Consultant Neurologist Appointment Updated May 2017
My latest Consultant Neurologist appointment with the Consultant was at Leighton Hospital on 5th May 2017 and it was better than going to Nantwich, because its a lot nearer to home.
This of course meant I was seen by a Clinical Neurologist who I’d not previously met although he seemed to think we had.
He asked a lot of questions about how I was and what medication I was taking; when I said I’d started on Pramipexole then moved on to Ropinirole, he wanted to find out why I’d changed. The simple answer was that it didn’t do anything for me, so my previous consultant had prescribed the second one.
He then asked me if I was having any side effects, which apart from a wave of tiredness after taking the dose, I’m not.
His main interest then switched to “Did I know about the ‘interesting’ side effects. From this I gleaned that he was referring to the compulsive behaviours that can occur with these drugs – gambling, excessive sexual interest and overspending. I think he was trying to be delicate with my wife sitting in the room but we both understood his meaning!
And NO I’m not experiencing any of that!!
Consultant Neurologist Appointment December 2016
It seems that the frequency of these appointments will be once every 6 months, mainly, I suppose because they cannot be proactive with no cure available, so it becomes just watch and wait.
When I saw Dr. Munkacsi on this second occasion, I had prepared some notes with the help of this blog record, so that I could relate exactly where I was up to.
My condition was very much the same but the shuffling and ‘freezing’ seemed to be worse and this was making me more tired than usual, with the extra effort of walking and concentrating on not falling over my own feet.
To counteract this the Consultant prescribed a new drug, in addition to the Ropinirole, called Amantadine Hydrochloride which should reduce the stiffness in my legs and reduce the shuffling walk I have developed.
My first Consultant Neurologist appointment
I had no idea what to expect when at my first Consultant Neurologist appointment back in July 2016, but the examination took about 30 minutes and involved him in observing my walk, checking my coordination and reflexes (with a hammer and a tuning fork) and getting me to write something on a piece of paper. He also asked lots of questions throughout – nothing difficult, before saying I have a mild form of Parkinson’s Disease.
He then said I needed to inform the DVLA and car insurance as there is a mandatory requirement to do so. Having rung both of them, my car insurer said they had no concerns as long as the DVLA placed no restrictions on my driving. Needless to say the DVLA sent me a form to fill in! Returned the form but heard nothing yet.
The Consultant Neurologist said he would send a prescription via my GP which I started taking and I’m now in the second week and building up the dose slowly. Currently, from today I take 2 pramipexole tablets first thing in the morning plus 1 twice per day which will increase to 2 pramipexole tablets three times per day in another week or so.
An MRI scan has also been arranged for tomorrow (24th August 2016). Naturally I assumed this was to confirm the diagnosis, but not so. Apparently it is to rule out other things like Alzheimer’s – the scan for people with Parkinson’s is usually seen as normal.
Because of some speech and swallowing difficulties I have been having, the Neurologist also decided to refer me to the Speech and Language Therapy team. So that’s another appointment to expect.