I had a Dat scan Oct 23rd and results show no Parkinsons. Going to see Neurologist Dec 12th and get some answers hopefully.

I would say that the information above is pretty comprehensive. About the only thing I can add is that there are too many approaches to diagnosis and there are too many approaches to treatment. This is based solely on my opinion having had Parkinson’s for 12 years it was mild and I wasn’t actually diagnosed until eight years ago. An example is that I was diagnosed by an excellent movement disorder neurologist that observed me walking across the parking lot to my appointment and noticed that I was not swinging my arms. This and lack of head movement is actually a very significant sign of Parkinson’s. He was not wrong and has been consistent in his treatment of me since then.
It’s frustrating that after decades and millions of dollars spent on research, the only sure finding for Parkinson’s was the introduction of carbidopa levodopa in 1970.

I agree Theresa. They are not feeling or experiencing what we are.. I have a lot of experience as a researcher; I think he is right about the vascular parkinsonisnm ;ie "white matter" parkinsonism; I will do what is right for me; . He doesn't seem to know that one-third of pts. with vascular parkinsonisnm do well on L-Dopa, and I am one of them.

The way my neurologist explained the DatScan really only shows you are losing dopamine, not why. However, since 80% of diseases under the parkinsonism umbrella are idiopathic Parkinson disease (of unknown etiology). I was diagnosed with PD based on the DatScan, but it didn't take long before it became very apparent there was something much more serious than PD. I have seen 4 movement disorder specialist and they are in firm agreement that it is MSA. But of the 20% left after one removes those 80% with PD, about 10-18% (I could be wrong; I haven't read up in awhile) have Dementia with Lewy Bodies. The last small percentages are made up by MSA, PSP and 2 or 3 others, all quite rare. What I don't understand is if you have PD then it is degenerative to some degree at least. If your diagnosis is not degenerative then the DatScan was negative and you have something else which is odd indeed, since the PD meds are beneficial. In my humble opinion which I highly esteem, too many doctors have too little understanding of what the DatScan can tell them. But who am I too question? 🧐
Teresa

I have completely lost trust in my neurologist. If not an honest to god movement disorder specialist they don’t really know much. Pretty good at detecting vascular issues and tumors but they have next to no clue when it comes to movement disorders and the associated symptoms, digestive issues, combination of active tremors along with resting tremors. Sensitivity to heat and cold, sleep issues, dorsal column problems. Stay with this site and you will quite quickly know more than your run of the mill neurologist.