Recovery is possible......
I’ve been holding off writing this for awhile now, I wanted to be sure, that I’m recovering from Parkinson's and not just my imagination. When I last saw my doctor, he couldn’t believe how well I’m doing. I even showed him some one footed Yoga poses (Eagle Pose and the Standing bow Pulling pose) that I’m able to do now. 3 years ago, I had to use a walker (with great difficulty) to see him. I couldn’t even stand unassisted. Today I can go though a 90 minute HOT Bikram Yoga class like any normal person. I’ve been kayaking, cycling, and hiking all summer. I’ve even started dating again. Mind you, I still need a little bit of herbs/meds to function normally. I’m not fully recovered yet, but I’ve improved dramatically in the past couple of years. I only take my meds during the day to function fully. I average 16 hours unmediated in the evening. This gives my body a break and forces it to use its own natural dopamine. During that unmediated time, I’m a bit slow, but still improving.
At 48 years old, I was diagnosed with PD in 2001. First of all, I never believed what the western medicine’s approach is to treating PD. They believe it’s incurable and that you’ll have to gradually increase your meds, until eventually the meds itself will give you more problems then your PD. They’re not even really sure what causes PD in the first place, WHAT DO THEY KNOW.. They sure know a lot about prescribing drugs and DBS. I refused to accept and fall victim to that.
In my case I believe it was decades of abuse to my body (poor diet, lack of exercise, lots of stress with my digital imaging business for the advertising industry, way to much coffee, not enough sleep, lots of amalgam fillings in my teeth, no joy or real meaning in my life, decades of accumulated toxins in my body, etc. etc.). It got to point where my body finally said: “Enough is enough” and it decided to force me to shut down, so it can recover. That’s right recover. Like a wounded animal, it just wanted to hide and rest. Like all of us, this didn’t happen over night. It was a gradual decline. But once it (pd) crossed that tolerance point of what my body can handle, it was all downhill for 5 years. During that time, I’ve decided to stay away from all pd drugs. I wanted to try natural alternative treatments: I took lots of vitamins, antioxidants, was eating way better, practiced Chi-Gong breathing, did visualizing techniques on my body healing itself, tried a variety of energy techniques on me, eliminated stress the best I could, had acupuncture done on me, exercised the best I could, even did Ti-Chi for awhile ‘til I couldn’t do it any more , etc. etc. etc.. I eventually had to shut down my business ‘cause I couldn’t work any more, I’m sure it all helped, but eventually I couldn’t take care of myself anymore. By February of 2006, (5 years later) I was ready for a wheelchair and was extremely depressed, even suicidal. I couldn't take it any longer, so I regrettably*broke down and decided to try Sinemet. In about a week, Sinemet started to work. And in a couple of months, I was a completely different person. I could walk, got my balance back, started to gain back my normal weight and I could even ride my mountain bike again. But in only 6 months of taking Sinemet, I found it was taking longer and longer to kick in, not lasting as long and sometimes it wouldn't kick in at all. Sometimes I would take 1 1/2 tablets of Sinemet CR 200/50, at a time, with no effect at all. Talk about being scared all over again. I knew getting on Sinemet would be a limited ride, but I never thought it could be this short for me. Remember, this is my story, everyone’s response is different.
About that time, I heard about mucuna, an Ayurvedic herb from India used to treat PD and other ailments. The first time I tried it, I felt some improvements. After a couple of months of gradual improvements, I continued to reduce my Sinemet and replaced it with mucuna. Today I’m taking only 1/2 a tablet of Sinemet 200/50 with 1/2 tsp. of mucuna 3 times a day. Maybe my body was finally ready to start the recovery stage after 5 years of changing my lifestyle for the better and this herb was just what I needed to tilt the scale towards recovery. Whatever it was, taking mucuna was definitely helping me and continues to help me today (3 1/2 years later). I can function almost normal, except for my handwriting. My handwriting was small and weak 3 years ago, now it’s big and sloppy. I used to be a fine artist, I’m still hoping I’ll get back that fine motor skill one day. Might still take another year or two. It took years, maybe decades, of abuse for my pd to show it’s ugly head in the first place, it’s not going to go away in a couple of months. Looking for a magic pill (including mucuna) or an operation isn’t going to make my pd go away. It’s a change of lifestyle, putting joy back in my life, and most important believing that my body can cure itself that will make all the difference.
and patience, lots of patience.
Enjoy Life......
Max
P.S. I wouldn’t recommend Bikram yoga unless you’re in pretty good shape. But for me it’s the best thing in speeding up my recovery. It’s in a room heated to 104 degrees and you have to have good balance. It’s removing toxins from my body, improving my flexibility, strength and overall well being. For more info you can check out:
http://www.bikramyogananaimo.com/