Very helpful. I’m in the UK and saw a specialist 6 months ago for tremors and other common Parkinson’s symptoms. Saw her again yesterday and after another examination (worse symptoms), I am due to have a DatScan in the next few weeks.
Why is NPH, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, not discussed when considering other possibilities? This is an often missed diagnosis that more people need to be aware of and is reversable.
It will help differentiate PD from ET and other similar conditions, but it not diagnostic of PD, as other conditions as MSA and LBD will also be positive.
Word to the wise: Antidepressant drug Wellbutrin can impact your results. Acc'd to GE, the protocol is eight day abstaining from the medication prior to testing. For me, this led to a diagnosis of early onset PD. However, I found a case study where someone with my basic statistics (45+, taking Wellbutrin and abstained 8 days prior) retested a month later (staying abstained) and tested normal. I retested under these conditions and also came up normal. (A subsequent PD test called Sin One was also conducted, with my biopsy testing normal.) Prior to the Sin One, i also cold turkeyed on the carbidopa/levidopa regimen; my doctor didn't recommend it, but agreed that is i didn't have PD, cutting off vs gradual reduction should show no physiological impact. I had a mild headache for a day. Another nail in the false positive coffin. My case is bring prepared for a journal publication and notice to GE for a recommendation of revision of the medication protocol need on further study. If you take Wellbutrin, or any drug that impacts your dopamine intake, and you test positive with the DatScan, abstain longer if you can, or couple the test with the Sin One biopsy as a parallel testing comparison. Hope this helps someone. I didn't want anyone to go through the hell I passed through before I decided to dive deeper.
Thanks for this information. My mom is on Sertraline which is also contraindicated for DaTscan, but I didn't know it until your comment caused me to go searching.
Most times, if your symptoms are “classic”, your doctor might feel very comfortable with making a diagnosis. However, when in doubt or something not “typical” might trigger your doctor to order the DatScan.
That's not a contraindication to get the test. This doctor is wrong to say that the Ioflupane is a contrast. It isn't. It's a radioactive isotope. The I-123 is the same as table salt iodine. If you can have table salt you can have this test.
