Finally – some time off to update!
As we round out the bend on 2022, I will say this has probably been my best year living with PD yet! The investment into chiropractic care is likely the reason – although it doesn’t do much for Parkinson’s itself, the decompression treatments and spinal adjustments have been a help everywhere else to relieve the pain and discomfort to allow me to tend to the PD.
I am down to once-monthly adjustment visits with Dr. S. Given the programming I used to produce at KHB I used to think a lot of this chiropractic was a wish in one hand a load of you-know-what in the other… but I have seen incredible benefit and I think just like everything else, it may work for some but not others.
My medicine dosage, while maybe the order has been changed a bit, has not been increased since December 2, 2021! That is the first time since 2018 I’ve gone without an increase! Again, could it be due to the chiropractic care? Not sure. But even if it isn’t, I’ll take it! I have only forgotten 2 doses this year – both completely unintentionally and neither of which caused any major difference in how I felt. In both instances the realization of such was almost immediately before the next dose was due. Not that I am interested in testing this notion on a regular basis, I am wondering if I am over-prescribed, but just by a teeny bit? Or perhaps one needs to “skip” periodically in order to keep things in line. It’s a question for Dr. B in February!
In relation to that, the dyskinesia of late has been a little more of a burden. That is why I think there might be a little too much medication in me at times. It’s the meds that cause dyskinesia – the jerky dances that make people in the grocery store stare at you. But there has also been dystonia – that is a part of the disease. Imagine the toes on your foot spreading out as wide as they can on their own. Or maybe your hand will squeeze together as though you as sloppily trying to grab a door knob. Or worse yet… your neck feels like it is twisting and tightening to the point you feel like your head is going to pop right off… the first two are quite tolerable while the last one is not at all fun… but it might have an advantage for a Halloween costume.
While I have no real desire to go too many places any more, I have noticed that driving has improved significantly. I’m not ready for a cross-country tour, but I have noticed a better tolerance for driving cross-town and even down the street without significant issue. But I know my limits and know when to give-in for safety.
I am hopeful 2023 will be even better.
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Just finished “We Begin at the End” by Chris Whitaker. One of the main characters has Parkinson’s and has many of the same symptoms you describe. The disease has little to do with the story line , but living with Parkinson’s is a further definer of his character as he moves through life “in spite of it”. Interesting choice by the author in a work of fiction, but illustrative of the disease and its effects.
As to your report, it is heartening to know the good stuff but difficult to deal with the “d” stuff. The movement that is apparent to anyone in a face-to-face meeting especially, because it blinds the observer to the essential Eric. That guy is smart and funny and accomplished. He has an amazing memory, a polished radio voice, and an outstanding sense of humor, and did I mention, he has Parkinson’s. Carry on, Eric. You are loved always.