Where there is self-compassion there is self-love. Where there is self-love, there is no chronic fear. Where there is no chronnic fear, there is no chronic stress. Where there is no chronic stress, there is no Parkinson’s. This, I believe, is a truism.
Self-compassion could be the key that unlocks the mystery of how to recover from the symptoms of PD.
Self-compassion came into my awareness recently. It wasn’t something I was thinking about. I was focused on self-love. But then it occurred to me that self-compassion might come first. My suspicians were confirmed by ChatGPT.
According to ChatGPT, self-compassion is … the ability to treat yourself with the same kindness, understanding, and patience you would offer someone you care about—especially when you’re struggling, failing, or in pain.
ChatGPT provided a simple metaphor: self-compassion is akin to watering a plant, whereas, self-love is the plant growing.
Some people know self-compassion intuitively. Some learn it experientially. Others learn through guidance.
How many of us are aware of self-compassion, let alone, practice it? As I said, until recently, it wasn’t on my radar screen.
Self-criticism says, you can do better. Self-compassion says, this is hard … it’s okay to be frustrated, disappointed, scared, angry … to want to give up, to feel sorry for yourself, to want to get back at somebody. These are all natural feelings. It’s not in our best interests to dwell on them or act on them, though.
Self-compassion means:
being kind to yourself, especially when things are hard;
taking a problem-solving approach, first, to all challenges;
acknowledging that you are trying your best;
acknowledging that you will not always be successful … and that failures are an important and inevitable part of the experience;
letting go of expectations;
saying I won’t make a hard moment, harder;
you don’t accept the harsh criticisms of others;
it’s okay to not always win or be successful, or perfect, for these are opportunities to learn and honor your competition.
being your biggest cheerleader when things are difficult.
As for Parkinson’s, it’s okay to feel scared, frustrated and weary. And it’s okay to want to take meds, or more meds. It’s a damn scary condition and it’s hard living with these symptoms.
Self-compassion activates the sensory section of the vagus nerve, which activates the Parasympathetic [calm] Nervous System, which triggers the release of feel-good neurotransmitters and hormones, including dopamine. So, it has a neurological impact.
Here’s how self-compassion affects Parkinson’s symptoms:
— Without self-compassion … cortisol [the stress hormone] rises, dopamine is suppressed, tension increases and symptoms last longer.
— With self-compassion … cortisol doesn’t rise as much, dopamine levels drop only slightly, tension is lower and eases sooner and symptoms are less intense.
— With practice and repetition, the stress response and Parkinson’s symptoms can be significantly reduced.
A simple way to get started, is to say, “Living with the symptoms of Parkinson’s is hard, and I’m doing my best to accept the challenge.”
I am thrilled to tell you that I have discovered a solution for freezing and shuffle-walking. It involves a walking pole with a ‘step–over–foot.’
Let me explain.
Freezing, for me, has been one of the most troublesome, if not, terrifying symptoms of PD. I’ve had many high-speed shuffling moments [which actually has a name … festinating gait] and tumbles due to freezing.
Freezing typically occurs in one of two situations: one, taking a first step and two, approaching something … like a doorway or a chair … I’ve taken a few tumbles into the livingroom furniture. It seems the Parkinson’s ‘fearful’ brain sees these doorways and chairs as hazards, and in so doing, triggers the fight-flight-freeze response.
By last fall, I was having a lot of difficulty when off-meds just walking across the living room, walking out to the car or walking from the basement stairs to the woodstove. Also, for fear of falling, I wouldn’t go anywhere in public unless I was on-meds.
This ‘freezing’ challenge stimulated three ‘fixes’ that eventually led to this inventive walking pole solution. All three discoveries occurred while off-meds.
First, a few years ago, it occurred to me that I could put pieces of cloth at various places on the floor in order to step over them … I had learned while on a nature walk that if I had something to step over … like a tree root … I could walk okay. The cloths proved to be effective, but not practical, especially when the kids visited with their dogs. The cloth pieces were constantly being kicked about.
Then, last fall I figured out that if I put a fly-swatter on the floor in front of me, I could step over it, then bend down and twirl it around my foot so that it was back in front, then step over it again, and just keep repeating the process. It was a slow process, but it worked. I found it especially helpful for getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night, although it was stressful, mainly because I was half-asleep and bent over the entire time, and occasionally, I would lose my balance.
