Strange Brew

This post is titled “Strange Brew” (a terrific classic rock number by Cream) because for the past three weeks I’ve had a cold/lung infection and couldn’t exercise, which resulted in weird sensations that were Parkinson’s related.  The song’s lyrics keep repeating the line “Strange brew, kill what’s inside of you,” which ran through my head over and over.  It made me feel like “Strange Bruce.”

To elaborate:

Because I wasn’t exercising, certain PD symptoms that I used to have (which disappeared once I started working out a lot) returned.  And then some.

The details:

Up until I got the cold, I took Parkinson meds (Ropinerole and/or Sinemet) roughly every three hours during the day.  Most days I was fine until, say, late at night when I was home and the meds wore off.

When I say “fine” I mean the following:

• I could type with both hands.
• I didn’t have tremors in my arm.
• I felt normal.
• I easily balanced my meds and my meals:  Take the meds at least ½ hour before eating or 1 hour after.
• My meals satisfied me and I rarely felt hungry.
• I didn’t limp.

Then the cold hit and hunkered down in my lungs and I couldn’t swim or work out at the gym.  Suddenly:

• The positive effects of the meds wore off before three hours.
• After, say, two hours and fifteen minutes, I started to feel antsy and twitchy.
• I started limping when I walked.
• My right arm trembled.
• I couldn’t type with both hands.
• I noticed saliva pooling in my mouth.
• Bladder urgency reared its venomous head.

What was weird was that the antsy-twitchy sensation felt like I was super hungry, as if I had had an empty stomach for hours, and had then drunk a quart of strong black coffee.

So I would take an early hit of Sinemet, not waiting for the usual three hours to pass by.  I took it on an empty stomach, but thirty minutes later the drug hadn’t kicked in and I still felt twitchy and ravenously hungry.  So then I’d eat some protein and some carbs, and I’d feel normal for a while, but then the process would repeat.  If I ate the protein and carbs first, I’d still feel antsy until I waited an hour and then downed more Sinemet.

Thus it seemed that I was simultaneously malnourished and in need of meds.

I battled my way every day like this for a couple of weeks.  It was scary and disconcerting.

Now, though, the cold is finally gone.  I went to the gym three times so far this week, and I feel like I’m returning to normal.  I’m typing with both hands again.  The tremors are almost gone.  I don’t feel antsy as much, although the feeling sometimes returns in the mid-afternoon when school is winding down.

Phew!

Lesson learned:  Exercise must be my #1 priority every day if I want to maintain a “normal” lifestyle.  And if I get sick…hmmm… I better drop everything and get help from a doctor.  (Note:  I didn’t see a doctor this time.  A co-worker had the same cold and, like me, kept coughing.  He went to his doctor, who told him there was nothing to do about this particular cold but sit it out.)

Strange brew!  But great song!  Love the video, too!

Update June 30:

I’m returning to normal (that is, how I felt pre-getting sick with the cold).  In the past 14 days I’ve gone to the gym or done some other kind of exercise (swim, walk long distances) ten days.  School ended two days ago and I expect that during the next few weeks I’ll work out even more.

I also bought a small, keep-in-your-pocket spiral notebook so I can jot down the exact times I take my meds, as well as the onset of twitchiness.

I should add that I expect my life over the summer to be busy but less stressful than during the school year.  I’m sure stress hinders me as much as anything.

More anon!