A year ago, I started the podcast When Life Gives You Parkinson’s. I had been diagnosed a year earlier, on August 17, 2017, with young onset Parkinson’s disease at the age of 45. I can feel the disease progressing.
In this episode, I update my co-host Niki Reitmayer on my symptoms. In the last six months, I continue to have trouble getting a good night’s sleep and I’m now battling daytime fatigue. I have long stretches of numbness and pain from neuropathy in my feet, increased body pains, anxiety, hot flashes and unplanned weight loss. Maybe most concerning for me is that my wife Rebecca has noticed my personality is changing.
As I talk to others with Parkinson’s, “shift in personality” is not an uncommon observation. The spouses of BBC TV and radio writer, producer and comedian Paul Mayhew Archer, American Ninja Warrior Jimmy Choi and Amazing Race Canada winner Tim Hague all noticed personality shifts.
Personality shifts in people with Parkinson’s can be triggered by many different things, including increased fears and loss of control of one’s life, medication side effects, depression, pain, anxiety, fatigue and missed or incorrect dosages of medication.
Our partners at Parkinson Canada offer the following advice when a person with Parkinson’s begins demonstrating more aggressive behaviour, which occurs more subtly in the initial years and is more pronounced in the late stages of Parkinson’s, especially when accompanies by dementia:
- Stay calm.
- Review the PD medication schedule to see if a dose has been missed or taken incorrectly.
- Give the person space to cool down. Try to leave about five feet between you.
- Ask what is troubling the person so that you can identify the cause of the emotion and behaviour.
- Listen to the person. Resist arguing or being confrontational, but provide reassurance. For example, “I know it is really frustrating when you can’t control what is happening…”
- Speak slowly, and in a clear, confident and reassuring voice. Raising your voice may escalate the situation.
- Redirect the person to focus away from the issue causing aggression. Offer to take a walk or do a calming activity together.
- If your safety is threatened, leave the situation and return after a few minutes.
Thank you for listening. Add your voice to the show and leave a message for us here: https://www.speakpipe.com/WhenLifeGivesYouParkinsons
If you have a comment or question about the podcast, you can email us at parkinsonspod@curiouscast.ca.
Follow me, Larry Gifford
Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod
Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod
Instagram: @parkinsonspod
Follow Co-host and Producer Niki Reitmeyer
Twitter: @Niki_Reitmayer
Thank you to…
Naomi Casiro BSc. (Kin), MPT, certified PWR
Henry Gifford
Rebecca Gifford
For more info on our presenting partner Parkinson Canada head to www.parkinson.ca.
The toll-free hotline: 1-800-565-3000
Follow them on Twitter: @ParkinsonCanada
Thanks also to our content and promotional partners
Parkinson’s IQ + You – A free series of Parkinson’s events from the Michael J. Fox Foundation
Spotlight YOPD – The only Parkinson’s organization dedicated to raising awareness for young onset Parkinson’s disease and funds for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust.
When Life Gives You Parkinson’s was selected as one of Apple’s best podcasts of 2018.
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