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Transcript

Parkinson’s Stress: 5 Ways It Makes Your Symptoms Worse (And What Actually Helps) · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

• 0:03
  Do you ever have one of those days where everything's going
• 0:06
  OK, and then something tiny like dropping your keys turns into a
• 0:11
  full body stress test, and before you know it, your tremors
• 0:14
  doing the cha cha and you're thinking, like, seriously, all I
• 0:17
  want to do is leave the house. Yeah, Well, welcome to stress
• 0:21
  Parkinson's vicious cycle. Because with Parkinson's, stress
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  doesn't just live in your mind, It moves right into your nervous
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  system. And it doesn't pay rent.
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  So today we're talking about the five ways that stress makes
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  Parkinson's worse and what I actually do about it.
• 0:35
  Not theory, not some Wellness brochure.
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  The real stuff that helps when it hits.
• 0:39
  And stick around to the end to today.
• 0:41
  Because the price isn't will make you laugh and make you feel
• 0:45
  seen. Welcome to Living with
• 0:47
  Parkinson's the good. The bad.
• 0:50
  And the reality, Real talk, real life, real community with Bryce
• 0:55
  Perry. Let's begin.
• 0:59
  Hey everyone, welcome back to the living with Parkinson's, the
• 1:01
  good, the bad and the reality. And if you're new here, I'm
• 1:05
  Bryce. How are you?
• 1:07
  And this channel is all about real talk, real stories and a
• 1:10
  lot of humor mixed into the chaos, the chaos that is
• 1:13
  Parkinson's. And if that sounds like your
• 1:15
  type of people that you want to hang out with, hit subscribe
• 1:18
  right now, join the club. And if you're already part of
• 1:20
  this family, hey, drop a comment below.
• 1:22
  Just say, hey, I'm here, you know, so I know that you're with
• 1:25
  me today. OK, But let's get into today.
• 1:28
  This is a big topic, so I want to get right into it.
• 1:30
  So let's start with the chemistry between stress and
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  dopamine because they have a nasty relationship.
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  Think of dopamine like gas in your tank.
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  Now think of stress as that friend who borrows the car and
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  returns it empty. When stress hits, your body
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  releases cortisol and and adrenaline, and those are
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  survival hormones. They're great if you're running
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  from a bear, but not so great when you're just trying to make
• 1:59
  a breakfast. You know those hormones, they
• 2:02
  compete with dopamine, which means whatever dopamine you have
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  left gets burned faster. Now, I've had mornings where I
• 2:10
  felt off before I even got out of bed, and then I'd realize
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  I've been lying there worrying for half an hour about something
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  that I couldn't control. And that alone was enough to
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  throw me off a balance for the rest of the day.
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  How about you? Have you how many times or if
• 2:29
  you've ever, maybe you've never, maybe it's just Bryce.
• 2:32
  But if we're being honest, how about this me too in the
• 2:37
  comments. Ever, ever worried about
• 2:39
  something that never happened? How about that me too in the
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  comments. How many comments of me too can
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  we get? And just to see everybody
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  worrying about things that don't have that don't happen.
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  So here's what I do today. Before I even get up, I take one
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  minute, literally 60 seconds to breathe.
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  I use the 478 technique. Inhale for four seconds, hold
• 3:01
  for seven, exhale for 8:00. That's the only math I still
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  like. Inhale for four, hold for seven,
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  exhale for 8478. You can remember that right now.
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  That tells my body, hey, we're not under attack.
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  And it calmed down. Try it, try it right now.
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  Actually just try it right now. You know, in through the nose,
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  hold it, hold it, hold it long, slow exhale.
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  Now, if you just did that typed breathe with Bryce below,
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  breathe with Bryce, I want to know who's actually trying this
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  stuff with me. Maybe I'm just making a fool of
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  myself, but you know what? I'm only saying things that work
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  and that help and that help me. So if you dealing with stress,
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  if you've felt overwhelmed in the morning, try it.
