Parkinson's Disease Late Onset 'Symptoms' transcript
Edwin: In certain circumstances I've got a slight tremor under my left eye, that appears more in stressful situations so I try and avoid the stressful situations.
Bill: My major symptoms at the moment are freezing; my feet seemed to be glued to the floor, loss of balance which is due to low blood pressure.
Anthony: My symptoms today when they are apparent, shaking of my right arm in particular, my left arm to a lesser extent, and maybe my legs. My jaw also tends to quiver when I'm in one of my off times, but I still think ok I believe.
Celia: His fingers couldn't do small things, he couldn't do up buttons and things like that. In the last few years he got to a stage where he would lose his balance and fall backwards. In the last couple of years he couldn't get out of the chair.
Anthony: I play tennis a bit and I can't control my movements as well as I would like to. Also my hip tends to lock up a little and tends to be painful, and I can't always walk as far or as fast as I'd like to. I take a longer time over everything, but because I've got plenty of time that's not necessarily a handicap.
Edwin: I was going shopping with Margaret once a week and I found shopping in the supermarket was terrible. I'd be walking along behind Margaret, and all of a sudden I'd say ‘Oh look at that, I'd like some of that' and she stop dead, and after stopping dead I'd put the brakes on - me - and it'd just send me to pieces completely. My head would spin, I'd feel bad, and it would take me a few minutes to recover.
Celia: He couldn't sit up unless he had a chair with a back, or a chair with arms, or else he would fall over.
Edwin: And the neurologist said, what I suggest you do is the next time you are in the supermarket you get a trolley and follow your dear wife with a trolley. Tell her to put something in your trolley and put some stuff in her trolley, so people don't just think you are pushing a trolley around, and I found that much easier, i could hang on to the trolley, if someone stopped in front of me the trolley was there to support me, I had something to hold on to and I didn't get the same symptoms.
Bernadette: Since Tony's been resting every afternoon, or we endeavour to do that, he's been much better at his evening meal. His medication certainly helps too, but for some reason his evening meal is much more pleasurable.
Edwin: Lie down, have a sleep for an hour after lunch, and you'll find that your slowness in the afternoon will improve and you'll have a lot more stamina to go on through the day. I tried that and whenever I can do that I'll do that, and i found it very beneficial
Bernadette: Sometimes with Parkinson's the person experiences bad dreams and hallucinations. This isn't rare, talking to other carers it can happen quite frequently
Edwin: Sometimes during the night I have visions that someones chasing me, or i'm chasing somebody, and somebody says ‘get him get him, don't let him get away' and a couple of times I've nearly clocked Margaret.
Margaret: I'm the one he gets, you see.
Edwin: It disappears; it disappears then for a while, and it may come back again, but for the moment it's not worrying me at all now.
Anthony: Sometimes I'm fighting somebody off Bernadette, but I'm fighting her instead, for me it's not a major problem but I can't say the same for Bernadette.
Margaret: It does bother me actually because you are fast asleep and all of a sudden he says ‘hey, come here, come here' and grabs a hold and it does worry me in case he ever got violent, but he hasn't until now, of course.
Bernadette: The thing to do in that instance is to wake the person from the dream and reassure them.
