Y’ever go to make a pork sausage, and then you realize it’s got hairs growin’ all over it? Wait, that’s not what I wanted to ask you. Let me look at my notes here….Ah! OK, what I meant to say was:

Y’ever stand up too fast and get all dizzy and disoriented? Sure, we all have! But did you know there’s a scientific name for it? It’s called Orthostatic Hypotension (or OH), and it’s basically momentary low blood pressure in the brain. For many folks with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), its effect is amplified. When PD is involved, the OH becomes nOH (neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension).

This is one symptom I’ve never really talked to other PD patients about, so I can only tell you about what little experience I had with this symptom. Around the time I was diagnosed with PD (about ten years ago), I noticed that my sensitivity to standing up too quickly (I didn’t yet know the scientific name) was getting far worse. For one thing, it was happening more frequently. More troubling, though, was its persistence; the amount of time I needed to brace myself before I could start moving was increasing. And sometimes I felt like I might collapse even when I was holding onto something sturdy.

I am happy to report that my old buddy, Levodopa (Levo), seems to greatly improve the situation. Since I started taking Levo several years ago, my OH has been back to what I would consider normal.