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Transcript

Beating Parkinson’s Fatigue: My 5 Must-Try Tricks · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

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  Did you know that up to 60% of people with Parkinson's say that
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  fatigue is their most disabling symptom, even more than tremors?
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  Well, let me tell you, I believe it.
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  I've had days where my body just shut down out of nowhere.
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  One minute I was laughing at a family dinner, and the next I
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  felt like somebody pulled the plug out of my batteries.
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  I sat there staring at my plate of mashed potatoes and I'm
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  thinking I might actually fall asleep right here, right now in
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  this gravy. Now does that sound familiar?
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  Well, fatigue doesn't knock politely.
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  It kicks down the door, it eats your snacks, and then it makes
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  itself at home. And today I'm going to share my
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  5 real life hacks for beating Parkinson's fatigue.
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  Now these are things that I actually use in my daily life
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  and stick around to the very end because I've got a brand new
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  Bryce ISM for you and one that completely changed the way that
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  I think about energy and fatigue.
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  Welcome to Living with Parkinson's, The Good, the Bad
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  and the reality. Real talk, real life, real
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  community with Bryce Perry. Let's begin.
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  Well, well, well, welcome back to the channel.
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  I want to thank my loyal viewers in the inner circle and the
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  channel members for coming back. And if you're new here, I'm
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  Bryce and this is living with Parkinson's, the good, the bad,
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  and the reality. Now this channel is about
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  strength, hope, and support for people living with Parkinson's
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  and for caregivers too. Now I share real stories,
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  practical tips, and yes, even a little humor.
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  So hit subscribe and join the community and you'll get updates
• 1:33
  on new hacks, encouragements anytime you need it, and a
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  reminder that you're not alone in this journey.
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  Now, today's episode, beating Parkinson's fatigue, my 5 must
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  try tricks. I want to dive right into it
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  because it's that important. Now.
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  This is what I call the 20/20/20 recharge rule.
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  OK, 20/20/20 recharge rule. Now, one of the sneakiest
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  mistakes I used to make was ignoring the early signs of
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  fatigue. I'd push through thinking I was
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  tough, only to crash harder later.
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  So I started using what I call again, the 2020 recharge rule.
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  OK, every 20 minutes of activity, I stop for 20 seconds
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  and I do something. I look 20 feet away.
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  I stretch, I roll out my shoulders.
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  I just breathe, right? And how do I remember?
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  Well, I set my phone to buzz every 20 minutes.
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  It's like having a coach tap me on the shoulder and say, hey,
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  Bryce, take a break before your body makes before your body
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  makes you right. Once I tried it with laundry.
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  Yeah. Normally I'd go until I was
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  wiped out and the basket was like, half, you know, half
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  finished for days. But with a little pauses, I got
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  through the whole load without feeling like I'd run a marathon.
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  OK, so it's not about being lazy.
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  It's about spending your energy smart.
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  OK, spending your energy smart. Now, if you're a sports player,
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  think of it again, it's like you play hockey in Canada.
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  We play hockey. You go out and you do 30 minutes
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  hard and you come back and you rest for a couple of shifts and
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  then you go back out and you come back in, go back out and
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  come back in. So what you're doing is the
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  coach is tapping the shoulder saying come on in now, take a
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  breather. And then I'm going to send you
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  right back out when you got some energy back.
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  And that's a, that's a really smart trick.
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  Now here's another one. And this one I learned the hard
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  way. And I've talked about this a
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  lot, but protein can mess with levodopa absorption, right?
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  That's the science, the reality. And I'm going to use bacon here
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  because people love when I use bacon.
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  One time I had a giant bacon breakfast, right?
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  I popped my meds and then spent the whole day moving like a
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  zombie. Now I time my protein better,
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  right? Heavier protein meals later in
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  the day or I give myself a buffer around my meds.
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  Now it doesn't mean I give up bacon.
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  Come on. I love bacon.
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  But I've learned. I've learned when to have bacon.
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  OK. Sometimes I even adjust with an
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  extra half a pill if I know I'm having a big steak or that bacon
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  and that's what works for me. But always, you know, when it
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  comes to your meds and leave it open and changes, always talk to
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  your doctor. Again, I do not plan my meals
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  around my meds. If I am having something heavy
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  protein, I'll I'll either add an extra pill before just before I
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  take it or to my dose just before I eat or after I'm done.
