Been awhile since I posted in here...I still get on here to search topics and read other people's stories and helpful tips on dealing with BFS. I no longer have the ALS or MS fear. I have now been having the Parkinson's fear. I know im only 28 so the odds are in my favor of not having this disease...but...yep I still think im the .001 that could have it for my age. Sometimes when I hold the mouse while on the computer I look down and see my thumb or index finger moving, so I associated this as the resting tremor. I know its impossible to hold your hands out prefectly straight and prevent them from moving/wiggling but I constinalty catch myself looking at my hands to see if any movement looks "abnormal". Just courious if anybody else out there gets the hand movement like I do??
Returning to this Forum: Parkinson's Fear
- Thread starter sparrow92
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If you think that holding mouse means your hand is in rest, you are definitely wrong. holding a mouse is a work for our hand, no matter it is relatively easy. if mousework and typing can cause carpal syndrome - and we all know it is so - it means that the load is about the same as carpernter, weaver or dairy milker has.So your finger twitch because it is just tired 
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))jeffthefuture
Member
Unlikely to be Parkinson's (I just finished studying this in depth in med school)...for sure your age essentially excludes you, but for reassurance, you need all cardinal features of Parkinson's to even be considered for dx (+ other features): resting tremor (not just a couple of fingers, but often the entire hand or arm), cogwheel rigidity (if someone tried to passively rotate your arm at a fast velocity, you would tighten up and turn like a cogwheel - fast/stop/fast/stop, etc...), slowness of movement (if you swing your arms when you walk, or can turn around 180 in a step or two, you are fine), and postural instability (cross your arms, put your feet together, close your eyes...can you stand without falling for 30+ seconds?...slight swaying back and forth is OK - called Romberg's test). I hope this helps, this is a quick screen and even if you were positive on all four, still highly unlikely to have Parkinson's at 28 Also, for 'fun' you could test for an intention tremor by picking three or four arbitrary spots on the wall (~1 foot apart each) and with your dominant finger, touch each spot and then your nose - go back and forth randomly and look for [relative] smoothness of motion and [relative] speed....if you start going too fast, you will start missing your targets or nose just as an FYI (this is normal). Let me know if you have other questions.
Also, for 'fun' you could test for an intention tremor by picking three or four arbitrary spots on the wall (~1 foot apart each) and with your dominant finger, touch each spot and then your nose - go back and forth randomly and look for [relative] smoothness of motion and [relative] speed....if you start going too fast, you will start missing your targets or nose just as an FYI (this is normal). Let me know if you have other questions.yanyytypeyofyuserna
Active member
From what you describe, your hand is really not really at rest when this happens. I have the same thing. My fingers often tremble like crazy when only slightly spread. Sounds like you have a postural tremor, also known as an "essential tremor." This phenomenon is widely recognized as a common symptom of BFS. Stop worrying, my friend. Your tremor is not characteristic of Parkinson's. Also, yeah.... you're just way too young for ALS, Parkinson's and all of that terrible stuff.
futureGP1983 - Thanks for your post, and welcome. While your post does provide some reassurance to those of us with PD fears, I have to ask a question regarding it. To my undeducated eye (unless you consider my M.D. from the University of Google 
), it seems that most of the features you describe would only be present in a person who has clearly progressed far down the PD road, so to speak. Everyone starts down that path somewhere -- you don't go to bed perfectly fine one day and the next morning you're unable to stop your whole arm from tremoring and have to take baby steps to turn around. My understanding is that PD progresses gradually and subtly, sometimes over an extended period of years. Is that not true? And if my assumption is correct and it is true, then don't those of us on this forum who might experience some tremors, "ratcheting" muscles, jerking muscles at rest, trembling/vibrating muscles and/or fine motor issues legitimately have reason for concern?I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on this. I am encouraged by what you said in your first post. But I am concerned that it could be misleading to tell people that have subtle, concerning (to them) symptoms that they're highly unlikely to be dealing with PD, simply because they don't match up to the template of someone who is clearly far past the point at which most people would seek medical attention.
