Skip to main content

Introduction: What are the Secondary Symptoms?

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 !

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Glossary of terms and abbreviations in no particular order.

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Screwed Up

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...
Post a Comment
Read more