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  And if for me, that's what works and my doctor's happy with it
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  and I'm happy with it too. So always make sure you check
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  with your doctor first. But I'll give you a tip, keep a
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  simple food in Med journal. I know I'm big on journals and I
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  probably, you know, you're probably thinking, Oh my God,
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  another journal. Well, even jotting down what you
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  ate and when you dosed can reveal patterns that explain why
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  some days feel worse than others.
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  Now when I figured this out, it felt like I finally had a little
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  of my control back. It can take control of my life
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  again and I'm going to in a future video.
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  I'm working on a journal right now with all of these mini
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  journals inside of it. So hopefully I'll be able to get
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  into your hands so you can walk, you can journal everything
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  right, just like I say and I'll and I'll actually do a video to
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  walk you through it and see how you do it.
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  So stay tuned. It's coming.
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  Believe me, I'm doing kind of as fast as I can.
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  So that's to come and in the comments, you know, in the
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  comments, how is your fatigue? Are you battling fatigue as it
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  is? I mean, we had a video last week
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  and another episode last week that on fatigue.
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  And I realized, man, I need to give you my, my, my tips on how
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  to get out of the fatigue, not just talk about what fatigue is.
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  So in the comments, how is your fatigue doing?
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  And also, if you have any hacks along the way, make sure you put
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  them in along the way because your comment could help somebody
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  in the community. So let's move on to the third
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  one. Now let's talk about naps.
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  My buddy Brian loves naps. Well, with Parkinson's, naps are
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  tricky. Too long and you wake up in a
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  fog and too short and they don't do anything.
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  So the sweet spot for me, it's around 15 to 25 minutes.
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  And you know what? I would suggest people actually
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  literally set a timer. You know, I know someone one
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  time we skipped the timer and woke up three hours later
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  drooling on the couch, meds out of whack.
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  Completely useless, right? And I call that a hibernation
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  nap. You don't want to take a
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  hibernation nap, OK? You just want a quick recharge.
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  So when, so, but when I control it.
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  So I'm just talking from the first person.
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  When, when? But when I keep it controlled, a
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  quick recharge nap, it's like magic.
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  It's like a software boot reboot for your brain.
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  And if you're not sure what their sweet spot is, experiment.
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  Try 15 minutes first, right? If you wake up groggy, adjust
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  shorter for next time and find out what works for your body,
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  you know, and you're just going to go up and down.
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  I know we do this a lot, but it's you have to learn your
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  body. You have to learn how you react
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  to things. So, but set the timer even for
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  naps, right? You follow, you feel yourself
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  falling asleep, you know you're in your favorite chair, you're
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  ready to go. Hit that 15 minute nap or 20
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  minute nap and wake yourself up. We don't want to go too far.
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  OK, so if any of this sounds familiar, hit that like button
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  so more people can see the real sides of the real side of
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  Parkinson's. And you know what?
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  Again, like I said, share your own fatigue hacks in the
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  comments. I read every comment, I respond
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  to every comment, and every month I I do an actual episodes
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  on questions in the comments. So I might feature yours on the
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  next one. So make sure you get in there
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  and let's let's start a conversation.
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  OK? All right, let's go to hack #4.
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  This is hack #4. This one feels backwards, OK?
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  And it's this moving when you're already tired, but light
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  movement actually gives me energy.
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  OK, There was a day Carmen convinced me to go for a short
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  walk when I just wanted to stay home on the couch.
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  I grumbled all the way down the driveway like a little kid, but
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  halfway through, I realized it felt better.
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  Not cured, but looser and lighter.
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  So even small moves help. Marching in place, rolling your
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  shoulders, reaching for the ceiling, or just, you know, just
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  walking to the mailbox. And sometimes the hardest part
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  is just standing up. But once you do it, I'm telling
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  you, it usually pays off. All right, now, hack #5 And this
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  one's my favorite. You ready for this stack habits
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  so you get double the benefit. Double down.
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  For example, every morning I take my B12 while standing in
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  front of my light therapy lamp, right?
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  Vitamin boost and an energy cure all in one.
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  And I thought of that myself. So some people stretch while the
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  coffee brews, others listen to music while organizing their
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  meds. But that's something you do is
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  just double up, double down. So think about it, what's 1
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  habit that you could stack? Share it below, put in the
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  comments because your idea might be exactly what somebody needs.