), it seems that most of the features you describe would only be present in a person who has clearly progressed far down the PD road, so to speak. Everyone starts down that path somewhere -- you don't go to bed perfectly fine one day and the next morning you're unable to stop your whole arm from tremoring and have to take baby steps to turn around. My understanding is that PD progresses gradually and subtly, sometimes over an extended period of years. Is that not true? And if my assumption is correct and it is true, then don't those of us on this forum who might experience some tremors, "ratcheting" muscles, jerking muscles at rest, trembling/vibrating muscles and/or fine motor issues legitimately have reason for concern?I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on this. I am encouraged by what you said in your first post. But I am concerned that it could be misleading to tell people that have subtle, concerning (to them) symptoms that they're highly unlikely to be dealing with PD, simply because they don't match up to the template of someone who is clearly far past the point at which most people would seek medical attention.If you read some people stories with young onset parkinson's there first symtom is usually very easy to remember and they have muitple issues. Trust me I have spend hours on the web reading and trying to self diginose myself. If I could take back the time I first time I typed my symptoms in google I would because it has consumed me and made me think I know more than somebody who has spent there entire life studying these types of things. I also know that having a high level of stress and axenity it only fuels bfs. Yes its very hard to get the thought of having something like PD or Ms out of your head, but you also cant live your life worrying about having something wrong with you expecially when you have a .001% chance of getting it. thats means you have a 99.99% OF NOT HAVING ANYTHING WRONG WITH YOU. In the word of my doctor " the internet has turned everybody in a doctor, nothing is wrong and STAY OFF DR. GOOGLE" I know that its easier said than done to get the thought out of your head about having something wrong with you, but you ( along with myself) have to try and forget about it. Everybody has muscle jolts, its impossible to hold you hands still, fingers move, everybody shakes a little, muscles tire everyday. Put your hands out straight do you hands more? do your fingers twitch back in forth? Im sure they do. Put your hand on your table lift you index finger a little I bet it shakes...these are all normal from what I have read and been told by doctors. in the past year I have thought I had ALS, MS, PD, Brain Tumor, and other things I have already forgotten about. Ive been to multiple doctors, had MRI's blood work, exam after exam and still nothng wrong, but like many of people on here I second guess and still worry about something that might never happen. Yes I still worry about having something wrong with me, do I think I have PD????...prolly not but there is this little voice in my head saying what if?? Its something that I will have to deal with for a long time till I know nothing is wrong.
Good points, vitalogy03. I think in my case, I am more concerned about PD than most here, because my risk is much higher than the typical ".001%" of which you wrote. Actually, from what I understand, the PD lifetime risk for an average person is about 1.5%. For someone with a serious head injury in their history, like me, it's closer to 20%. Huge difference! Added to that is the fact that I am regrettably no longer in that group of young people on this board who are "too young" for rare-but-serious diseases (I turn 49 this winter). In fact, I'm close to hitting "prime time" for such things. So, when I start to notice new, odd, concerning symptoms that I've never had previously in my 48+ years -- especially since it's almost 4 years since the "classic" BFS twitches started -- my natural reaction is to question whether it's just more BFS fun, or instead a dreaded "something else." And as you mentioned, it's that little voice saying "what if?" that is hard to cope with...especially since the answer only comes at the end of a waiting game. There's no yes/no medical test that can rule out PD. So, it's a matter of waiting it out. As you said, there's no point in wasting time worrying about it. But turning off that worry is easier said than done, as most of us here already know. Especially when your body reminds you of it every day.
futureGP:Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to post that information to the forum! I appreciate it very much. I understand and appreciate your position regarding giving advice or 'medical opinion.' It's not our purpose here and wouldn't be appropriate.Needless to say, I'm glad to see some authoritative information that contradicts the earlier information I had seen regarding a link between TBI and increased Parkinson's risk. The fact that my injury was ~45 years ago falls well outside the 10 year window for statistical insignificance. I find some reassurance from that. It's also reassuring, to a degree, that fasciculations do not appear to be correlated to PD in any of the literature. That, however, is part of my concern -- I've had the twitches on-and-off for almost 4 years (and less frequently in 2012), and am becoming more concerned about other, more recent developments which I fear could be not even related to the BFS: myoclonic-type jerking , ratcheting muscles, occasional thumb tremor (positional?) during hot or cold conditions. I hope that it's all just part of the BFS menagerie; I guess time will tell.Again - thank you. Only two posts and you're a "saint" in my book!