For those of you who like to keep track, July 24th – August 6th encompasses several milestones beginning with July 24th which is the 11th anniversary of my PD diagnoses. Yes, it has been 11 years and Mara and I think I am better now that I was then! Certainly I am in better physical shape due to the 5 – 7 days of exercise each week and my symptoms of bradykinesia and other motor symptoms are better because of taking Carbidopa/Levodopa. The fact that I have been able to reduce my Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose (total LD per day from all sources) from 1688 mg to 932 mg over the past 5 years is certainly an indicator that something is working right.

This week we celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary with a superb dinner out and a fine bottle of champagne! (I need to add the champagne tradition to the PD anniversary) I wouldn’t be in the shape I am without Mara’s support. She is not only the love of my life and my best friend, she is also my caretaker extraordinaire!

Also this week I will celebrate my 78th birthday ( already have the champagne for this one!)

And on August 6th this blog will be 11 years old, and this will be the first post of 2024! Yep it’s been 16 months since my last post and I have no valid excuse except to blame it on my Parkinson’s Disease non motor symptom of apathy. I have had various ideas or information that I could use to create a post but somehow they never get written. But I am going to make the breakthrough today!

While I have successfully reduced my Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose from 1688 mg to 932 mg per day, I haven’t stopped my PD progression particularly in non-motor symptoms. In addition to apathy, my handwriting is working it’s way to a completely illegible scrawl, my speech continues to get softer (I know, I should be using the Speak Out tools to improve this one) and constipation and drooling have become more prevalent. On the plus side, reducing my Levodopa has reduced my dyskinesia and something I am doing has improved my sleep, often getting 6 – 7 hours per night according to my FitBit:

I wish I knew what I am doing to improve my sleep, I’m pretty sure I could patent it and make a fortune! I don’t follow any of the hints you see like reduce screen time ( I usually get in bed and read on my iPad!) or limit fluid intake before bed, or take melatonin or use CBD/Marijuana. The only thing I have doing different for the past 6 or 7 months is following a version of high dose thiamine therapy or vitamin B1 (HDTT) . I have noticed some improvements from following this therapy and I will discuss the details and process in my next blog post. There, I’ve set myself a task and I will plan to write the next post no later than next week.

Speaking of tasks, I did update the Now What document with recommendations for persons who have been recently diagnosed with PD. You can click here or at the top right to read or print it.

Until then, if you are a long time subscriber and wondered where I have been, I hope this finds you in good health and thank you for sticking with me despite my 16 month hiatus. Welcome to my new subscribers that have signed up in the last 16 months , now you know why you haven’t seen any posts.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

Yep, in the 10 years since I was diagnosed with PD, I have written at least one post in April about Parkinson’s Awareness Day, or Week or Month. The only year missing is 2018 when we were moving into our Sarasota home. I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and see what I wrote about in the past 10 years.

The first year was 2014 (click on the links to view) and most of the post was about Autism, my colonoscopy, my first dermatologist visit and how nice the weather was that week, Finally at the end of the post I mentioned the local Unity walk.

The next year, 2015, I quoted paragraphs from another blogger – Corey King. His views about awareness resonated with me and I hope my readers too.

In 2016 my post was long but all about PD awareness! So after 3 years I have caught on to the program and filled a post with my thoughts.

2017 was a quick one, with a link to a video about Unite for Parkinson’s.

In 2019 I had two posts (making up for missing 2018) the first one about our spinning class moving the bikes and holding our class in the lobby of the YMCA which was covered by a local TV station and resulted in my first TV gig! In the second post I covered the YMCA ride again and discussed how the class helps me fight PD. I also talked about experimenting with my medications doses and I am pleased to see that I am taking even less 4 years later!! EXERCISE WORKS!

In the COVID year of 2020, my World PD Day post was a review of the new book Ending Parkinson’s Disease, A Prescription for Action by Ray Dorsey MD et. al. The book was the basis for the Ending Parkinson’s movement that continues to lobby and push for research funding and has pushed to ban various chemicals that appear to cause PD.

In 2021 I discussed the book from the previous year and pushed for readers to join PD Avengers, a global alliance to end parkinson’s. If you haven’t joined, it’s not too late, click on the icon to the right and be a PD Avenger.

And last year, I introduced Spark! the new symbol for Parkinson’s Awareness. I also pushed again for readers to join PD Avengers and shared some infographics from the European PD organization on the myths of PD.

Now it is 2023 and we are getting closer to finding a marker that will improve the results of research trials looking for a cure or at least a disease modifying solution. We know that exercise is the best medicine to slow progression and we have many more options to deal with ‘off’ periods than there were in 2013. There have been significant improvements to DBS and Focused Ultrasound options to help deal with motor issues and tremor. Trials of stem cell implants are at stage 2 and 3 and we know a lot more about the genetics of PD. But I am sorry to report that the cure for Parkinson’s is still at least 5 years away, just like it was 10 years ago.

