Category: symptoms

New PD Travel Tip

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This post is a bit late as it involves something I learned on the last day of my road trip to Kentucky. Which was two and a half months ago.

As you all know, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) can cause a person to slowly hunch forward. For this reason, physical therapists and Rock Steady Boxing coaches continuously try to get us to constantly pay attention to our posture. But staying focused on posture is not always easy.

As I drove all over Kentucky, I occasionally noticed that my posture had completely abandoned me while I was behind the wheel. I wasn’t slouching straight forward, but forward and to the right – towards the radio. Usually, I wasn’t aware of this posture problem until it started hurting my back. So I was definitely not looking forward to the long drive back to Charlotte.

Thus, in preparation for the long drive home, I adjusted the driver’s seat so that the seat back was straight up. I hoped this would decrease the slouching a little, since there was no room for my spine to recline. This worked far better than I had imaged it would.

Y’see, with both the seat back and my own back being perpendicular to gravity, the back of my head very lightly rested against the head restraint. So lightly, that every single little bump in the road caused my head to bounce just a little. So there was a constant (and kinda fun) jostling as long as I maintained my posture. Every time my head stopped bouncin’ around, I immediately noticed the change and corrected my posture.

The results? I completed the five-hour drive home with zero back pain! And this was no fluke. I still keep the seat back as vertical as vertical can be, and the ol’ driving fatigue and back pain haven’t been happening. So, it looks like we have ourselves another PD Travel Tip!

PD Travel Tip: When travelling by car, keep your seat back as upright as possible to improve posture and to prevent fatigue and back pain.

Parkinson’s Symptom: Excessive Sweating

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The only thing I really want to say about this week’s symptom is: Bleah! Seriously, this one’s pretty straightforward, so I don’t have a lot to say about it.

I remember sweating more than usual for a while, early in my Parkinson’s career. It seems to have stopped happening some time ago, but I wasn’t keeping an eye on the sweat, so I couldn’t tell you which drug (or other treatment) fixed it, or when. Or maybe my body has just gotten used to the increased sweating. Should my couch cushions be sopping wet after I lie down for a five-minute nap?

This was the final symptom I wanted to review as part of Thymptom Thurthdayth. If you’d like me to address any other symptoms, let me know in the comments section below. Otherwise, Thymptom Thurthday is out on its ass. I’ll probably replace it with Medication Monday. That should last about a month. By then, I’ll have some more amazing photos to share, as I will soon be trippin’ across Utah.

Parkinson’s Symptom and Upcoming Travel

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This week on Thymptom Thurthday, I’m talking about Dry Eye. But I’m not talking much about it, because it’s pretty straightforward.

I’ve seen Dry Eye referred to as a non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). It’s caused by reduced blinking, which sounds more like a motor symptom to me. Either way, the solution for most folks is just to use lubricating eye drops. I experienced dry eye early on, and the eye drops worked for me. At some point, the problem went away. I can only guess that one of the PD drugs has returned my blinking to normal, but I really couldn’t tell ya which one. I still need the eye drops when I visit places with low humidity (e.g., Colorado), but while I’m here in Carolina, my eyes are wetter than my dog’s nose.

You may have noticed this blog has been a bit dead lately. Well, fear not! In another few weeks, this site will be flooded with Travel Reports, as I will be taking three trips in three months. These shall be:

August – Utah

September – New York City

October – Maryland

In the meantime, I still have more to say about the Vyalev pump, plus I plan to test and review TravelJohn!