Oct 2016

The slow but relentless progression of this disease is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet. Each drip seems insignificant, but over time the accumulation will swamp everything. And although I am accumulating symptoms, today I can do pretty much everything I could do before the diagnosis. But I am increasingly aware of these symptoms and they are on my mind all the time.

Today I especially noticed that I was experiencing bradykinesia, a signature PD symptom that causes rigidity and slowness of movement. It was very hard to take normal-sized strides today and my exercise class seemed much more challenging than usual. My medication controls the stiffness but also causes another problem. Dyskinesia is uncontrolled movement and is a side effect of carbidopa-levodopa. It’s most noticeable when the C-L peaks, beginning about an hour after I take it and lasting 3-4 hours. So, to deal with the side effect of the medication, I’m taking a new medication that spreads the effectiveness of the C-L over time, eliminating the peaks and valleys. It’s working quite well.

I’m glad that I am not experiencing a tremor. (Knock on wood I don’t develop one.) It’s the most visible sign of PD and when it’s really bad, the shaking can make it impossible to eat with a fork or spoon. There are forks and spoons that shake and offset the tremor!

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a PD symptom and the effect of getting older. For instance, forgetting names or having difficulty thinking of particular word can be a sign of both.