Garrett McAuliffe

Correction: that’s what I get for using vocal recognition software. In one of the first first few lines it should read, “I do find…” not “I do fine!”i

I understand that there is no vulnerability to coronavirus and its consequences based on having Parkinson’s. But I do fine, is that my Parkinson’s continues to be more dominant than the coronavirus in my body’s experience. Not that I’m not concerned and being careful. In some sense I feel solidarity with everyone since I have had to focus on heal…[Read more]

To respond to the question about apathy. I feel the app at eight but I don’t know if my colleagues or students do. But I do know that I’m not present very often but I don’t have to be in my office or in around the halls. I have to monitor my time and pace myself. I suspect they definitely know there is a with drawl on my part compare to how i use…[Read more]

You hit the nail on the head for my experience.  I find that I’m always in the “Parkinsons  Zone” even when my symptoms aren’t strong. I go into my office at the university and I feel no excitement, just a strange feeling of once having been committed to it. But I plow on despite that feeling of dislocation. It’s clearly dopamine missing. I…[Read more]

My tremor was my first indications of Parkinson’s. It was 10 years ago that my pinkie started shaking. I was leading a trip for students to Ireland. Of course constipation preceded it for about 10 years earlier.Now 10 years later it is distinctive in my right leg and my right arm. At this moment I am dictating this message because my finger will n…[Read more]

I have a specific question or comment that I’d like to hear from others about. Upon awakening, I burst into tremors right away, even if I had taking my sinemet an hour earlier and gone back to sleep. What do people do in the morning on first awakening? One thing is to worry about things as I feel the tremor start, which sometimes do.(“Oh, ano…[Read more]

I am hearing wonderful dedication as well as a reminder to do self-care. Today I have a list of about seven things I wish to accomplish but I went into an off mode good morning and couldn’t type for my work not really drive and jump around doing errands. I decided to just be slow as what it was. And wait for the meds to kick in. There’s a rea…[Read more]

Yes. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness based approach. It emphasizes being present in the moment and being with it rather than fretting or being in the future or past. It is so easy to slip into, “how are used to be when I was without Parkinson “or “why me?”. With ACT One dozen try to dispute those thoughts but rather…[Read more]

In many ways. I was diagnosed 10 years ago and I’ve watched the progression over those 10 years. It seems like my biggest concern is about my career.As I may have mentioned before, I work as a professor, which allows me to work at home much of the time and to cut back from my long hours that I formerly worked. Due to symptoms,I am anxious about g…[Read more]

I feel like I’m one member of the club of trying to slow down and pause and not multitask or many-task!as I look at what I have accomplished in my life and my career, I can rest assured that I did well in many areas and feel good about that meaning was clear when I was raising children and when I was a full-time professor. BUT – as my paid work…[Read more]

i just lost a whole message in which i illustrated my day of running from one task to another. The day was then filled with symptoms and dyskinesia. I taught my class while dyskinetic. It is clear that “stress,” which can simply be concentrating on a task, or rushing, or even doing exercise, triggers symptoms AND dyskinesia. The message I am…[Read more]

I keep my house warmer than I ever did, including rooms that I’m not currently using. I have room by room heaters. This would’ve been sent for during the oil prices in my 20s in the 1970s, when we all lived cold to save money and oil and all that. But with PD I feel justified and keep my house warm. Pretending it’s really summer and I’m in the outdoors.

This is Garrett. I learned that dyskinesia is also increased by stress. So if I start to get dyskinesia and am doing something active or stressful, it gets worse. I have tried to lie down or pace around the house slowly. Instead last night, instead of hiding away, I joined the company of a neighbor who had stopped by.  Dyskinesia makes me speedy…[Read more]

To all who responded to my initial post. It is inspiring and heartening to hear your words. I want to add an important discovery that I have made. My extended episodes of tremors, involuntary movements, and feeling “speedy” I think are related to engaging in a stressful task when I am feeling a return of symptoms. Even driving at that point. Ins…[Read more]