On the run up to Xmas there have been lots of party invites but I have found that I am anxious about going and the ones I have gone to i have wanted to leave as soon as poss as there are too many people. This just not like me.
I have been dx 7 months so I am still adjusting, I am assuming that the anxiety is pd related - is it?
Phil b
Yes, I believe it is. I, too, used to be very sociable and now the thought of being in a room with a lot of people makes my heart race and my stomach grumble. The airport is my biggest fear and a place I avoid. It seems my lack of balance and my new inability to speak what's on my mind stirs my anxiety. (It seems that the words in my head do not come out of my mouth the way they should and I sound like an idiot)
Anxiety can be crippling and there are a lot of fine medications that may help. Talk to you doctor.
Jupiterjane
Anxiety is a non motor symptom of Parkinson's. Have you looked at the Pakinson's UK website? They have many very clear explanations of the condition and its symptoms. Just remember though, not everybody gets every problem and don't panic about possibilities which mught never happen to you.
My husband found it very useful to tell people up front that he has Parkinson's, then the hesitant voice, unusual stance and gait as well as the tremor are all accepted as part of who he is now, even when sober. If you invite John out, be prepared to carry your own beer back from the bar!
Try to remember the times you went against your gut feeling to not go out and actually found yourself coping and getting on with life. It quite soon after your diagnosis but things will settle down.
Don't forget to tell your specialist nurse or consultant.
I was just going to write about this to day, on Saturday my wifes company had their company Christmas party, I also at one time worked there as their Marketing Mgr so I knew alot of the people. I hope I don't ofend anyone but I too was wanting to leave almost as soon as I got there. Anxiety has happened to me before but this time I also felt embarist of the way I look and walk. I am seeing my Nero yhis week and asking if this normal.
HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
Regards
ERIC
It is another symptom of dopamine depletion. Coupled with depression it is as debilitating as the motor symptoms.... maybe more.
Many years ago, I also found it frightening, and almost impossible to go into a room where there were more than 2 people already there, and I also had to leave if the numbers in the room grew above 2 or 3. As I was only in my late 20's, PD was not even considered. It turned out to be a large inferiority complex caused by the failure of my first marriage because of her infidelity, and once I understood what the problem was, and that it was no reflection on who I was, it was possible to learn to work my way round it.
So, Philb, as this is your first party season since diagnosis, it is very possibly that the PD is, in the back of your sub-concious, something that you think may make you a lesser person than in previous party seasons. You have not been DX very long, and you are, like the rest of us, still learning. You will be pleased to know that, in fact, the opposite is true - the PD, far from making us any less of a person than we were before, brings out special qualities in us that we never would have known we possessed without PD. An example of other, paralell situations is somebody who is deaf, blind, or in a wheelchair. Whether they are going to work or out socially, look at how much more of a challenge they have to go through to get there than an able bodied person. But they gradually learn to think of themselves as normal, and the able bodied person as handicapped because they lack that extra ability.
Have a great Christmas, but take plenty of water with it at new year ("it" being Bowmore Single Malt)
Now I am going back into hibernation 'till next year
Adrian
All
Many thanks for your posts, it seems that pd has an effect on many areas of our life.
Adrian: thanks for your post I think you have hit the nail in the head!
Phil
yes very normal to feel anxiety with PD. I always had it but didn't know it until it got worse. I was on Xanax for a while for ab pain, but it made me feel like I was interacting with people through a glass wall. So I do my prayers before I go out so I'm in a higher life condition and keep the focus on other folks. Then they're glad to see me and want to help me up and down the steps , etc. Today I'm having lunch with a bunch of former co-workers (I'm retired 5 years) I've missed quite a few events and I haven't explained that my PD has progressed since I saw them. Hope it works and hope I don't spill my egg drop soup or my chopsticks 
Pat
Many thanks for your posting, I too will say my prayers.
Phil
I was able to visit my former co-workers at their new desks and catch up before lunch. A lot of fun.
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