The third discovery came to me during the winter, while shoveling snow, when I realized that if I needed to move from one spot to another, which was painfully slow and stressful as I crept along fearing falling, I could step over the plow part of the shovel, then swing it around in front of me and step over it again, then just keep repeating the process. Again, it worked, but I found it very slow and not foolproof, because occasionally, I would trip over the plow.
Then, last week, an idea popped into my head. I could take a walking pole and attach some sort of ‘foot’ to the base of it, so I could step over it: I envisioned placing the ‘pole-foot’ in front of my right foot, then stepping over it, then as I stepped forward with my left foot, I would swing the ‘pole-foot’ back in front of my right foot, then repeat the process.
I first tried tying a piece of cloth to the bottom of the pole, and while it proved satisfactory for stepping over, it proved impractical because it took too long to get the cloth in place. I needed something solid. Then I discovered a plastic paint stirring stick. Perfect. It even had a hole at one end that the tip of the pole fit into perfectly. I used duct tape to secure the stick to the pole. [How did we ever survive before duct tape?] Then I tested it and it worked great.
That got my mind racing with ideas and questions. Had somebody already figured this out? If not, could I patent my invention?
So, I conducted some research. First, I checked out Google and Amazon and found nothing similar. Then, I went on ChatGPT and discovered that there were companies already selling poles with special features for people with Parkinson’s … although, none with a ‘foot’ … and one company was working on red laser technology … the red laser serving as the foot. Brilliant … so long as the Parkinson’s-brain can be convinced to step over the red light!
Seems my idea wasn’t such a bad idea … just a little late and one innovation behind.
While I wait for the laser light technology to hit the market, I will use my invention enthusiastically … duct tape and all. It’s rudimentary, but it works, given that its primary, if not sole, purpose, is safe mobility. It has been a godsend and it has given me a new lease on life and an enormous confidence boost for walking around the house, off-meds, especially going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
PS An added benefit of the footed walking pole is that I can carry something while walking … multi-task … something I had lost the ability to do.
How to make it:
Take any walking pole and duct tape a thin, flat piece of wood or plastic [like a paint stick] to the bottom of the pole [or cane], at a right-angle to your grip. The foot should be no more than eight inches long.
How to use it:
At present, there is too much snow outside, so I’m just using it indoors. I’m right-handed, so I hold the pole with my right hand. I start with my feet at a normal width apart, left foot slightly ahead of my right foot [as in a boxing stance], paint stick on the floor in front of my right foot. I begin by stepping over the paint stick with my right foot. Then, as I am stepping forward with my left foot, I swing the paint stick around my right foot and place back on the floor in front of my right foot. Then I repeat the process.
I would like to share with you my thoughts on the role of spirituality in recovering from the symptoms of Parkinson’s because I believe it has the potential to play a pivotal role.
I believe all experience, be it pleasant or unpleasant, is meant to guide us to an understanding of our true nature: that we are more than just human beings having a human experience … we are spiritual beings having a human experience, participating mutually and equally in the flow-of-life, and we are pure divine love. And we are here to acquire spiritual contentment, not material wealth.
To put it succinctly, we are here to contribute in some meaningful fashion to the flow-of-life, while discovering and unearthing our true divine essence.
And we have choices to make.
Do we want to live our lives like the person who steps on board a passenger jet terrified because of their fear of flying or do we want to feel totally exhilarated with the anticipation of being air bound. Similarly, do we want to be the person who feels totally alive with the wind in our face while zipping across the surface of a lake, or do we want to be the one who is terrified of drowning below the dark surface?
Do we want to live life to the fullest, free of the burden of fear, embracing its uncertainties?
We are born with certain attributes: There is the physical us: tall/short, muscular/slight, blue-eyed/brown-eyed, athletic/sedentary. Then there is the personality us: self-loving/self-loathing, outgoing/withdrawn, trusting/fearful, poised/nervous, enthusiastic/pessimistic, content/uptight, accepting/resistant. Then there is the spiritual us: the inner-us, our higher-self, our soul, our beingness, the part we can’t see or touch. It has no opposite. Eckhart Tolle refers to it as Presence. This latter aspect of us is connected directly to the universal-energetic-intelligence … divinity.
