Those of you who watch Star Trek will understand when I say Parkinson's Disease is like the Borg, it adapts to change so it continues to outwit you. In the early years you can stay a few steps ahead but there comes a time when it takes all your tenacity to stay afloat.
My walking has been severely impacted of late. The instruction to take steps simply doesn't travel from my brain to my body. I can be cajoled along by the momentum of others to some degree but on a bad day even that fails.
In the search for solutions over Xmas I decided to count out loud by the time I hit 60 I was on the move again. If you distract the brain seemingly signals get re routed along different pathways and partial messages get through.
I had occasion to deploy this tactic again and started to count, this time it didn't work. So I started the Alphabet and bingo! Off I went.
Now I'm compiling lists colours, foods, makes of car, songs....
I find that a singing a song with a strong cadence to it sometimes works for me ( camp songs are a good source). Other times I kick a small ball in front of me and my instinct to kick it forward again takes over. Playing catch and moving forward to catch the ball works too.
Rereading this makes me wonder if using a different pathway that was wired at an earlier time is the solution.
I was DX in 2005 and the rate of your PD seems to be far greater than mine. I take
C/l 25/100 2.5 tabs 5 times a day,
in reply to
Oh I've been blessed with amazing health for years / taken a recent nosedive!! But it's ok 😃
I've been dx 5 years and in the same place you are. Am wondering if it's time to take sinemet cr at night. Taking sinemet 25/100 5x day (1 1/2 pill). Afraid of wearing off at night and then I'll be frozen. Need to pee every 2 hours. Freeze badly when med wears off..
We are all so different it's totally hard to say what would work. Mind you the same goes for a head cold. I never give advice about meds personally I think your Health care team need to do that. I just try to stay happy and have lots of things to do. Right now I'm eating chocolate raisins it's called 'Physio' hand to bag hand to mouth!!!! Hahaha 😏
Love your tenacity! What I have observed working with my husband who has had PD for 11 1/2+ years now is that attitude goes a long way. I also keep suggesting new strategies when the ones that seemed to work don't seem to make as much of a difference anymore. This can vary from a different song to a new joke to a different type of meditation. Never give up!!!
Seriously, your idea of distraction carries some weight; I say the Alphabet backwards - you'd be amazed at the quick improvement it can make. (Also a good mental exercise for that grey matter!)
It seems that I remember a teenage Borg named Hue transporting uninvited to the deck of the Enterprise, most likely up to no good. However, Captain Picard, through courage, heart-felt patience, and compassion, implanted some feeling and humanity in the young drone. Maybe one day we'll do the same with this Parkinson's demon.
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Maybe I should delete my old posts as I add new ones on the same topic?
Amendment to last post — Taking Two Different Forms of B1
Has anyone with PD changed medication, when the initial one was not working? 
What steps to titrate down c/l safely?
A big step forward in fight against Parkinson's disease
