Freezing and Parkinson's

All people with Parkinson’s know what it is to freeze. It is a common occurrence whereby your muscles do not respond to your commands. To be honest, it is a very weird sensation. Your brain tells your feet to move and they just stay in place. You try to get up from the chair and it takes three or four attempts. You are leaving the car and your feet are still in it. The physiological reason is the chemical messenger, dopamine, is not available to relay the message from the brain to the muscles. Without this communication, the muscles and nerves cannot respond. So you freeze. It is frustrating and scary.

When freezing occurs, I attribute it to PD and know that this is just the way it is. Most days I can just accept it and deal with the situation with patience and humor. There are times when the freezing frightens me and I go to that dark place where I feel the disease is getting the better of me. I contemplate whether I should get the Deep Brain Stimulation. Maybe that will solve all my problems, but then I decide that I am not quite ready to go there.

One of the issues that involves freezing is the reaction that comes from the people you are with when it happens. For example, my husband reminds me to not leave the car door open too long in the summer because the air condition “escapes.” I simply answer, “ I would if I could, but I can’t!” He gets it right away. Sometimes it feels like people are starring at you like you have a mental health condition where you are just stuck in life. You try to go up or down a stairway, but you freeze and just cannot move. It is almost impossible to explain, especially to a stranger, so you just wait until the message from the brain reaches the extremities. Sometimes it happens quickly and sometimes not so quickly. I wish it never happens, but such is life with Parkinson’s.

In the bigger picture, freezing is a small inconvenience. On a positive note, it is nature’s way of slowing you down. I find myself more mindful of my daily activities and more accepting that I cannot run around like a crazy busy person like I did in my previous life. This is a good thing. I have seen things in a different perspective since I have had to slow it down….. now, I actually stop and smell the roses as often as possible.