Dr. Visit Today

I went to see my neurologist – movement disorder specialist – today and there are a couple of things I want to share.

1. Moving your sleep

I have been moving in my sleep a little. In the morning, right before I wake up, my fingers reach out to touch someone without asking me first. Usually, I am dreaming that I am trying to push the right buttons on a remote or a phone, and I reach out in real life. This reaching and fiddling with the air wake me up. Usually I just laugh and wake up for the day. This appointment I thought I would talk by Dr. about it and see what she has to say.

Solution:

Come to find out, this is pretty normal, Parkinson’s or not. She suggested taking a daily dose of melatonin, up to 15mg a day. Apparently, the lack of dopamine reduces the depth of your sleep. The melatonin increases your sleep depth, thus allowing your natural dream parallelization to work more effectively.

2. Trapezoid muscle

Did you know that the trapezoid muscle controls your arm lifting? Well it does. Due to the rigidity that Parkinson graciously gives, I get Botox shots in my muscles every three months. Last session I added my traps the thought was that this would keep me from looking like the Hulk with my flexed neck

muscles. When the Botox kicked in, I couldn’t lift my arms. This is a problem.

Solution:

Don’t get shots in your traps.

I also got samples of Inbrija, a new delivery method for Levodopa. It’s inhaled! Fast acting and lasts about 1½ hours. It could be a good thing… We’ll see.

I love my doctor!!