Having A Bad Day

So often I post an upbeat message about my Parkinson’s, but not today. I have been experiencing more symptoms than normal. My hands are tremoring, my legs are jiggling, my mouth is having trouble forming words, and my whole body feels totally fatigued. It is not a good day. In fact, I am going to admit it is a bad day.

So now what? Well, part of dealing with Parkinson’s is recognizing that you do have off days and you just have to go with it. For one thing, I need sleep. Not just quick naps in the day, but good full restful nights. It has been awhile since I have had a good sleep. One of the major symptoms of Parkinson’s is sleeping difficulty and I experience it frequently. The lack of sleep wears you down and makes it hard to face even the simplest of life’s challenges. I hope tonight will be a good one for a complete night of rest.

It is tough to keep one’s spirit up when you are feeling badly. So how do you get through these times? One thing is to remember that bad days happen. When you have a chronic disease, you are going to have bad days, sometimes many in a row, sometimes a few times a month. But they will happen. The real challenge is fighting the depression that comes with these episodes. The feelings of fear and anxiety that this time the symptoms are not going to get better, maybe even worse, are intense. It scares me.

First, I sit down and take a breath. I share my thoughts with my husband and he reassures me that I have been here before and it passes. He is a calming factor and reminds me to think about my breathing. It helps. I also take more of my Parkinson’s meds to reduce the symptoms and wait for them to work. I focus on the moment and try not to anticipate that I am reaching another advancement of the disease. This fear is always prevalent when you have a chronic condition that causes degeneration. You worry that an increase in intensity and frequency of the symptoms represents a progression to the next phase of the disease. It is human nature to do this, but it is tough on the psyche.

Next, I remind myself that I have an appointment coming up with my neurologist, There is only a certain amount that can be done with medicine adjustments, but I am wishful that we can make changes to control the symptoms. At least, I hope.

I do not want any bad days, but let’s get real, I will have them. The key to my happiness is continuing to find strategies to handle these episodes. I continue on the journey.