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  Please. Come on, you don't and nothing's
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  going to change if you don't do anything different, right?
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  All right. So when I skipped and then when
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  I skipped this and I jump straight into chaos, I feel it
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  instantly. My my meds don't hit right.
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  My mood's edgy. You know, my dog started
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  avoiding me because apparently stress smells like attitude.
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  That's what I've heard now. Stress smells like attitude
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  anyway, so stress steals your dopamine and when dopamine
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  drops, guess what else shows up uninvited?
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  Yep, our good old buddy the tremor.
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  OK so tremor application. So this is where stress gets
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  really loud. You could be perfectly still 1
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  moment and then somebody says are you OK?
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  And that's it. Tremors on stage, right?
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  You ever you ever try to act calm when your hands auditioning
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  for the Macarena solo? You know, one time I remember
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  that. I remember I was speaking at an
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  event, right? I was feeling really confident.
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  Everything was really going really good, like like normal.
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  And then I spotted a guy in the front row filming me.
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  Instant stress. I don't know why, but instant
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  stress. And suddenly I look like I was
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  waving at him for the next 30 seconds.
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  Now here's the science. Stress tightens your muscles,
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  increases nerve firing, and throws your fine motor control
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  completely out the window. It's like trying to thread a
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  needle during an earthquake. Have you ever tried that before?
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  I know, me neither. So here's what I do.
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  And it took me years to figure this out, but I stop trying to
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  fight the tremor. Instead, I change my focus.
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  If I'm holding something, I shift it, use both hands to rest
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  my arm somewhere or rest my arm somewhere stable.
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  And that, this, this part's huge.
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  I add humor to it because when I laugh about it, the pressure
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  breaks. You know, once I told a waiter,
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  like, don't worry, this isn't nerves.
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  It's my superpower for mixing drinks or stirring my coffee.
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  And just like that, the tension's gone.
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  Humor diffuses embarrassment faster than any therapy session,
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  I promise you. So if stress makes your tremor
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  double, then don't try to control it.
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  Control the moment around it. And if you've had one of those
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  Parkinson's and public stories, share below.
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  We'll all get a laugh and we'll learn something.
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  I love laugh. I love your comments, especially
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  the crazy things I've been through.
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  So throw in the comments. I'd love to read it.
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  Although, all right, so now we're now we're low on dopamine,
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  right? We're shaking like a blender and
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  we're thinking, fine, I'll just take my meds early because
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  that'll fix it, right? Yeah.
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  Well, about that. Here's what I didn't know for
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  the longest time. Stress literally changes how
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  your meds absorb your stomach tightens your blood flow, slows
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  your digestion can stop. It's like, it's like putting up
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  a close for business sign on your gut and levodopa needs calm
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  to get where it's going. Stress turns that smooth highway
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  into the bumper to bumper traffic.
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  And I learned this the hard way before a doctor's appointment
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  once I was nervous, right? I don't like doctors.
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  I was nervous. I hadn't eaten and I took my
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  meds on the way. And by the time I got to the
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  clinic, nothing had kicked in. And I'm thinking, Oh my God,
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  he's going to give me crap, right?
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  I sat there stiff as a statue. Well, while my neurologist said
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  you seem a little slow today and I'm like, no kidding, doc, my
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  cortisol is doing like a hostile takeover.
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  So now if I'm heading into something stressful, a meeting,
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  a flight, or or even dealing with an insurance form, you know
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  that's a real trigger. By the way, I pause 10 minutes
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  of calm before meds, deep breathing, right?
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  Or 7-8 light stretch, sometimes just even quiet or put some
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  music on and it makes all the difference.
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  Now if you've noticed your meds don't hit right when you're
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  stressed, comment below and just, you know, give me that.
• 7:56
  Me too again. OK, so let's because we got to
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  normalize talking about this stuff.
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  It's not weakness, it's just biology.
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  So who cares? Me too.
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  So we've lost dopamine, we started shaking, and our meds
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  are taking the day off, Right. And you'd think we'd catch a
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  break when we sleep then because it's been a while.
