written in 2010, discusses exercise research included tandem bicycle, by someone with pd for 11-12 years
truly amazing, no way i could replicate his performance/routine but makes me think i need to do a little more and keep a consistent schedule. couldn't do what he is doing in high school!! nor would i want to.

http://katekelsall.typepad.com/my_we...xperience.html
http://katekelsall.typepad.com/my_we...le+and+Roll%29

Hi Soccertese
Don here from Bellingham. I wish you the best in your exercise quest

When I exercise I feel so much better so am setting up a "mancave" downstairs. Music, qui gong, biking, and weights. Am hoping to disappear for a couple hours a day and start a new routine.
just an idea. Maybe we can compare notes once in a while.

luv bellingham, my fondest memories are from living there while attending western a long time ago.
just anecdotally, i kept quite vigorous and medication free for about 5 years after diagnosis, maybe playing a lot of soccer and working out in the gym helped. 60minutes of soccer had to equal 60 minutes on a bike. i gradually got worse and started on mirapex which i tried to keep at a minimum. i quit playing soccer, i guess it was getting more difficult without upping my meds which i didn't want to do. i started to progress more rapidly after that, all anecdotal of course. no way to know if the exercise had anything to do with it. kind of glad i quit soccer, injury risk too great as is wear/tear on your joints.
fwiw, every article i've read seems benefit from exercise best when in a group. forces you to work?

Soccertease. it's a small world. I'm a 1966 grad of WWU
Hiked most of the Cascades (Pacific Crest Trail) and played rugby for years. Played soccer at WWU for about two wks when they tried to get it started as a club sport but was too clumsy!
I'm on low dose selegiline and recently ropinerole to help me sleep. Like you I am looking for natural solutions so have not started l/C dopa. Am trusting that diet, exercise, stress reduction, PD dance classes and my balance exercises will make a difference. Any thoughts about that?
Do you have a plan?
Don

Dance helps...balance can be trained into the brain....wish I had known what I learned in 2003 all my life...even kayaking helped my balance, besides being wonderful time outdoors with friends. When I started kayaking couldn't hardly get into the boat without a struggle...after a month or so of balancing on the river...could step right in and sit down.
Also I found papaya about that time and loved them...that seemed to have a large effect on my health and abilities too. Now I work hard in the garden, miss kayaking alot, but don;t have anyone to go with here...everyone seems to like whitewater (not me)
Exercise hard...but remember to stretch first and cool down by stretching after!!

fell in luv with soccer after my kids started playing. went to WWU and then transferred to WSU to get a degree in agronomy, played around too much in bellingham!! spent 2 summers working as a skiffman on a purseiner out of BOUNDARY BAY.

interesting you are on selegilene, i was under the impression azilect was the preferred mao-b inhibitor now. i've been off and on selegilene for the past few years, didn't notice much of an affect except an initial energy boost. i'm back on it as i look for cheap ways to reduce my sinemet, i'm afraid to let my insurance know i have pd since under medicare age, retired due to pd and haven't applied for disability yet.

just curious, how does requip help you sleep? are you on the regular or extended release version?
can't really evaluate the rest of what you are doing, have no personal experience. if you look at youtube, there are videos of someone with pd using BOSU balls to enhance balance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCxTm...e=results_main
i couldn't do that before pd there a lot of youtube videos about pd, have only looked at a few.
there are many pd dance programs so have to assume they help
http://www.waparkinsons.org/classes_events/dance
this is a great website for wash. state pd'er

the only advice i can give anyone with pd that i have real experience with is live life to the fullest because you never know how fast the disease will progress. i personally am doing pretty well 11 years after diagnosis but when i get worse now it seems to happen very quickly, like overnight. and i'm getting worse quicker now. if you have to balance taking more meds vs a lower quality of life, take the meds, especially if it means you can exercise more. just a layman's opinion.

here's a list of sites i look at everyday
http://forum.parkinson.org/index.php...sk-the-doctor/
http://forum.parkinson.org/index.php.../6466-kholden/
http://forum.parkinson.org/index.php...he-pharmacist/
https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundation/news.html
http://www.epda.eu.com/en/#
http://parkinsons-disease.alltop.com/
http://www.waparkinsons.org/

Thanks to Kate Kelsall, long-time advocate and den mother to us all; DBS guide and Rockyettes funny and serious dancing, for her web-site at Shake Rattle Roll, and for bringing us Neil Sligar, who ignored what he was told, and ten years ago had invented his own therapy: exercise. The world was not ready for that, but now the world is ready: sinmet is great, but it is not the only item on our "to do" list.

These points from Neil's story attracted my attention, and I would say the same things apply emotionally, as well as physically:
Neil said:
8. When I commenced reading Parkinson’s literature on exercise, around early 2004, the prevailing “take it easy” advice didn’t ring true. Working out intensely didn’t exacerbate my symptoms. Training at night didn’t make falling asleep more difficult. I fall asleep more readily. Symptom relief flowed from intensity, not torpor.

(my note: emotional and creative intensity as well. Not torpor.)

Neil said:
9. Intensity is relative to the individual’s capability. Standing and sitting ten times would be intensive for a person with advanced Parkinson’s. Intensity means “giving it almost all you’ve got.”

10. There are many ways to exercise intensely. For several years I’d meet my son daily at the railway station to drive him home. Included as part of my exercise regime was a sprint up the railway stairs. At home there can be push-ups, sit-ups, and so on. Vigorous dancing would add an element of balance, social interaction, and test thinking skills.

There you go. As long as music and dancing are included, it's all good. Gonna get out my stationary bike. Wish I had a rowing machine. I would row that thing right across the ocean, even if it is a symbolic ocean.

[QUOTE=soccertese;939693] went to WWU and then transferred to WSU to get a degree in agronomy, played around too much in bellingham!! spent 2 summers working as a skiffman on a purseiner out of BOUNDARY BAY.
progress.


hey soccertese-- do you by any chance know of Harvey Hanson (remember the wars between judge boldt and warren hanson??) in Bellingham? I cooked on the f/v "Memento" in 78 and 79 (seiner)

md

[QUOTE=moondaughter;941906]nope, left bellingham in 1974

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_-nRQmO8ko