Secondary Symptoms

Most of this I copied from "Parkinson's Disease for Dummies" which is surprisingly good !  Published in 2007. PD -  Parkinson's Disease. PWP - Person (or People) with Parkinson's. YOPD - Young Onset Parkinson's Disease.  Diagnosis made when under 50 years old. Cognition - Those mental skills necessary to process information, such as perception, memory, reasoning, judgement, intellect, and creativity. MCI - Mild Cognitive Impairment.  Slowness in thought processing time, trouble with multitasking, getting confused in the middle of a task, problems switching from one task to another, and problems with judgment and poor insight. Language and speech problems include word finding difficulties (trouble getting the right word out) and naming difficulties.  Fatigue, stress, and sensory overload can all impact cognitive function. Bradyphrenia - The gradual slowing or loss of ability to process information Executive function  - The intellectual abi...

There are some bad things that happen to good people at least once in a lifetime. Getting fired from a job.  Getting a speeding ticket.  Stuff you try to avoid.  This past Sunday I was in Manhattan for the day with my partner Julio.  We go in often enough that it's fairly routine.  I carry my meds with me for the day.  I start to fade around 3 or 4pm, take the train home at that time, Julio comes back later in the evening.  No problem.  But this time J. said stay till 8pm & then i'll come back with you.  I just was not thinking. I took my last dose at 6:30pm.  I had no extra stash at all.  Nada. Zip. Zero. I keep extra doses in my car, but that was parked back in Jersey.  I screwed up.  I was panic stricken. We missed the 7pm train out of Penn Station, the next one was at 8pm.  What a nightmare.  Of course the train was full of loud drunks, screaming babies, the whole nine yards.  I was not a pretty sigh...

The wide range of symptoms for Parkinson's Disease are generally divided into 2 categories - "Motor" or primary symptoms, and "Non-Motor" or secondary symptoms.   The motor symptoms are what's visible to everyone and the obvious signs of PD: resting tremor in the arms, legs or chin, rigidity or stiffness, slowness in movement, balance problems, walking problems which include decreased arm swing and shuffling steps.  The secondary symptoms are what you can't see: Anxiety and depression, memory problems, apathy, cognitive difficulties, fatigue, insomnia, constipation, lightheadedness, urinary frequency, numbness or tingling, sexual dysfunction...just to name a few.  This blog will focus more on the "Non-Motor" since I've had them all !

I have an appointment with my new Primary Care doc later this morning.  I had to change docs because my previous one moved her office back into town.  I like knowing that if something comes up, I don't have to drive very far to get to a primary care physician.  I hate driving.  NJ is the worst.  Anxiety, agitation, distraction, lack of concentration. All secondary symptoms.  Sometimes I can't talk and drive at the same time - If I'm deep into conversation, I go into "auto-pilot" and miss turns.  Yesterday I was driving solo, going to see an old friend.  My mind was on other things and before I knew it, I had missed the turn, and drove 5 miles past it. ugh.