Change in Symptoms

This is my first post. I've been observing and it's amazing all of the issues with Parkinson's. So here's one of mine. Around my house I seem to move worse. I'm shuffling around, freezing, pain and even my anxiety gets the best of me. But when I get out, this all seems to improve. My husband even makes the comment that I can do better if I really want to. I don't feel it's a conscious decision I'm making, though, it just happens. I do stay busy not sitting at home.

[ion_ion]

My symptoms go away when focusing to something else and forgetting about PD. In the house is harder to divert the focus to something else but outside is much easier.

[Farooqji in reply to ion_ion]

You are right

[Bailey_Texas]

i agree with ion-ion

[Stevenmast]

That's Parkinson's in a nutshell! We can do it if we think about it and force ourselves to make the movement which I suspect you do when you're outside your home. When you're inside your home it's easier just to shuffle around and not make an effort to pick your feet up. Normal movement just doesn't come natural ( involuntary) it's something we have to think about it.YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!

[Hidden]

Thank you, I was hoping so. I also wondered about the added stress of Christmas. I've been anxious, tired and we even had a death in the Family. I had just visited my Movement Disorder Specialist and he felt I was doing good and kept all medications the same for another four months, anyway. I felt like I had a sudden regression and it has been worrying me.

[park_bear in reply to Hidden]

Stress aggravates symptoms.

Also it is easier for we PWP to move around outside - you can open up your stride. Inside it takes conscious effort to move the affected leg properly. There is the tendency to gimp around favoring the unaffected leg.

[Cbgs in reply to Hidden]

Stress has a huge effect

The tiniest amount, good or bad, freezes me right up

They say it's a killer !

Enjoy the day

C!

[Serenity_finaly-1]

I am on the opposite side of the spectrum. I feel quit normal inside my house. I am finding that we all have invisible whiskers that we have acquired during our lifetime. A sphere of influence that surrounds us and even though we do not know it our brain is taking all this info, processing it and if it requires our attention lets us know.

youtu.be/SSUXXzN26zg(Not working as expected?)

[ddmagee1]

Yes, sometimes I go through that, too. My spouse thinks I can do better, if I want to, too. It’s not really that easy though, because each day is different. If I can ignore some symptoms, I try to, but some things sometimes just happen, and it hits me right in the face, and I can’t ignore it. This is life for many living with PD.

[Astra7]

I feel alot better outside playing tennis! Of course then when I can't operate my arms properly to make dinner my husband thinks I'm just a big faker.

[ronn]

Great post!!! We do seem to need something to stimulate our body and brain and to set the level of activity for the day. I feel that the attitude for the entire day is often set by the first movement in getting out of bed. My house has a long hallway from the bedroom area to the living area. There is a mirror on the wall at the end of the hall and the floor is made with hardwood planking so that footsteps on that floor resonate throughout the house. From the sound of the footsteps, everyone in the house can easily tell whether the person, starting his /her day, is walking heel/toe or if he/she is doing the parkie shuffle. The mirror on the far wall is a reminder to the walker to raise his eye level to meet those in the mirror or, even better, to look at the ceiling, which improves posture. I find that the above is an incentive to the PwP to start the day properly, especially if someone in the house yells,,,,,,

Hey, Dummy. Pick up your feet!!!!!!!!

[BUZZ1397]

This places you go to when you go out seem to be uplifting you and helping you to improve your functioning. Being happy is therapeutic. as I like to say and I think the Chinese may have said it first the best of healers his good cheer.

[Alistairs]

Well if your hubby did some research he would discover that whereas Parkinsons is a movement disorder it is improved if you move around if you can and the bigger the space the better.

I do laps of the house striding out and swingin arms looking like some strange thing, but if then I go outside my movement is improved

Now after nearly 9 years I am rigid and have long spells when I am unable to move at all without the meds being active "On periods"

But move when can and stride out !

I do find tight spaces and big crowds make me seize worse, especially at the supermarket checkout, when I struggle to stuff the bag!:And the queue is getting impatient!

[ddmagee1 in reply to Alistairs]

Tell me about it! At checkout at the store, I’m too slow sometimes, and, to the cashier and others waiting in line impatiently, it is probably an easy task for them, like it used to be for me. So I get stares etc. Oh well! Life in Parkieland!😤

[Hidden in reply to ddmagee1]

Same here! I always think, Why does everyone have to move so fast or be in such a hurry? I also don't like it when people stop the car and wave me to cross. I usually just wave them on because of the pressure to walk fast. My friends say it makes them want to walk slower . I think it's for my benefit. My mother always said "The hurrier I go the be-hinder I get" How true that is with me with PD.

[ddmagee1 in reply to Hidden]

For sure! I walk very slowly, unable to walk fast. My wife, who is in chronic heart failure, walks twice as fast as I do! Thanks for your reply!

[mistydog1]

I think sometimes we get too hung up on what others must be thinking. We put pressure on ourselves that doesn't need to be there. If we could be physically normal we would however we are not. So what if I am too slow for somebodies liking this is my planet and my world also. I'm not going to feel bad because I am not accommodating their personal feelings they obviously lack the compassion to understand ours.

[Ruffinglgo]

Hidden

[Ruffinglgo]

Hidden

[Ruffinglgo]

Yes that is so true. I celebrated Christmas lunch without my cane. We traveled 35 miles to be with family. A short excursion. But earlier that day my stomach was in turmoil. I walked to get my legs working. Worried that everyone would get to witness my PD shuffle! Instead enjoyed lunch and conversation and had a very pleasant day. We return home and the stress and worries return. How will I organize my house in the event I go downhill fast? I need help cleaning. Time to retire and close our small woodworking business. One last year on the Affordable Care Act insurance plan. Yes my legs and upper torso stiffen, toes curl and feel anxious. Soon shuffle walk down hallway. It is the house that makes me sick??? Thank you for sharing your story!

[ddmagee1 in reply to Ruffinglgo]

I’ve done the same thing. I do exercises to get my legs moving, and then leave my cane at home, and sort of try my best to try and walk like most people, so that family and friends don’t see how badly I stiffen up. Stretching exercises help, but, as many of us Parkies know, there are days, and then there are DAYS, where symptoms can really flare up.

[JohnPepper]

Hi Fuzzy. What is possibly happening to you is very common. When we are at home in our own surroundings, we tend to not concentrate on what we are doing, with the result, we shuffle and tend to fall.

Parkinson's disease affects all the movements we make subconsciously. You don't think about what your leg and arms are doing, when you walk. Neither do you when you bring food to your mouth or write. When you write you think about what you are going to write down. You don't think about how you are writing. That is all a subconscious action.

Since I have learned to walk and write consciously, I have more or less overcome these problems. When I say "More or less" I mean that I often lose concentration and things go crazy.

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