Parkinson’s Awareness month will continue into the foreseeable future as the hunt goes on to solve PD. So, join PD Avengers, donate to your favorite PD organization, join a clinical trial and let your elected officials know that you support the Ending Parkinson’s initiatives.

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

We have lived in Sarasota, Florida for 6+ years and have come to believe in the urban legend that Sarasota is protected from hurricanes because the Native Americans who first settled here blessed the lands to stay eternally safe from destructive storms and hurricanes. Fact is Sarasota Bay has not been a bull’s eye for a major hurricane in Florida since reliable records began in 1871.

But two weeks ago hurricane Ian that was forecasted to hit in Tampa to our North, started slipping south and suddenly the forecast was for it to come ashore in Sarasota. The emergency management authorities started evacuating the barrier islands, and we joined with a few neighbors to install hurricane shutters in preparation for a direct hit. Since 2002, the Florida building codes require new construction be able to withstand winds up to 150MPH. Our home was built in 2013 so it meets the new codes and it looked liked we were going to test the construction!

We opened our home to couple of friends who had to evacuate and one of them joined us as we hunkered down and got ready to ride out the storm. The Indian blessing seemed to be working as Ian continued to drop to the south and came ashore near Ft Myers’s about 50 miles (as the crow flies)south of us and then tracked northeast thru the city of Northport about 20 miles south of us on its way to the Atlantic, passing over Sarasota with windspeeds of 85 -100 mph. The wind and rain went on most of the night and you could feel the gusts when they hit the house.

We got up the next morning to find the house was undamaged except for a couple of loose roof tiles. There were lots of trees and bushes down in the area but no physical damage that we could see. Even more amazing was we never lost power! According to Florida Power and Light, of their 287,000 customers in Sarasota 280,000 were without power, so we were one of the lucky 7,000. We did lose our internet and cable for a several days, making it hard to keep up with what was happening as cell reception was spotty due to power being out to cell towers or the towers being damaged by the hurricane.

It’s been two weeks since the hurricane and most of the debris in our development has been cleaned up. Our tennis courts are back in operation after replacing the clay that blew off and putting the wind screens back up. There are still pockets of the area without power or internet particularly south of us in Northport where a large portion of the city was flooded by the Myakka river which is still above flood stage.

So, thanks to an Ancient Indian Blessing, good neighbors, and the updated Florida building codes, we survived our first and hopefully only hurricane. We are able to get groceries and fuel again and play tennis and cycle for PD. Life is returning to normal.

Today marks the 9th anniversary of this blog. Which means that July 24th marked the 9th year since I was diagnosed with PD. Those of you who have followed my blog know that usually I write a post on the anniversary of my diagnoses and I started this post a few days before the 24th but I was unable to complete it until today.. Read on to find out why.

My son and family recently moved to the Washington DC area and they invited us to come up and enjoy the Fourth of July. We had a wonderful trip and visit with Ryan and Sarah and Sarah’s sister’s family who had just been assigned to Colorado Springs and were leaving the day after the 4th. We also got to visit with our Grandson Garrett who started his internal medicine residency at Georgetown the week before.

We stayed downtown for the fourth which made it easy to watch the fabulous fireworks display. On the fifth we went to the Kennedy Center to see To Kill a Mockingbird which was wonderful and an item on our bucket list. We retuned on the 7th and on the 10th, I tested positive for Covid!

It started with a sore throat , then a mild fever and a headache and complete fatigue. I felt like I had not taken my medication for days and now I couldn’t hardly move. The next day the sore throat became so severe I thought I had added Strep throat to the COVID but no it was just another symptom of Omicron Covid.

By the 7th day the sore throat was gone, the headaches were just once in awhile and I tested negative. But the fatigue and lack of muscle strength continued and I was often unable to get up from a chair without assistance let alone exercise for the last 4 weeks. In addition to no get up and go I had no desire to write my usual “It’s been x years since my diagnosis” post until today! I tried several times but I would stare at the screen waiting for the words to appear like magic.

Yesterday I was able to attend our 1 hour tennis clinic and today I played 1 1/2 hours of doubles tennis and I feel normal for the first time in 4 weeks. So in addition to starting to exercise again, I have also started trying to catch up with my to do list with this blog being item number one.

Now that I feel like myself again, I have to say I am pleased with my lack of PD progression this year. About a year ago I spent some time plotting my on and off periods during the day using a program that showed my Levodopa level over 24 hours. As a result I determined that I was taking too much Levodopa and I needed to increase he time between doses of Rytary from 4 hours to 5 hours which resulted in needing only 4 doses per day instead of 5! So I have been on that schedule for almost a year with limited impact on my mobility even though I decreased the amount of Levodopa I take by 2 capsules.