I don’t believe we are meant to experience life through our inner-self, but rather through the human-us … the personality-us. Our inner-us is meant to be our anchor … our guide … our source of comfort … our wisdom … our connection to the divine. It is not subject to the ups and downs and emotional fluctuations of being human.
Why is it like this? Why do we have an inner-us … and why is there a duality: a personality-us and an inner-us? Why is there so much suffering? Why is there so little awareness? Perhaps it is because, as Neale Donald Walsch wrote in Conversations withGod, God wanted know experientially what God believed to be true, conceptually.
Why God wanted to know this … if it is in fact true … we can only speculate … but it’s an intriguing theory.
Life can be an adventure or it can be a burden … a hardship. It becomes an adventure when we understand that it has a purpose. And I believe our ultimate purpose is to discover our inner-selves … to discover our true nature … our divinity, and to live consciously in a state of divine self-love, where there is inner peace and contentment.
So, what does this mean for someone living with a serious health condition, such as Parkinson’s? It’s easy to fixate on the symptoms we are experiencing because they are ever present. And it’s easy to feel like a victim and to be drawn into a state of fear.
But we can use this experience to cultivate love through our thoughts, words and behaviors … because, I believe, disease can’t exist where there is love. We can also use it to develop trust: to know that this health condition has a purpose. It is not random and we are not victims. This awareness is empowering and it facilitates healing.
Being in a state of love creates an internal environment that facilitates the activation of our vagus nerve and our parasympathetic [calm] nervous system which in turn facilitates the production of dopamine and thus, raises our baseline dopamine. This will eliminate the symptoms of PD.
I do energy healing to clear fear from my energy field and transmute fear into love … energy healing is akin to medicine from the divine. I also repeat mantras [see below] focused on love. I also meditate and focus on my breath. I believe that we need to clear fear in order to calm the mind and enable the blossoming of love.
23rd Psalm [spiritual version]
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Spirit makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. Spirit restores my soul and leads me down a path of spiritual awakening for my highest good. Spirit helps me to feel good about myself. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of impermanence, I shall fear no darkness. For Thou art with me. Thy love and compassion, they comfort me. You help me to understand, accept and be at peace with my past, and in so doing, you help me to forgive. You also help me to live in the present moment. My life is filled with abundance. Surely, peace, love, joy, abundance and bliss will be with me all the rest of my days. And I will dwell in spiritual consciousness, enthusiasm and magnificence all the rest of my days. Amen.
Divine Love Expansion:
The universal-energetic-intelligence, which is pure divine love, wishes to expand itself. It wishes to expand love in the universe through experience; through my experience and the experience of every other entity in the universe. We are the vessels for the expression and expansion of divine love. And the best thing I can do to contribute to this expansion of love, is to fully surrender to the will and wisdom of the universal-energetic-intelligence; acknowledge my true essence which is divine love; live in love by being kind, forgiving, grateful, generous and compassionate; and live in the present moment. And I can do all this because I live in spiritual consciousness and I choose to celebrate life. I choose to live my life with enthusiasm and awe. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to participate in the flow-of-life, serve humankind and the planet and contribute to the expansion of divine love. Hallelujah!
I have been thinking a lot lately about the notion of problem-solving. It crept into my consciousness this summer in the midst of my struggle to play golf “better,” and not make so many bad shots. In the past, I have gotten very frustrated and angry playing the game … to the point where I have thrown clubs, cursed and behaved in a very unbecoming manner … like certain PGA players.
Then, one day this summer, it occurred to me that I would be better served to take a problem-solving approach … workthe problem, as the Navy Seals say.
Golf is largely about your swing. Yes, the lie is important, as is the wind velocity and direction, and choosing the right club, but all of these are secondary to your swing. Without going into all the details, let’s just say, there is a lot involved in executing an effective swing. So, I went through the checklist: did I have a proper grip; was my right arm straight and elbow locked; were my hands slightly ahead of the ball; etc.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much better my life could have been had I adopted a problem-solving mentality years ago, rather than viewing problems as a nuisance. So much frustration and anger I could have avoided.
Better late than never.
Ideally, I would like to elevate problem-solving from not just something we do from time-to-time when faced with a problem, and not just to a consistent, intentional, structured way of approaching a problem … a skill-set … but to a way of being … an aspect of our personality.
