Parkinson's Disease Support Group

Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder often characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement, and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. The primary symptoms of Parkinsons are due to excessive muscle contraction, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the...

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/ Parkinson's Disease Support Group

freezing

PSullivan
PSullivan
Here's probably a dumb question about freezing... I know a lot of you are at that point, and my doc asks me every time i come in and the answer is always no...but lately this wierd thing has been happening on stairs and not all the time... when i am going down i just stop i see the next step so that's not the issue but i can't seem to step down it's like my body won't let me, then all of a sudden seconds later i can... is this freezing? or am i just developing some depth perception thing?

Paula
Joanee63
Joanee63
Yes Paula, about the driving. Freezing is one aspect of it and then there is the slow reaction time, pus I was having a hard time with wanting to falling asleep. I did that once and thank God I was out on our country road and no one was aroundc. I fell asleep at the wheel and woke up when I hit the ditch . Had 4 wheel drive and was able to get myself out of the ditch and home, but that was the last time I ever drove. really scared me and made me realize how bad it could have been. guess each of us has to decide what our own limit is. The driving thing is really a hard one to face because irt takes away that last bit of independence you have left. Like everything else about PD you learn to live with it.
Joanee
aliveo
aliveo
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HI PAULA,
SO MUCH FOR A DUMB QUESTION, LOOK AT THE RESPONSE. ANOTHER FACTOR TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT IS THAT WITH THE AUTOMATIC SYSTEM BREAKING DOWN, THERE IS A NEED, WHEN DEALING WITH FREEZING, TO USE A DIFFERENT PART OF THE BRAIN TO MOVE OFF AGAIN. TAKE BIGGER STRIDES AND USE A TRIGGER TO GET STARTED AGAIN. BE AWARE WHEN FREEZING OCCURS, AND NOTE IF ANY MULTI TASKING IS GOING ON.

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deleted_user
deleted_user
Hubby falls several times a day we have not been able to figure out a pattern, meds etc, it just darn well seems to happen when ever it feel like it. 3 years ago our son came home with a pair of constuction knee pads for his Dad, we had tried many kinds before but they would slip down or not give him the cushion he needed. He has mastered the craft of falling and landing on his knees throws his hands in the air as his wrist, elbows can't take anymore impact.
The Dr's have blamed it on low BP, but it is not always that, it is part of PD, it is unpredictable, you need to find your way to keep yourself safe. hubby has the walker specially made for people who fall, but he thinks he is stable, walks away and falls, it is like a knife going through me, but with these knee pads he bounces up and continues, many times he falls 3 tmes in 30 seconds, as he jumps up, falls, jumps up, falls.Very hard to watch. Find a way to keep yourself safe as falling can mean an end to your mobility.