Handsome to another white rat, is suppose!

Although yesterday was an above average day, it wasnt quite as good as the previous days

Today is still above average but my legs are working better than my arms..balance is good

One of the motor skill tests that my Dr does is the doorknob turning..arms extended..twist hands back an forth..Prior to DM I could perfom this task with my left hand without a problem, but my right hand would make about an eighth turn to and fro and shake..My right hand and arm is my worse pd disability..For the past 17 days with the exception of this morning I could do the doorknob turning with my right hand at about 60% efficiency or a little better from day to day..Today however it is back to square one with that, and my left hand is a little bit slower as well..Today I can still get up out of a chair with ease instead of taking three steps backward as the chair slides behind me when I attempt to stand up an balance..Some chairs are easier to get out of than others depending on their weight..My kitchen chairs tend to slide backward as I rise, and this is what use as a gague..I have been able to get up without the chair sliding backward consistantly..There are a bunch of little things Ive noticed that have improved

The "HANDSOME" I have experienced however turns out to be a hallucination..

This is the Bible Belt and we don't cross species. Despite what you might have heard.

A couple of other observations while I'm here:

1) Belly bloat (or abdominal distension if you wish) is noticeably low this morning and confirmed by my wife
2) muscle tone is better than usual

-Rick

Steve-

It might be a good idea to skip a day from time to time, especially if we are dealing with receptors. They might need a break to "reset" or something.

For my own self, it is positive for the most part but with a few suspect elements.

The latter: 1) It took me over an hour to turn on this morning. A little more than usual but not much. 2) Yesterday afternoon went off for a couple of hours but I had good cause. Trying to install a most uncooperative new router and took it personal after the third hour of trying.
3) Awakening dystonia of left foot slightly worse than usual this morning.
On the plus side: 1) Slept well again, but during a brief wake up I discovered that I was able to turn in bed like old times! 2) No offs today at all. 3) Skipped my last meds of day last night without serious problems. 4) General feeling of better health. Can't really explain that.

There is, however, one thing in particular that may be important but will need a little explaining. I play around with some basic biofeedback and have sensors that record, among other things, heart rate variability. I won't bother to explain HRV since it is easy to look it up, other than to say that a certain wave form is a sign of good cardiac health and the further you deviate from it the less your chances of surviving a heart attack. It involves the autonomic nervous system and also the vagal nerve.

Now. I didn't want to alarm myself but since I began checking it a year ago my HRV was so bad that it was almost a flat line! Not good. I know what other people showed on the same equipment but just wrote it off to the PD damage and hoped for the best.

Today I experimented and found that for the first time I showed an HRV wave that was near normal! I have no idea what it means. Perhaps the vagus nerve is nudged back to life or something. But if any "real" researchers are lurking, please make note.

In fact, I will attach a jpeg of the various outputs. At "t+0" I had had no DM for 12 hours. The green line is the HRV and is almost non-existent at t+0.

Attached Thumbnails

 

The past three days Ive been backsliding a little bit everyday..Ive been out working on my boat in the yard here..I could blame that on the fact that Im not feeling as good, but during the last warming trend in the weather last week I was doing more work then than I am this week..so I cant blame added activity on this..Seems with pd there are somethings that work for a while but it always seems to bring you back to square one..Both arms are weak today and my bad arm/hand is uncoordinated again..My gait is still above average, and so is my balance..but feeling kinda sluggish..Fatigue hasnt been as bad, and am taking an afternoon nap whether or not the fatigue has set in yet or not..My short term memory seems to have improved a bit..All in all my condition is still above average, but not as good as it was last weekend and at the beginning of this week..A big improvement nonetheless over what it was prior to taking DM..Before taking DM I was getting very uncoordinated, balance was getting worse, and had some near falls but I am still strong enough to right myself and regain my balance..I had this overall feeling which I can only explain by saying that it felt more like pd was in control than I was, and now I feel like Ive gained some ground back

I have no idea what that heart monitor is all about..lol..I'll have to google it

From what I have read, this over the counter drug can be addictive. My sister's drug of choice at 19 was an over the counter cough syrup. She would become drunk and incapacitated beyond belief when she took it. She was a full-fledged alcoholic by the age of 20, and limped through life never really able to be free of addiction. Was it her make-up? Was it the cough syrups' effect on her? Was it both? I know the dosage is small, but if it feels really, really good, would one be able to stay at that dose? One of the last things she did before commiting suicide at age 60 was to drink. This column brings back a certain feeling of terror. Be very, very cautious that you don't substitute one disease with another.

Ann

is not addictive.

It is not to be confused with other OTC cough preparations containing
codeine. These used to be favorites for kids/teens. Most states have cracked
down on OTC sales of these exempt narcotics...requiring signing a book, with ID and no more than 4 oz every 48 hrs. Terpin hydrate with codeine is no longer even manufactured...this was the highest alcohol containing product out there, at 40 proof.

The small amount of DM discussed here is certainly not in that league!

The DM abuse now is new, and quite different.
The guaifenesin in the DM mixtures now, causes vomiting before the high typically, so drinking a whole bottle, is not likely.

Thanks for your concern Ann..I have a history of addiction, and I completely understand what your sister went through..Was it her make-up or the effects of the cough syrup?..From my experience I would have to say it was make-up..then effect..ie finding a drug of choice..Unfortunalely those who dont recover face the risk of death either through suicide, over dose, or organ failure due to addiction/alcoholism..and I am sorry to hear about what happened to your sister..that is sad..I of all people have to be extra careful..I have a healthy respect for narcodics etc, I have to..There have been a few times where I have had medical procedures that required narcodics..colonoscopy/andoscopy, and had to take valium to redo an MRI at the time of dx with pd because I was so uncomfortable laying in the tube for 2 hours that they had to sedate me, and I had to pick up the prescription for the valium..the Rx was for 2 valium..CVS gave me 10 which is the minimum order, so when I got home the first thing I did was to flush 8 of them down the toilet..immediately..The first few times I took the cough medicine I knew that it had the potential to be abused, I could taste it..but now after about 3 weeks it just tastes like candy flavored water..I went through the same thing with mouthwash 17 years ago when I got out of rehab..I had to rid the house of mouthwash for a few years..Now I use it and never think about it anymore..The first time I used it after getting out of rehab it scared me because I could taste the alcohol in it..It has been told to me by countless people that if I am faced with a situation where I get an Rx for narcodics, that as long as I take them as prescribed then it is medicine..and anything more than that becomes abuse, and recreation

There are DM cough medicines that are alcohol free.

,,, ken

I bought a bottle of Robitussin for adults, and took the first 1/4 spoonful this morning. Thought I would start with even less than 1/2 tsp a day, to see if so little would be of any help at all.
But what an awful, disgusting taste! I can hardly get the 1/4 tsp down. I will keep it up until this first bottle is empty, and if it has had no effect by then, my taste buds will be grateful. But if it helps me it is certainly well worth the taste jolt.

white rat birte