Returning after a (long) break... but with an unwelcome visitor! (Parkinson's!)

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HappyG(rrr) Sep 2021 8:51am, 23 Sep 2021 39,778 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Great goal setting Euan (and welcome back!) - wish you all the best with your marathon and coping with Parkinson's. G
CumbriAndy Sep 2021 11:05am, 23 Sep 2021 2,524 posts	0 CumbriAndy Welcome back EuanB and thanks for creating the thread. I'm sure I'm like many people insofar as Parkinsons is a disease I've heard of but know very little about and expect to remain in that state until I or somebody I know is diagnosed. If this thread lifts off, there is every possibility it could contain all sorts of useful nuggets of information that would be helpful for those who find themselves needing to be educated in the future. If you have the time and inclination, I'm sure it would be useful to some if you were able to maintain pointers to some of those key points in the sidebar. For starters, some pointers on recognising the condition as it develops and maybe some links to other resources for managing it could help people. Not a problem if that seems unduly burdensome on top of everything else. In the meantime, all the best to you, to mathschick and anybody else affected, with your plans and the future.
mulbs Sep 2021 2:58pm, 23 Sep 2021 14,034 posts	0 mulbs Welcome back, thanks for posting, wishing you good health
Hanneke Sep 2021 3:07pm, 23 Sep 2021 79,742 posts	0 Hanneke Hi and great of you to start this thread. I have a fair few clients with parkinson's. It is rife here and associate with lo ger term exposure to chemicals in herbicides, sheep dips etc One of my clients has had it for a very long time and keeps very active. Although he has deteriorated, his dogged determination to keep going is standing him in extremely good stead. So there you have empirical evidence of keeping active being good. Also: find yourself a good massage therapist for regular "maintenance" to stop yourself from getting too stiff/tight and a knowledgable yoga teacher/suitable class. If things get worse, have a look at Mucuna. Everyone with Parkinson's who uses it to support treatment/allopathic meds swears by it. Feel free to PM if you have personal questions.
EuanB Sep 2021 1:21pm, 24 Sep 2021 5 posts	0 EuanB Thanks everyone for your replies, I still find it very hard to describe what's actually going on, not least because Parkinson's seems to affect everyone differently. There are quite a few really good videos about it, but this TED talk by Tim Hague is one of my favourites: https://youtu.be/N3zSSV11bLA
Hanneke Sep 2021 1:37pm, 24 Sep 2021 79,789 posts	0 Hanneke That is a really good talk.
LazyDaisy Sep 2021 3:37pm, 24 Sep 2021 34,272 posts	0 LazyDaisy Thank you for sharing that, Euan.
EuanB Oct 2021 2:54pm, 26 Oct 2021 8 posts	0 EuanB Oh my - today I covered 6.3km, at a variety of paces. Mostly it was run 45 secs, walk 45 secs, but on the return trip my right foot started to play up, so I ended up running backwards where I would have been running forwards. It's very odd, I can generally run backwards when I can't run forwards and even when walking forwards is difficult. It's just not very fast at the moment (last full km was done in 7'57" which I make out to be about 12.8mins per mile) but that might be because I keep having to look over my shoulder. I definitely need a rear view mirror!
EuanB Jun 2022 3:11pm, 11 Jun 2022 17 posts	0 EuanB Sorry, all, for my non-appearances these last few months. To use my new favourite word, I've been busy latibulating. (latibulate: hide oneself in a corner waiting for things to blow over) The good news: I did the Edinburgh Marathon! It took me a little under 5h 15m, I had predicted myself a somewhat conservative 5h 30m, putting me in the purple pen at the start. I adopted my, now standard, run 30s/walk 30s routine to get round. The only incident on the way was between 14 and 15 miles, when I clipped the top of a speed bump with my right foot and went down like a sack of spuds. I have a tendancy to drag my right foot a bit, thanks to the Parky's, and have fallen a few times, usually when I've not been concentrating on lifting my feet properly. So - I got a nice bruise under my right eye, and I also grazed my elbow and shoulder. A drink of water and a dose of Madopar (fast-acting dispersable levodopa) and I could carry on. I did try running backwards early on in the run, but really couldn't continue with it in the later stages as there wasn't a lot of room, and the likelihood of bumping into someone was a bit too high. I need to get moving again now and think what I'm going to do next. Another marathon? I don't want to think about that at the moment, a 10k might be good, I'm also considering a shortish duathlon (running and cycling, not swimming!) but, anyway, that's 'job done' as far as the marathon goes. Hope everyone is well and happy running!
Bowman 🇸🇪 Jun 2022 5:45pm, 11 Jun 2022 1,508 posts	0 Bowman 🇸🇪 Impressive EuanB best of luck to you and your coming adventures!