A Freshly Paved Road
I don’t really remember what I thought Parkinson’s was before I was diagnosed. My assumption is that I thought people with Parkinson’s shake a lot. That’s what most people believe about Parkinson's. I was surprised to learn how many other symptoms people with Parkinson’s have. In fact not all people living with Parkinson’s have tremors. Non-motor symptoms such as sleep disturbances, swallowing difficulties, and overactive sweat glands are common among people with Parkinson’s. These symptoms are mostly invisible to others though they are daily realities for those of us with Parkinson’s.
My list of non-motor symptoms include the three mentioned above plus many others. I will not list them all here for a variety of reasons, including my privacy, maintaining appropriate boundaries, and respect for your tolerance of medical talk. What amazes me is that my long list of non-motor symptoms keeps growing. I’ve gotten used to looking up every new experience or symptom I have on the Internet. You know the drill, type in “drooling and Parkinson’s“ and learn it is also medically called “sialorrhea,” and it is a common symptom of Parkinson’s. Look up “constipation and Parkinson’s” and learn that constipation is not medically known as “dump slump,” and it is the number one most problematic non-motor symptom according to people living with Parkinson’s.
I guess I should not have been surprised when I searched for “dandruff and Parkinson’s,” and read that sebhorreic dermatitis, commonly known as “flaky skin,” is common in people with Parkinson’s and frequently reveals itself as dandruff. Here I am shaking, not sleeping, choking on my food and sweating profusely, and now I can’t wear black shirts without my shoulders looking like the Swiss Alps! Making this even more absurd is the recommended non-prescription treatment: shampoo with tar in it. That’s right, tar. The tar in the specialized shampoos eliminate dead skin cells and slows the growth of new cells. This did not sit well with me after considering California’s La Brea tar pits. Here fossilized skeletons of dinosaurs were found in tar. In other words, tar had removed all of their skin cells. But I really like my black shirts so I started using the tar shampoo. It worked. The road out of the Swiss Alps probably* smells like a freshly paved road.
*Reader: if you don’t know why I write “probably” then you have not read my previous blog entry, Parkinson's Made Me a Liar. Go ahead and read it while you are here. It is all about the loss of smell related to Parkinson’s.