Taking this approach has many benefits, not the least of which, is significant reduction in anger, as well as, an increase in self-esteem.
I used to work for a company, which at one time had a young President who had a unique perspective on, “problems.” He actually didn’t consider anything a, “problem.” To him, everything was just something you had to deal with in order to get the job done. He didn’t put problems in a negative framework.
Adopting a problem-solving attitude opens you up to ideas that you otherwise might not have considered. It stimulates the creative juices.
So, what does this have to do with Parkinson’s? A lot, actually.
Parkinson’s is so much about being presented with challenges: trembling, loss of balance, difficulty walking, constipation, to name a few. The medical community’s approach is to take medication, which can be helpful when the meds are in effect. But, what about when we’re off meds … which for me, is about twelve hours a day. How do I walk safely?
As an example, I figured out that when I toss a ball back and forth, from one hand to the other, I can stand in one place without losing my balance. Another example: I figured out when I count every second step, or when I bounce a ball when I walk, I can walk more fluidly.
Simply taking meds doesn’t fix the problem.
Wouldn’t it have been nice when you were told that you have Parkinson’s that you were given a pamphlet listing all the possible symptoms with non-medication solutions for each. It might have seemed overwhelming at the time, but as the saying goes, knowledge equals confidence.
We could take a problem-solving approach to understanding the cause(s) of PD: is it neurological, psychological, physiological, dietary, chemical-toxins, physical trauma, head injuries, alcohol/drugs, detrimental beliefs, etc.? This could help us map out the best treatment protocol.
We could also then problem-solve the optimal treatment protocol: what is the ideal diet, exercise regimen, bodywork modality, meditation discipline, qigong routine, medication protocol, etc. I’m sure it would be helpful to anyone faced with the daunting prospect of dealing with this complex condition.
I have largely taken a problem-solving approach in dealing with the symptoms I have encountered, but I have done so unintentionally … I did it because I chose not to take meds, not because I was taking a strategic approach to managing the symptoms I was experiencing.
Both knowledge and a problem-solving approach are empowering, and a sense of empowerment is critically important in effectively managing the symptoms of Parkinson’s. This approach certainly had a positive effect on my golf game!
You might also be interested in my last post on the role of fear with Parkinson’s.
I regularly see posts on Facebook by well-intentioned people who have been diagnosed with the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, declaring that they are going to fight or battle this condition. While understandable, I think this is not the ideal approach.
Living with the symptoms of Parkinson’s is no easy undertaking. When the medical community tells you it is degenerative and progressive, they’re not overstating the situation. It takes everything we’ve got to deal with the symptoms we must deal with every moment of every day.
So our mindset is critical.
When we say that we’re fighting or battling something, it puts us in the fight or flight state, which activates our amygdala, which then activates our sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the release of cortisol, the stress hormone. It puts us in a state of stress, and stress is what causes the symptoms of Parkinson’s to progress.
What helps me immensely is to consider the symptoms of Parkinson’s as my teacher. And it has taught me so much. It has taught me about myself; about life; about neurology; and mostly, about love … especially, self-love.
To live with the symptoms of Parkinson’s, is to live with one of the toughest drill-sergeants you will ever encounter. But this drill-sergeant isn’t preparing us for battle. This drill-sergeant is preparing us to embrace love.
I recently learned about the amygdala and the vagus nerve and their roles in the fight-flight and recovery responses. I also learned that the amygdala stores emotional memory; especially negative memories.
The amygdala is an almond shaped structure situated deep in the brain that regulates the fight-flight response. It receives input from the five senses and when it detects danger by way of thoughts [that is a lion I see], it goes into action. It alerts the hypothalamus which then activates the fight-flight response, including alerting the adrenal glands to release cortisol [the stress hormone] and adrenalin [the energy hormone]. Once the stressful event has passed, the amygdala switches gears and begins interacting with the feel-good neurotransmitters and hormones, including, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and GABA, in order to destress and restore calm.
The vagus nerve runs from the brain to the heart, lungs and digestive track. It too receives input from the five senses and goes into action following a period of stress once it has determined that the coast is clear [that wasn’t a real lion I saw, it was the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz], by activating the parasympathetic [calm] nervous system, while stimulating the release of the feel-good neurotransmitters and hormones, including dopamine.
