PD Progression, stages and what to expect

Yes, and I know it varies because my sister and I both have it and our symptoms can be different. I hope your appointment answers a lot of questions.

I live with those symptoms every day and it is very frustrating. My eyes have double vision, blurring and I simply can't read as good. Brin fog is frustrating because it interferes what what I want to do. People close to me think I have loss of memory problems. Stree raises havoc with elevating my symptoms. I don't want to do anything but stay at home. Medications also adds to these symptoms. Every time I talk to my doctor he says i have to live with. How I wish I could think right and live well.

I am in my 82nd year...and one thing I came across years ago from a university based study where how a retired basket ball from among top players got PD within a short time after leaving the sport ... and was helped to regain his life back by getting INTERESTED in Life. Movement seems the top indicator of this desire. And such desire, I believe, (and it seems to work for me) is having a Purpose in Life.

So I looked up the latest on physical activity: From John Hopkins Univ
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/parkinsons-disease/myths-and-facts-7-parkinson-disease-misconceptions
Myth 4: Aside from medication, there isn’t much you can do.
Fact: This “it is what it is; there’s nothing I can do to help myself” myth is counterproductive. There is a lot you can do — chiefly, keeping as active as you can. A recent study found that patients with Parkinson’s who took part in weekly, hourlong exercise sessions were able to do more in their daily lives than those who did not.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/physical-therapy-for-parkinsons-disease
Physical Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's Disease Aging Well Staying Active as You Age
It’s well-known that exercise of all kinds is beneficial for patients with Parkinson’s disease. But physical therapy, in particular, is key.

Needless to say, I am able to live independently lifting heavy groceries thru steps in subways and buses and able to walk up couple floors ( I do have an elevator, but it's a tease to myself: Hey, wanna walk UP, old man!

But our bodies are forgiving; I do hope you find some help here.

I am 87 & ith PD for about 4-years now & can totally identify with your Dad! It is soooooooo depressing to feel this way when you have been active & engaged all your life!

Hello @windyh and welcome to the PD support group on Mayo Connect. Yes, strength, balance, yoga and also Tai Chi classes can be very helpful for both the physical problems as well as the cognitive and fogginess associated with PD.

If you would like to try some of these exercises at home, YouTube has plenty of free exercise videos which might help you get started. Here is a link to some of those exercise videos.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=exercises+for+PD
Most of these exercises can be done while seated in a chair. This is good when you have balance issues.

Here is one of my favorite seated yoga videos,

Thank you so much for making make feel less alone ! It is so hard to describe your sx to someone else! And, it decreases my anxiety about these sx to know that other

I'm being evaluated for PD at Mayo. I've dealt with this on several occasions.

Yep! You are right on all counts! I am 80 and was diagnosed in November 2023, and had spent 3 years reaching that diasnosis because the only sumptom I had was increasingly sever fatigue I had become totally bed-ridden, but after I d]got diagnosed that meant there was a treatment and while I'm not the person I was before this experience, at least I can do many normal things and feel so much better and grateful for finally knowing what I have and getting some things that help. Looking back, I think I've probably had it for 10 years. When I was diagnosed, I was at Advanced Stage PD. The only thing you can expect from PD with assurances is that you will have your very own ,Custom-tailored PD. You'll share lots of symptroms with others and can get helpful hints on how to manage individual things. There are lots of on-line resources . I fould myself getting far more e-mails that I could ever read, becuase I signed up for them. But it's like getting a drink from a fire hose. I recently cut my 2 zilllion newsletters down to 2 - on is Mayo Clinit and the other is Michael J. Fox. I've found those to be useful. There may be others and you can spend all day keeping up, but that would interfere with exercise, which is extremely important, and I'm going to sign off right now and go do my sstretches for my back. I wish you the luck I have had in finding excellent medical care and support from friends and family.

It's certainly true that there are lots of things about Parkinson's that you do have to just live with. At the same time,while eyou may not be able to eliminate those symptoms, there are ways to make them easier to bear and diminish their impact on your life. I doubt that "you just have to live with it" is very helpful to you. You can seek out support groups where folks have found ways tomitigate the impact of their symptoms , making them easier to tolerate.. For example, PD can affects every muscle in your body , including the mussles that control your eye movement. There are some exercises for those mscles that may help mitigate your double vision, so check with an Opthalmologist. Children often have these problems and with the exercises they can be mitigated. I'm furtunate to have a neurologist who understands these things and she has referred me for various therapies to help. I didn't think I needed a speech therapist, but it turns out that she referred me because I wss having swallowing issues and the muscles for speech are some of the same muscles involved in swallowing, and I certainly don't want to end up with a feeding tube, so I pay attention to everything she tells me. Yes, you have to lieve with them and you can't make them go away, but you CAN do things to mitigate their impact on your life. You may not be able to change neurologists and your doctor may be very good at what he does, just not very good about some of these other things, so if you have good medical care you can get your other needs met elsewhere, like through a suppot group.

Yes this is just starting with my husband. Diagnosed 1 year ago im sure he has had it 5? Years. Hes on carbadopa/ levadopa But lately having low blood pressures weakness, confusion say wrong words for things. He says everything is dark it reminds me of a stroke and he gets very rigid when this is happening. Hes been in the hospital 3xs