Thomas Rutschman

After 11 years living with Parkinson´s I shouldn’t be surprised at how many symptoms are related to PD.

I am now convinced that hammer toes belong to the list.  As well as double vision, cramps, trembles on the inside of the body, trouble turning in bed, stiffness, easily feeling stressed so that even though you don’t have trembling normally y…[Read more]

My diagnosis came 11 years ago.  A neighbor whose father had PD told me I was walking like he did, shuffling my feet.  When I called my brother who is a GP doctor, he immediately agreed with my neighbor.  Since we zoom once a week he told me he had seen that I had very little facial expression and he should have put 2+2 together.

Stiffness, po…[Read more]

What I use that makes my life easier is a piece of silk cloth which I put in the middle of my bed, tucked in on the sides.  With my silk Pj´s I then have a much easier time turning at night.  Any cloth which is “slippery” would work.  I have sometimes used a piece of a shiny curtain!

Handwriting becomes small.

Voice becomes softer (though you may not notice that  yourself).

Poker face..no expression.

One hand quits swinging when you walk.

Numbness in  your feet at  night, or feeling ants in your feet.  Probably due to medicines which make you lose magnesium and potassium (medicines which lower  your blood pres…[Read more]

What if you would try a smaller dose of Mannitol?

I have had Parkinson’s for 11 years.  I used to have vivid dreams of animals attacking and would kick to save my wife from their attacks. We have a double bed, but with single top sheets. So my legs would get wrapped in my sheet, so I never managed to actually kick her.

But this is one of the symptoms that disappeared when I started taking a…[Read more]

Dear Bari,

More important than the mattress is having a “slippery surface” that you sleep on to assist in turning over. I bought som satin/silk pajamas, and found some satin curtains at a second hand store. Then I cut a strip long enough to tuck under both sides of the mattress on top of the bottom sheet and 50 cm wide (1,6 feet). Without it I…[Read more]

Yo tomo los mismos medicamentos que usted. Levodopa y Repinerol. Pero lo que a mi me ha dado más resultado es Mannitol, un azucar. Uso una cucharada al día. Parece que tiene efecto sobre las placas enrolladas que tenemos en el cerebro a causa del Parkinsons.
Buena suerte!

I live above the Arctic circle, with virtually no direct sunlight for a few months of the year (like now!). Light therapy helps people who feel depressed by the lack of sunlight. When I first moved here I heard that some hospitals gave light therapy. But that was a long time ago. I did pick up a lamp which has the right UV and my wife uses it…[Read more]

I grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay but have lived above the Arctic Circle in Jokkmokk, Sweden,  Tonight it is -17  degrees Celsius, and a few weeks ago it got down to -36!

I sing in a choir and that has helped by voice to be stronger. The isolation during the Covid pandemia was not good for my voice, though. I started doing magic tricks to keep my fine motor skills, as well as doing some carpentry projects. (I make wooden puzzles for kids.) My guitar playing has take a toll, though–it is not as fun as it once…[Read more]

I get a flu shot every year and have had no side effects at all, despite having Parkinson’s.

To Kate I would say that with one month of Mannitol you have hardly given it a chance to work. Try to find a dosage you can handle and stick it out a bit longer. Good luck!

I am glad to hear that others have had a good experience with Mannitol, too. I have been taking it for 11 months now and I still feel it has given me back my life. I have had Parkinsons since 2011 and nothing else I have done has had the effect that Mannitol has. It has actually turned back the clock. I wrote earlier about how it gave me back my…[Read more]

Thank you Charles for sharing about how Mannitol helps you. I just came back from a trip to see a daughter and her family, and I forgot to take my Mannitol along. I was gone five days without the positive effects of Mannitol disappearing. Which tells me there has been some major repair-work in my brain, cleaning out the Lewy body clumps and…[Read more]

I was diagnosed with Parkinsonism in 2010 and have tried a bunch of things besides the standard medicines. Nicotine patches like they do in France. Coenzyme Q10 like they do in the US.

I have been using Lactobacillus plantarum PS128. Since it is a living culture, you can make your own. So I make “yoghurt” and eat it for breakfast. I eat…[Read more]

Mannitol from Sosa in Spain.

Good luck with the Mannitol. And with the dreams!

I understand it is quite common for those of us who take Parkinson’s medicine to “act out our dreams”. Earlier on I would wake up kicking at some dangerous animal attacking my wife. But I haven’t had those kind of dreams since I started taking Mannitol. I doubt whether melatonin helps–though it might get you better sleep. I was of the…[Read more]

Good luck for those trying Mannitol. I use Sosa brand from Spain. I really don’t know if one is better than the other.

Anybody else have problems rolling from one side to the other in bed? I really am helped by using silk pajamas and a strip of silk-like cloth under my waist area–really helps.

Take care!