Joop- I will add an observation about when the bladder comes online because it is so predictable-

1) Improved function upon awakening which fades within 30 minutes or so. Activity or stretching increases period and inactivity decreases.
2) Back pain? Fades quickly.
3) Dystonia. Foot. Other? Starts about ten minutes after rising?
3a) About ten minutes before the muscles switch on the bladder decides to beat them to it and a struggle down the hall is required.
4) Sinemet on in an hour. This depends on whether you eat after taking your first dose.
5) Coffee helps?
6) Sensory overload makes you off much sooner
7) if i eat after the first dose the second dose will take longer to work

Hello Joop. And of course, Rick.

Joop, in answer to your question about supplements, I think there are a number of things one could try, and I was taking so much stuff I don't know what helps or what hinders. Some choices were/could be coffee, L-carnatine, Vitamin C, Ginseng, CoQ10, Rhodiola rosea, NADH - I think it was called - curcumin, creatine, or a cigaret, if one is so inclined. I think the reason my doctor said not to do it is because he thinks that the body should not go through big fluctuations in level of substances - but hello, on and off periods????

Lately I've been jumping out of bed and managing to take a quick cool to cold shower, vigorously brushing my skin before and during, then take my pills, then immediately start doing some warm up movements, bad and shaky Sun Worship stretches, jumping on the mini-tramp, and then progress to breathing and meditation as the day's dose kicks in. Not sure why, but the cold shower thing seems to be helping.....of course, I'm not sure I could handle that in the winter. I think the thing about stiffness in the base of the spine is really key though, because of those rats lately that responded to electric stimulants at the base of their little spines. That area is a portal to the spine and the nervous system obviously, so somehow engagement of that seems critical to keeping whatever movement your body is accomplishing from getting pathological.

Oh and eating is a problem. The pills work unless I eat. Don't have a way around this yet. They also don't work if I don't eat - not enough to stimulate the digestion so that they can start acting. When I figure this conundrum out.......

Fiona said:
Oh and eating is a problem. The pills work unless I eat. Don't have a way around this yet. They also don't work if I don't eat - not enough to stimulate the digestion so that they can start acting. When I figure this conundrum out.......

Everything i eat interferes with med absorption. It hasn't stopped me from eating though.

Jean

Fiona, Rick,

I like having that cold shower. Just before I would have a heart attack I find myself running and swaying my arms. It sure makes you feel alive! So let's add the cold shower to Rick's list.

For a few months now i'm following a diet to make my pills work to the max.
First dose i take pills and after about ten minutes i take 1 cracker an a cup of coffee. Second dose, ten minutes a after that i have a slice of bread with some cheese. Third dose, ten minutes after that i have two slices of bread.
Gradually during the day the amount of food increases. Towards the end of the day the doses of medication get bigger. If I do that consequently I feel good all day. In doing this, I lost 8 kg of weight unintendedly. I'm 1.90 m and weigh 84 kg now.

The List:
1) Improved function upon awakening which fades within 30 minutes or so. Activity or stretching increases period and inactivity decreases.
Cold shower seems to have the same effect.
2) Back pain? Fades quickly.
3) Dystonia. Foot. Other? Starts about ten minutes after rising?
3a) About ten minutes before the muscles switch on the bladder decides to beat them to it and a struggle down the hall is required.
4) Sinemet on in an hour. This depends on whether you eat after taking your first dose.
5) Coffee helps?
6) Sensory overload makes you off much sooner
7) if i eat after the first dose the second dose will take longer to work

Joop

1: Med Hypotheses. 2008;70(5):995-1001. Epub 2007 Nov 13.

Adapted cold shower as a potential treatment for depression.

Shevchuk NA.

Molecular Radiobiology Section, The Department of Radiation Oncology, Virginia
Commonwealth University School of Medicine, 401 College St, Richmond, VA 23298,
USA. nshevchuk@comcast.net

Depression is a debilitating mood disorder that is among the top causes of
disability worldwide. It can be characterized by a set of somatic, emotional, and
behavioral symptoms, one of which is a high risk of suicide. This work presents a
hypothesis that depression may be caused by the convergence of two factors: (A) A
lifestyle that lacks certain physiological stressors that have been experienced
by primates through millions of years of evolution, such as brief changes in body
temperature (e.g. cold swim), and this lack of "thermal exercise" may cause
inadequate functioning of the brain. (B) Genetic makeup that predisposes an
individual to be affected by the above condition more seriously than other
people. To test the hypothesis, an approach to treating depression is proposed
that consists of adapted cold showers (20 degrees C, 2-3 min, preceded by a 5-min
gradual adaptation to make the procedure less shocking) performed once or twice
daily. The proposed duration of treatment is several weeks to several months. The
following evidence appears to support the hypothesis: Exposure to cold is known
to activate the sympathetic nervous system and increase the blood level of
beta-endorphin and noradrenaline and to increase synaptic release of
noradrenaline in the brain as well. Additionally, due to the high density of cold
receptors in the skin, a cold shower is expected to send an overwhelming amount
of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which could
result in an anti-depressive effect. Practical testing by a statistically
insignificant number of people, who did not have sufficient symptoms to be
diagnosed with depression, showed that the cold hydrotherapy can relieve
depressive symptoms rather effectively. The therapy was also found to have a
significant analgesic effect and it does not appear to have noticeable side
effects or cause dependence. In conclusion, wider and more rigorous studies would
be needed to test the validity of the hypothesis.


PMID: 17993252 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Tomorrow I'll be on a three weeks camper tour in France. I don't know if I'll be able to post anything. If not you'll hear from me three weeks from now.

Joop