PN and handwriting …

Posted by Ray Kemble @ray666, Jul 23, 2024

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I seem to recall one of my neurologists asking if I'd noticed that my handwriting had deteriorated. It seems he said that a worsening handwriting is sometimes suspected to be a symptom of PN. I do a lot of writing by hand. I've always prided myself on being able to write anywhere, anytime, without having to tote a 'device' along, ever vigilant to how long before the device's battery will need recharging. But all that aside, I have noticed that my handwriting, never a penmanship champ, has grown ever more illegible, even to me. More and more, I find myself in the middle of typing into MS Word something I'd written by hand only a few hours earlier and muttering, 'Huh?' A deteriorating handwriting is hardly PN's most devastating symptom, but, if true, it sure is one of PN's most curious symptoms. Has anyone else found themselves staring at something they've written by hand and muttering, 'Huh?'

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Ray Kemble | @ray666 | 5 days ago

Good morning, PNer!

Since I'm the guy who started this thread way back in the summer of '24, I thought I'd toss this out there this morning, even though it may be of help only to a very few. When I started this thread, I was dismayed by how illegible my handwriting had become.I blamed it all on my PN (don't we all do that? 🙂 ). What I hadn't taken into account was that I wasting all of my handwriting in the comfy bosom of a recliner (while recuperating from sepsis). I got so used to that comfy bosom, I've been doing all of my by-hand written ever since––ever since, until only last week. Last week I realized that the recliner's big fat armrests were squeezing my elbows inward, not much, but just enough. I switched to handwriting (for an experiment) at my dining room table: No more squished elbows, and––Lo and behold! I my was legible! The lesson of all this? And as I say, it'll only help a few of you. If your handwriting has become illegible, before you blame it all on PN, check the "environment" in which you're doing your writing (arms free to move, good lighting, comfortable ergonomic relationship between you, your hand, the writing surface, the pen's nib, etc.). Before you jump to blame the medical, check the environmental!

Good writing , all!
Ray (@ray666)