So, until COVID, it has been a positive year on the PD front. I am keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 that I can continue to slow my progression this year while maintaining my current medication regimen. I hope that today marks the end of the COVID fatigue and lack of energy issues, i am ready to move on!

And finally, If you haven’t heard about the End Parkinson’s bill introduced last week in Congress, please go to this link and send a letter to your congress person asking for their support. Thanks!!

Author: Tom Eckhardt

Nine Years

Today marks the 9th anniversary of this blog. Which means that July 24th marked the 9th year since I was diagnosed with PD. Those of you who have followed my blog know that usually I write a post on the anniversary of my diagnoses and I started this post a few days before the 24th but I was unable to complete it until today.. Read on to find out why.

My son and family recently moved to the Washington DC area and they invited us to come up and enjoy the Fourth of July. We had a wonderful trip and visit with Ryan and Sarah and Sarah’s sister’s family who had just been assigned to Colorado Springs and were leaving the day after the 4th. We also got to visit with our Grandson Garrett who started his internal medicine residency at Georgetown the week before.

We stayed downtown for the fourth which made it easy to watch the fabulous fireworks display. On the fifth we went to the Kennedy Center to see To Kill a Mockingbird which was wonderful and an item on our bucket list. We retuned on the 7th and on the 10th, I tested positive for Covid!

It started with a sore throat , then a mild fever and a headache and complete fatigue. I felt like I had not taken my medication for days and now I couldn’t hardly move. The next day the sore throat became so severe I thought I had added Strep throat to the COVID but no it was just another symptom of Omicron Covid.

By the 7th day the sore throat was gone, the headaches were just once in awhile and I tested negative. But the fatigue and lack of muscle strength continued and I was often unable to get up from a chair without assistance let alone exercise for the last 4 weeks. In addition to no get up and go I had no desire to write my usual “It’s been x years since my diagnosis” post until today! I tried several times but I would stare at the screen waiting for the words to appear like magic.

Yesterday I was able to attend our 1 hour tennis clinic and today I played 1 1/2 hours of doubles tennis and I feel normal for the first time in 4 weeks. So in addition to starting to exercise again, I have also started trying to catch up with my to do list with this blog being item number one.

Now that I feel like myself again, I have to say I am pleased with my lack of PD progression this year. About a year ago I spent some time plotting my on and off periods during the day using a program that showed my Levodopa level over 24 hours. As a result I determined that I was taking too much Levodopa and I needed to increase he time between doses of Rytary from 4 hours to 5 hours which resulted in needing only 4 doses per day instead of 5! So I have been on that schedule for almost a year with limited impact on my mobility even though I decreased the amount of Levodopa I take by 2 capsules.

So, until COVID, it has been a positive year on the PD front. I am keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 that I can continue to slow my progression this year while maintaining my current medication regimen. I hope that today marks the end of the COVID fatigue and lack of energy issues, i am ready to move on!

And finally, If you haven’t heard about the End Parkinson’s bill introduced last week in Congress, please go to this link and send a letter to your congress person asking for their support. Thanks!!

August 1, 2022
Today is Parkinson’s Awareness Day!

The new symbol for PD Awareness is The Spark. Developed by a collaboration of organizations in over 80 countries, The Spark will mobilize our community and Spark change!

“This World Parkinson’s Day, we’re calling on those impacted by the disease to stand up, speak out and unite to end Parkinson’s. We can break the stigma around our disease, lead the call to fund medical breakthroughs and together we can put Parkinson’s in the past.”
PD Avengers website 4 -11-2022

Click here to read more about The Spark on the PD Avengers website and view the actions being taken to grow Parkinson’s Awareness.

Also in support of PD Awareness Parkinson’s Life, the newsletter of the European PD Association, is Busting Parkinson’s disease myths with a new infographic to call attention to just four of the misconceptions people have about Parkinson’s Disease.

As pointed out in the book “Ending Parkinson’s”, PD is epidemic and growing faster every year.

There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s Disease. Research must be funded to find a cure.

Parkinson’s can happen at any age – support research to find a cure!

This myth needs to be busted!! Tremor is one of the more visible symptoms of PD but not all of us have tremor. Instead we deal with stiffness, uneven gait, and balance issues and more, plus a multitude of non motor symptoms such as sleep issues, fatigue, pain, constipation, drooling, soft voice and tiny handwriting.

If you haven’t joined PD Avengers, please click here and add your name to the cause. You don’t have to be a PwP to join and your support will help SPARK awareness of Parkinson’ s disease!

April 11, 2022
It’s Giving Tuesday!

A quick reminder that tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, a great time to make a donation to your favorite charity, no matter what the cause. Several of the PD Foundations will be matching your donation on Tuesday and I’m sure that is also true for other charities. It is a great opportunity to make a difference.

November 29, 2021