I will go into more detail on the role of the amygdala and the vagus nerve as it relates to the fight-flight and recovery response in my next blog-post, but for now I want to focus on the amygdala’s role in holding emotional memory.
Having made this important discovery about the amygdala holding fear and emotional memory, I immediately added an amygdala emotional cleansing to the Fear Clearing Energy Healing routine that I have been doing several times a day.
That day, I took my dinner meds at the normal time and they took an hour and fifteen minutes to kick in. Normally, it takes about thirty minutes. I actually took an extra half tablet of levodopa in order to stimulate my meds to kick in.
The next day, I continued including the amygdala emotional clearing with the Fear Clearing routine. By mid-afternoon, I was experiencing really intense symptoms to the point where I was having a lot of difficulty walking. Despite the difficulty I was experiencing, I didn’t take any extra meds. I took my dinner-time meds at the usual time, and again, they were late kicking in.
In trying to understand what was going on, I realized that by adding an amygdala fear and emotional cleansing to my Fear Clearing script, I was overloading my energy field with fear energy because I was releasing fear and emotional memory from my amygdala … on top of what I was already releasing through my Comprehensive Energy Healing script that I’ve been doing for the last two months … but it wasn’t being cleared right away from my energy field. Releasing fear energy from my physical body is the first step. Releasing it from my energy field is the second step, and it takes time for this process to be completed. Simply put, I was overdoing it.
So, I did a couple of fear releases and shortly after doing the second one, my meds kicked in.
Although this was quite a challenging experience, it taught me two things: First, I learned about the amygdala and how it stores emotional memory; and second, I realized that I have been overloading my energy field with fear energy because I have been too aggressive with the energy healing that I’ve been doing every day. Basically, I have been repeating the experience I had in 2018 when I overloaded my energy field with fear-energy through Bowen Therapy.
The good news though, is that this experience provided further validation that the intense energy healing I have been doing for the past few months is working. It may not be pleasant, but it’s working.
So, for now, I am playing catch-up. I am focusing on clearing my energy field of fear and I will get back to the Comprehensive Energy Healing script once I start to feel better.
In my next blog-post, I will go into more detail about the roles of the amygdala and the vagus nerve in the fight-flight and recovery response and what this means in regards to recovering from the symptoms of Parkinson’s.
I recently learned about Daphne Bryan and her success in overcoming the symptoms of Parkinson’s with the high-dose vitamin B1 [thiamine] protocol. If you are not already familiar with her story, check out the video. it’s an intriguing one.
Daphne has written a book about her experience and it’s well worth reading. It is titled: Parkinson’s and the B1 Therapy.
The B1 therapy was developed by Italian neuroscientist, Dr Antonio Constantini. Dr Constantini passed away in 2020.
There are three issues which you need to be aware of before trying the B1 protocol:
Everyone is different, and it may take some time to figure out your ideal dosage.
The B1 protocol is not a cure. If you are already on meds. you still have to take them, although you may be able to reduce the dosage and your ‘on’ time may be extended.
It doesn’t work for everyone. Like everything else to do with Parkinson’s, the B1 therapy doesn’t work for everyone [although it could be that people give up before they find the correct dosage] and you won’t know until you try it.
I tried the B1 protocol a few years ago without success. Admittedly, I didn’t fully understand what was involved in determining the ideal daily dosage at the time. For now, I am focusing on the energy healing protocol I have developed because my goal is complete recovery.
I frequently see posts on Facebook asking for advice on Parkinson’s medication. People want to know if they should take meds, what meds they should take, how much they should take, what they can do about dyskinesia.
It’s a dilemma.
I experienced the symptoms of Parkinson’s for 16 years before reluctantly going on meds in 2018 due to a crisis which I will explain momentarily.
Your decision whether to go on meds comes down to four questions: how bad are your symptoms; have you explored all of the non-meds alternatives; how much of your day do you want to spend free of symptoms; and are you willing to pay the price for being on meds … because there is a price to pay.
Let’s examine each of these questions.
First, how bad are the symptoms you are experiencing and do they pose any danger? Are you at risk of falling or choking? Are you able to dress yourself, prepare your meals, use a fork or spoon, or go to the bathroom on your own? Are you prone to anxiety? Are you scared? Are you able to walk safely? If you are still independent and can function relatively normally, you probably don’t need to go on meds.
