anyone have experience of Parkinson's? My dad just got diagnosed.

[silkcushion]

Pretty much forced him and my mum to visit the GP as he's suddenly become very frail and got a shaky hand plus other symptoms. He was diagnosed by a consultant last week.

Das is nearly 71 and seems to have new symptoms every few weeks at the moment.

Any ideas what I should expect?

Once he gets on the right dose of the right medication that should make a big difference. However, that can take a while and every time the medication or dose needs to be tweaked he can get worse for a while before getting better. A good routine of regular eating and sleeping times will be important too. In terms of the actual outlook for your father, it's hard to say because the speed of progression and what areas get affected first can vary widely.

It's worth getting in touch (and putting your parents in touch) with the local branch of the Parkinson's Disease Society, who often run a full programme of local events and activities. And you may find that the area has a specialist Parkinson's nurse, who is a great resource if so.

Agree with P&L. My FIL had it for 18 years, and it varied in severity over that time. He would have a period of stability, and then would have a spell when things would just go completely to pot. Getting the right dosage of the right medication was very important, and becasue there are so few real experts on the condition that wasn't always easy.

Everyone experiences the disease in different ways, but I would suggest that it's important not only to get the right medication, but to keep active, and make sure he has physio, speech and occ health therapy as well - you may need to push for this. He will probably also experience a level of depression and/or anxiety, so keep an eye on this. I would also echo getting in touch with your local Parkinson's support group. HTH.

thanks for the responses. Sorry it's taken so long for me to reply