parkinson’s I’ve even got that written down in my medical notes so it’s not just me making this up but you know I have I saw it the young lady definitely did not present with the Parkinson’s. So I went privately to a private doctor he had me do all the tests where you lie back on your back and cross your arms and then you have to count backwards from a thousand in sevens or something you know something awkward I was doing because I’m so competitive of course I was trying to go as fast as I could I wasn’t thinking about my hands at all I realized my hands were starting to shake my arms he said he said I really do think you do have Parkinson’s he said but I’ll tell you what I’ll give the DAT scan test just to be sure which they don’t often do I don’t know why I’m so lucky really anyway he got that done for me on the NHS 6:43 So he said you do have Parkinson’s so if you started talking about treatments um offered me dopamine agonists but of course warned me about the obsessive compulsive behavior. I was terrified of that so I didn’t actually start taking any medication until that December so I went you know I think a lot of people do that I know it’s almost like you’re scared to start because also even with levadopa in particular you hear these stories that you’ve got five years and then it doesn’t work anymore so should we start it later this is what I think patients tend to feel maybe we should start it later then we’ve got five years maybe I should hang on but in the end the doctor talked a bit of sense into me I saw a very top doctor here I was very lucky again privately she also worked for the NHS I saw her first of all when I still had private insurance when I first came to Oxfordshire Doctor Who her name is she’s h-u not w-h-o Doctor Who absolutely fantastic she does research all around the world everything and so she got me onto the levodopa carbidopa so I didn’t ever take the agonists to be honest. But from that day onwards I’ve been an insomniac who could not until very recently could not sleep at all night long listening to the church bells ring every 15 minutes 8:27 I get a lot of leg pain at night that has sorted that more or less you’re taking very small dose because now I’m also taking a teeny tiny dose, point 250 micrograms of clonazepam 12:13 I’ve just had problems with everything I haven’t been at death’s door with them but the Health Service always taken me seriously I mean I don’t think they think I’m a hypochondriac but you feel like a hypochondriac but other times we go I’m not that old here I was feeling stiffer stiffer I think that’s what worrying about I’d see people my age when I was doing drama rehearsals music rehearsals you know they’d be kneeling on the floor and then they’d stand up again I think I don’t think I could do that you know I wouldn’t dare get down there because I’m not sure I could get up again I would be embarrassed in front of all these people my knees terrible knees I had both knees done. I have had arthroscopies on both knees I just had so many things as you as you described the constellation of symptoms folks might have thought of an arthritis of sorts or some sort of inflammation did anyone ever yeah anyone have x-rays they always say you’ve got inflammation or arthritis it’s probably arthritis 
I've always been able to help other people so I thought I must be able to make myself a bit brighter
Isabelle
Navigate Isabelle's Journey with Parkinson's
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