Second, have you explored non-meds alternatives? Have you tried Vit B1 therapy? Have you tried meditating, power-walking, qigong/yoga, spending time in nature, changing your diet or energy healing? There are many things you can do to reduce stress, ease the symptoms you experience and slow the progression of the symptoms you experience before you need to resort to medication.
Third, how much of your day do you want to spend free of symptoms? My medication regimen gives me five hours a day without symptoms. Most days, this gives me enough time to eat breakfast and dinner and complete certain tasks [stack firewood, blog, write, run errands] free of symptoms. If I need more time, I will take an extra dose of meds. I use my off-meds time to meditate, power-walk, shovel snow, read, write and do energy healing. I also eat lunch off-meds, but I prepare it while my meds are on.
Fourth, are you willing to pay the price for being on meds? When the medication you take wears off, there is a crash and the symptoms you experience will actually be worse for an hour or two. This is because dopamine strives to be in homeostasis. Dopamine, and all neurotransmitters and hormones, has a baseline level that is fairly constant throughout the the day. Medication causes a spike in dopamine above this baseline, so in order to maintain homeostasis, dopamine levels crash, by falling below baseline, until homeostasis is restored. This is to prevent a buildup of dopamine which could lead to dyskinesia [uncontrolled movements], hallucinations and even schizophrenia.
In 2018, I was forced to go on meds due to a reaction to ten months of Bowen Therapy treatments which led to six weeks of daily panic attacks followed by a sudden loss of mobility due to an adverse reaction to an anxiety medication. I was admitted to hospital, completely immobile, placed on levodopa, and seven days later I walked out of the hospital and went home and shoveled snow. After that, I tried three times to wean off the levodopa without success. I have since reached a point where the off-meds symptoms I experience are too severe to be completely off meds. I need to be on meds for part of the day in order to eat meals, complete certain tasks and run errands.
One of the traps we fall into, is wanting to be free of symptoms 24/7. This can lead to taking levodopa, time-release levodopa, plus dopamine agonists and reuptake inhibitors without a break, which can lead to having too much dopamine.
If you are experiencing dyskinesia and or hallucinations, it is likely because you have too much dopamine in your system which likely means you are taking too much levodopa. If this is the case, you have one of three options: you can reduce the amount of levodopa you are taking or you can replace some of the levodopa with a dopamine agonist or you can take an anti-dyskinesia medication, such as Amantadine. As long as you have a break to allow dopamine to return to homeostasis.
Thankfully, I have not had the need to try any other Parkinson’s meds, including time release levodopa, dopamine agonists or dopamine reuptake inhibitors, and I have not had to take any anti-dyskinesia meds.
The key to slowing the progression of the symptoms of PD is reducing, and ideally, eliminating stress. Whether any of the PD meds contribute to this, I think, is open to debate. During the period of time my meds are in effect, I am definitely more relaxed, but this is partially offset by the crash period when I am more stressed. What is more, I have no idea what the long-term affects of taking meds will have on me.
Lastly, I would like to talk about bedtime meds. Again, I have seen numerous posts from people who are having difficulty with their nighttime meds. It seems people are taking meds before retiring for the night, then waking in the middle of the night with severe trembling and other symptoms, unable to get back to sleep. I question taking meds before bed. Dopamine is associated with excitement, celebration and movement; things that are counter to restful sleep. I think it makes more sense to allow the appropriate neurotransmitters and hormones to unfold naturally, especially as it relates to melatonin and GABA. Melatonin is the sleep hormone, while GABA is a neurotransmitter associated with calm and sleep. Both are produced in the brain. Melatonin begins being released in the brain as soon as the sun sets in order to prepare us for sleep. The same is true with GABA. At the same time, the fight-flight response shuts down, thus reducing the amount of cortisol; again, in order to enable us to sleep. Melatonin and GABA release eases off around 3am, while cortisol baseline release begins to increase, all to prepare us to awaken. By taking meds at bedtime, we are interfering with these natural processes, and thus, interfering with our sleep. If you are having difficulty with your nighttime meds, I urge you to discuss this with your neurologist. I take my last round of meds at 5:30pm and they wear-off around 8pm. My symptoms tend to ease off around bedtime, when cortisol production begins to lower and when melatonin and GABA are increasing. I sleep well every night and I am not bothered by trembling; although I usually get up once during the night to go to the bathroom.
