April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and this Thursday, April 11th, is World Parkinson’s Day. This year, our cycling group at the YMCA decided to do something to increase awareness of PD. We are moving our usual Thursday Pedaling for Parkinson’s class from from the cycling class room to the lobby of the Y. We have invited all of the local neurologists and Movement Disorder Specialists,along with local Parkinson’s groups and the media to come and see what Pedaling for PD is all about. So if you are in the Sarasota area this week, stop by the Evalyn Sadlier Jones YMCA at 8301 Potter Park Dr at 10am to see Pedaling for Parkinson’s in action.
Those of you who have been following this blog for very long know that I feel that this program has slowed the progression of my PD. When I miss a class or two I have seen a noticeable change in the time my medication lasts. The medication seems to wear off sooner than usual and take longer to ‘kick in’ after I take a new dose. I know I have pushed exercise over and over in this blog but I can’t emphasize it enough. There are many opportunities to exercise besides cycling or playing tennis – you just need to find one you like (or dislike the least) and stick with it for a month and see if you don’t agree, exercise is the key ingredient to fight PD.
Speaking of medication, I was doing great on the new regime of two Rytary and 1/2 a tablet of Mirapex 5 times a day until a couple of weeks ago when it suddenly stopped working so well. I would take the 1st dose of the day and it worked perfectly but when I took the second dose it would sometimes have the opposite effect, causing me to walk slowly with limited arm movement as though I was completely unmedicated. This would last up to 2 hours and then I experienced “wearing on” instead of wearing off as the meds finally kicked in.
So I emailed my Dr and while waiting for his response did what many of us do, researched the internet for other people who have experienced the same effect and then started experimenting with different dosages and the timing of the dose. I am getting pretty good results reducing the Rytary to 1 for doses 2 and 4 but I will keep you posted as this saga continues. In the meantime today my ninety day supply of meds arrived, I need a shelf just for the Rytary 😀
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
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