Okay....I recently joined and introduced myself, and now I have a question. My fiancee sometimes gets what he calls the "jibbity jibbities" which looks like the chills. He shakes as you would when you see something scary or gets the chills. This concerns me because Huntington's runs in his family. Is this a sign. He's only 27 and I've read that signs apear between ages 35-50. Is this a sign of Huntington's? Please help.....Thanks so much.....

I am sorry but we wouldn't be able to tell you. HD can start at any age. The majority start at that time you mentioned but plenty fall later than that as well as earlier. What you mentioned could be too many things besides HD. I am not even sure that would be a symptom of HD. Most of us see behavioral changes first. And most of those can be explained away at first and we only see them as symptoms when looking back. When someone is at risk and we know it we do what's called symptom hunting. Every dropped item or stumble becomes suspect. It's doubtful you will pick up on one symptom and have any clue. There will be an accumulation of things that point to real problems.

I agree with Eric, symptom hunting is something to avoid if you can. I know it's tough, but please give it a shot. I don't think the chill type of movement you're describing is a symptom for HD. I do know that stress can wreak havoc on your body and make it do all sorts of things. With the wedding approaching, maybe your fiance is under a little more stress than usual. Good luck to you both. I'm glad you found this forum and I hope you get a lot from it.

Patty

HD can manifest itself at any age. The "onset" varies due to the number of CAG repeats on a gene. It doesn't necessarialy equal the parent. It can be more or less, or not there at all.

I suggest that you take a look at the Library tab on the upper left menu that has a lot of pdf files that describe HD in pretty great detail.

Shakes and stumbling are a symptom. No doubt. Could be something else, but with it being in the family it's a pretty good possiblity it is what it is.