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  And I bet you there is a ton of different ones.
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  What, what could you stack? Think about it, what could you
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  stack? It's like doubling down.
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  OK, now in my last video about fatigue warning signs, so many
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  have left so many great comments and people share tricks like
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  using medication apps for short resets, some more breaking,
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  breaking housework into chunks instead of powering through it,
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  and one viewer who swears by splashing ice cold water in
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  their face midday. Now that's why I keep saying
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  this is a community. I'll keep featuring your tips in
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  future videos. So keep them coming because your
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  voice matters and they're great tips.
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  What were they again? Right?
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  Using medication apps for short resets, breaking housework into
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  chunks instead of trying to do it all at one time, and again,
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  splashing cold water in your face midway through the day.
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  It's just a routine. And it's something that that
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  signals to your body that it's midday.
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  It's not bedtime. OK, so now what about the
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  science? So why is fatigue such a monster
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  in Parkinson's? It's not just poor sleep, let's
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  make that clear. It's dopamine depletion, a
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  medication, side effects or even brain changes or even changes in
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  your brain circuitry. Now here's an easy way to
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  picture it. OK, so I like to break this
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  down. Let's make it really simple.
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  Dopamine is like gas in your car.
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  OK, with Parkinson's, the tank empties faster and sometimes the
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  gauge is broken. And that's why fatigue feels
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  different than just being tired. And knowing that helps me.
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  It reminds me that it's not my fault.
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  Fatigue is part of Parkinson's. Hacks don't cure it by any
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  stretch, but they do give you back a little control.
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  Now remember I said I had a Bryce ISM for you?
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  And here it is, thought the end of the video.
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  But here it is. With Parkinson's, energy is like
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  cash. Spend it wisely, save when you
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  can, and invest in what matters most.
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  Now. I came up with that after a day
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  where I tried to do everything on my list and ended up doing
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  nothing. I realized that I can't spend
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  what I don't have, but if I plan my energy budget, I can make it
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  last longer. Now.
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  Some days I blow the budget, some days I invested well.
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  But either way, I try not to beat myself up about it and I
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  like to spend my energy doing things that I like to do.
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  I'm not a big fan of cleaning the house.
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  So I don't want to deplete my energy cleaning the house and
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  lose my time with my wife or lose my time, you know, doing
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  something with, with my buddies or only in a video.
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  So there you go. So those are my five of my 5
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  must try tricks for beating fatigue.
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  Now in the comments, which one stood out to you?
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  Or better yet, what's your secret fatigue hack?
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  Drop in the comments. I'd love to feature it in a
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  future video and get ready for Part 2 of this Med hack for real
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  life series, navigating wearing off when your meds peak and
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  plunge. And I'll share strategies that
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  are going to help that help me survive those ups and downs.
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  And that'll be on the next episode.
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  And until next time, man, I love you guys.
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  I love this community. Thank you for being with me.
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  And you know what, always remember, keep showing up, keep
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  being real and keep doing life today.
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  And hey, if this video helped, make sure you like share and
• 12:26
  subscribe so more people living with Parkinson's can join the
• 12:29
  community. And I have got a treat for you.
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  You see these videos up here. This is what YouTube thinks that
• 12:36
  you should watch. And while you're looking at
• 12:39
  that, here's a link to the it's one of these two to the inner
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  circle. That's my private community
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  where we go deep, we talk 24.24 seven.
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  It's a private community for people just like you,
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  caregivers, just like you. We're doing life, we're doing it
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  hard, we're doing it today, we're doing it real.
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  But thank you so much for being with me.
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  I appreciate you. I'm here for you and if you need
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  anything, make sure you give me a call or give me a comment.
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  Either way, you have a great day and you do it today.
• 13:08
  Parkinson's may be part of your life, but it doesn't get to
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  define it. Thanks for listening to Living
• 13:13
  with Parkinson's, the good, the bad, and the reality.
• 13:18
  If this episode moved you, helped you, or reminded you
• 13:21
  you're not alone. Share it with someone who needs
• 13:23
  to hear it. Want to go deeper?
• 13:26
  The Inner Circle is waiting. Monthly Zoom calls, 24/7
• 13:29
  community, and a Direct Line to Bryce.
• 13:32
  You'll find the link in the show notes.
• 13:34
  Until next time, keep showing up and keep doing life today.