It is essential that if we’re going to take meds, we maximize their benefits, and in this case, sometimes less is more.
“My Parkinson’s meds are messing with my head,” I said to Mari, when she came upstairs.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
The following is my response to Mari’s question, including the back-drop to my initial declaration:
Yesterday morning, I had an appointment with the skin specialist at our local medical clinic to remove three growths: one on my back, one on my left bicep and one on my left thigh. In the past few years, I have had several growths removed, including a melanoma [the troublesome form of skin cancer] and seven or eight basil cell carcinomas [the harmless form of skin cancer].
I had been experiencing some anxiety in the days leading up to the appointment, not about the procedures, rather, about my morning meds kicking-in in time for me to drive myself to town for my 10am appointment.
I have had occasions in the past when my meds have been delayed in kicking in, but mostly at dinner time. I had given myself plenty of time to allow them to kick in, but still, I was apprehensive.
I took my meds [200 mg of levodopa] at 8:15 and they kicked in on time, a half an hour later. Perfect! But then five minutes later as I was preparing breakfast, they kicked back out, with a vengeance. Now, it’s not unusual for my evening meds to kick-out after kicking-in: it has happened several times. But it is very unusual for my morning meds to kick out … especially five minutes after they kicked in. This five-minute timespan had never happened to me before. I maintained my composure, although, I was leaning towards panic, and I decided to do an energy healing: specifically, a Fear Clearing. Moments after completing the energy healing, the meds kicked back in and they stayed kicked in.
To say I was relieved, was an understatement, but I was also ecstatic about the immediate results of the energy healing, while puzzled about the meds kicking out five minutes after kicking in. This was certainly amazing validation of the power of energy healing, and perhaps this was the ‘higher’ purpose of the meds kicking out: so I could experience this first hand.
“That’s amazing!” Mari said, after I told her the whole story.
“Amazing, indeed!” I agreed.
If you want to know more about my energy healing program, check out the blog I posted recently.
The other day, I was having a difficult time getting back into bed after my nightly trip to the bathroom, when I lost my temper, got angry, and got myself to where I wanted to go. After I got settled, it occurred to me that anger is not the solution to overcoming the symptoms of Parkinson’s: love is.
I discovered several years ago that anger can help me overcome certain PD-related movement symptoms. Anger stimulates an adrenalin release, which also stimulates a dopamine release,: facilitating movement. But it also stimulates a cortisol release: the stress hormone. So, in that regard, it works against me.
I realized many years ago, that fear is my kryptonite and anger is my Superman: fear paralyzes me, whereas anger empowers me. An incident that happened when I was in my teens, playing Junior C hockey provides a good illustration of this. In one particular game, during he first period, one of the guys on my team got into a fight with an opposing player. The opposing player was quite big … around six-foot-two and about 220 pounds … considerably bigger than my six feet, 180 pounds. The guy went ballistic in an attempt to get at my teammate. I turned to another teammate and said, “I wouldn’t to get into a fight with that guy.” Then, later in the game, the same guy slashed me across the throat with his hockey stick. It really hurt, and moments later, I tried to yell to one of teammates to pass me the puck, but no sound came out. It freaked me out, and in a rage I skated over to the guy, whacked him with my stick and then bested him in a fight.
Anger is such an easy state for me to enter. I can easily fly into a rage when I encounter some form of difficulty. I don’t have to think about. It just explodes inside me. Love, conversely, is not so easy. It doesn’t come naturally.
And here’s the thing: I don’t feel good about myself when I get angry. Short-term empowerment is replaced by long-term shame. So, for me, anger is counter-productive.
So, how do I enter the love state. Where anger comes naturally and easily, love doesn’t. I could think about my grandchildren. I love them immensely. This might work for me, but not everyone has grandchildren. A more universal way to access the love state is to focus on my breath. It has been said that we are never more than one breath away from being in a meditative state, and a meditative state is a love-state.
This, then, is a good place to start. Whenever I am struggling, take some deep breaths and perhaps, visualize my heart … or my grandchildren … and feel the love!
Long-term, this is much better for my health and more likely to help me in my endeavor for a full recovery.
FredPhillips 