Gait Freezing

[joyce543]

I am hoping someone out there can help me. My mom is 76 and she has a rare form of PD were no medicine has been able to help her symptoms. Her main symptom is gait freezing. She will freeze and we have tried all of the so called tricks to try to help her get unfrozen, eventually she will move but it keeps period of being frozen and her balance keeps getting worsening. The only place she does not freeze is in a pool where she walk back and forth no problems. Thanks for listening,

[superjanet]

Might be worth trying a vitamin K supplement if she is able. It has helped stop my husband freezing. The other thing we have had success with is homeopathy.

[paddyfields]

Perhaps you could list "all the tricks" so what you have not tried out will stand out to those who may have answers

[BillDavid]

Perspective My take personally on freezing is that posture is a major issue.....one way to deal posture ia Kevin Lockette's MOVE it, both DVD and workbook, Another solution that man

Another strategy is o have a grid to walk on.. Could be a pattern i tie on floor. foot printw on floe, , .

get Can GET, A LADDER LIKE SWVICE, LAY IT OUT FLAT, USE SORTOF LIKE HOP sCCOTCH ON SIDE WALK.

POINT i AM TRYING TO MAKE, IS THt there MANY SEYOND MEDS OPTIONS

[steph02]

I can syoathise with your mother.1am 67 yrs old and been diagnosed since 2008 with atypical pakisonisms. at this time they tried all sorts of drugs none of which worked. so now I don't take any. I too freeze up ( usually in busy places ) . It is extremely frustrating for me and any person I am with once I am in this mode it is very difficult to get out of and you are right the tricks don't seem to work . Exept the foot trick if you ask someone too put their foot in font of yours then i can step over it and sometimes walk again. recently my neuro changed his diagnosis to

atypical psp I think and hope this is wrong. as I sem to be stuck on a plateau and the progression in psp is usually quite rapid. I do notice however that i tend to fall more often but this does not stop me from doing things ( of course if sit all day in front of the telly I am not going to fall ). Tell your mother she is not alone

and they don't like if you are atypical because they cant pigeon hole you.

[camper]

I freeze all the time. I have a U-step walker which I've had for a few years. If you can get someone to put their foot in front of your mothers and step over it I it find helps.Also I kick a football as I'm going along. I still fall usually trying too hard to do things . Yesterday I fell into the wardrobe trying to hang up some clothes.

I was told I had PD but as I didn't have a tremor I've always had gait freezing. Now because my eyes keep shutting I've been told I have PSP.

Best of luck!

[clajac]

I've heard that service dogs can be trained to assist PD patients with freezing. Also, there is a walker that has some type of light on it that assists - unfortunately, I can't give more details. You can check with the Parkinson's Association.

[JohnPepper]

Hi Joyce. Where do you live?

John

[FMundo]

You should definitely have a look at the following TED TALK. This is amazing stuff. And, as I have just returned from three weeks in India, I fully appreciate the perspective and insights that culture and the country's citizens can provide . . .

ted.com/talks/mileha_soneji...

GO AHEAD AND VIEW THIS TED TALK.

[Hidden in reply to FMundo]

Rather than painting a set of steps on the floor, let us design Parkie eyeglasses that create that visual effect.

[FMundo in reply to Hidden]

Well the major issue is, painted stairs are always there and glasses frequently aren't. I know there are very expensive computer vision assisted tools existing now, and glasses are expensive too. But "stair decals that could be put in place and then protected with a transparent coating would be inexpensive, easy to install and effective.

The goal should be keep it "simple, cheap and above all reliable."

[Magnesnushu]

Hi Joyce have you tried NUSHU?

Check out this video: youtube.com/watch?v=v0Uwnxt...(Not working as expected?)