Dad has developed shaking hand/arm effecting speech

[cam94z28]

Hi,
My dad has recently developed a problem which may be neurological. He will be fine for hours, then suddenly, one hand/arm will start repetitively shaking. Sometimes the onset will seem to coincide with activity, other times not. During this time it's hard to use this hand for much of anything. When this is going on, he also seems to slow/slur his speech, or be at a loss for words (takes a while to get out what he's trying to say), and says he isn't feeling quite right. His head might also be slightly shaking, but it could be from the hand/arm movement. These episodes last anywhere from just a few minutes to an hour or more. Then, he's back to normal.

His heart rate and blood pressure used to always be low, but have recently started going borderline high. He also had a pretty major back injury about a year ago. He fell through a roof and herniated a disc. He refused surgery, and has appeared to improve quite a bit on his own. The shaking seemed to start shortly after he stopped needing the oxycodone, which he wasn't taking for very long. He took a muscle relaxer every morning for 6-8 months or so after his injury, and has recently stopped taking it.

He is the kind of stubborn person who is anti-doctor and probably will not go until he has a real reason to. I just wanted to ask what could possibly be wrong, and what options I could consider making him try if I can't convince him to see a doctor.

[cam94z28]

My dads symptoms started the same day or next after he had his injury.
I firmly believe if it's not directly sciatics/nerve/back related, then it's the fact that something can happen to people when they're put through a sudden trauma like that.

My grandfather recently had a heart attack and is currently in the hospital. This was really stressful for my dad due to how it's effecting my mom. She won't even leave the hospital room. After the first day there, my dads shaking problems went away nearly completely. The fist day, however, he was REALLY bad. I've been around him a lot in the last few days and haven't seen it happen any more.

I'm not sure what the cause could be. His blood pressure used to always be low, but over the last year or two it's gone up to borderline high. This is why I was wondering if they are TIA's. It would be odd for them to get better, during a stressful time, however.

[AnnMG]

My brothers has had 3 back surgeries and his big toe started to shake or tingle then his hands then his legs and body and his jaw over the past 5 years.  The Drs thought is was Parkinsons and try to treat him for that then MS He also was on Oxcodone for his back which he had, I believe, L4 and 5 fused or a rod put in his back.  (not sure)  He has been put on all sorts of medication while the Dr's tried to figure it out but no success.  He also has slured speech at times and talks real low where I ask him to repeat 3 or 4 times.  Now the Dr's said he has conversion disorder...all in his head.  I am trying to find a Dr or Physologist or someone who knows what they are talking about.  He now lives in South Fla. so If you find someone to help your Dad, please e-mail me or post in my posting... Thank You  and Good Luck.

[cam94z28]

The thing is, sometimes. he'll be fine for most of the day, or longer. other times itll Last just a Few minutes. He never had any problems like that before his back injury. It seemed to have started exactly after he somewhat recovered from his back injury.

It does seem to be worse when his sciatica gets bad.

He isn't on any medications and parkinsons doesnt run in the family.

His "slurring" is actually more like a stutter, where his mouth is shaking along with his arm.

I Have blood sugar strips for my grandfather, would those results be useful?

[caregiver222]

These symptoms are the hallmark of Parkinson's disease. To differentiate between stroke symptoms and Parkinson's, with a stroke the slured speech would remain all day and not end. Slured speech that comes and goes is typical of Parkinson's. On the other hand, insulin utilization problems could cause the same symptoms. A diabetic patient with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) will have their hands shake and the speech slur. For starters he needs an inexpensive  blood test called an hba1c. It is not possible to make a diagnosis on the internet. Shaking can also result as a side effect from some medications. It's a good thing to get off the oxycodone. It is very addictive and does little for pain for a herniated disc.

[Caryopteris]

TIAs or strokes.