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  That's a rough day. Yeah.
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  Well, let's talk about sleep. You ever have you ever gone to
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  bed tired but wired? I can't explain it any better
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  than that. Tired but wired.
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  You're physically exhausted, but your brain's like, cool, let's
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  overthink every decision that we ever made.
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  Right. Stress wrecks sleep.
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  And when you don't sleep, your symptoms, they throw like a
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  tantrum. My worst nights are the ones
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  before big travel days, you know, especially when you want
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  to sleep. But you know, I lie there
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  calculating how many hours it'll take for me to fall asleep right
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  now. And then somehow do the math.
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  You know, it gets worse. And I'm trying to figure out
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  what time I have to leave for the airport and I don't want to
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  be late. And, you know, wait a minute.
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  I got to be there an hour and a half or an hour before my flight
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  now. So that means I have to leave it
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  this time. And and it's just wild, right?
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  And it's like my math and then my math starts getting really
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  weird. And then I start like, well,
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  what time am I actually leaving? Maybe I got the wrong time.
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  Well, maybe I better get up and look at my phone and double
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  check what time I'm flying. Oh my God, my God, my God.
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  And I go through this entire cycle of pure hell.
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  It is what it is. You know, it's just crazy.
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  So you know, and and then there's a night before a speech,
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  right? I start.
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  I stared. I was staring at the ceiling
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  until three AMI finally dozed off and I woke up like stiff,
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  foggy and cranky and Carmen handed me a coffee and I just
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  said you might want to pray for everybody I meet today.
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  This is not going to be a good day.
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  But here's the fix because it's fixable.
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  If that's you, don't get discouraged.
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  Don't get discouraged. It's fixable.
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  Here it is what the fix is ready to write this down?
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  This is a big one. I'll wait for you to get a pen
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  structure. Structure.
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  I set a bedtime routine and I stick to it like like gospel.
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  Cool room, low lights, no screens, at least 30 minutes
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  before I want to sleep. And when I can't sleep, I stop
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  fighting it. I get up, I stretch, I breathe,
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  I read something calm. Sometimes I even talk to my hand
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  and I say, hey, we're off duty, man, let's call it a night.
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  It's time to stop. You know that's what I do.
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  So if you ever had stress fuel to sleepless nights that wrecked
• 10:30
  your next day, let me know below.
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  Because I had, you know that I had a doozy 1 not that long ago.
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  And you know that you're not alone there.
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  We've all been up at the 3:00 AM Googling how to turn off my
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  brain, how to relax, how to calm down.
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  What do I need to do? I call it.
• 10:45
  I call it and you know, with Parkinson's, I call it the 3:00
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  AM coffee club. The 3:00 AM coffee club, anybody
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  is anybody part, how about this, anybody part of my 3:00 AM
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  coffee club? Because, you know, we're just
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  sitting there and it's like, we're up.
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  We're at 3:00 AM club, we might as well be up.
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  And if you think about that from a really weird perspective, I'm
• 11:03
  lying. I'm lying in bed at 3:00 AM
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  staring at this, at the ceiling fan going around and around and
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  around. And how many other thousands of
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  people like me, people with Parkinson's, are lying there
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  doing the same thing? I think we should start a club.
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  I think we should call it the 3:00 AM club.
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  You want to join my club, let me know, say, join in the 3:00 AM
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  club because we might as well. I don't know anyway.
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  And finally, the sneakiest one of all, the stress that doesn't
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  come from life. You know where it comes from,
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  people. What do I mean?
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  Well, if you ever walk into a room and suddenly become hyper
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  aware of your every move, like you can feel people watching
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  even if they're not, you know, that's stress.
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  And it's like caffeine for your symptoms.
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  I remember, I remember one time I was at a dinner, right?
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  And I was trying to act casual, but my fork had other plans.
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  And by the time I finished, and you know what?
• 12:02
  You know what I mean when I say that, right?
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  Like, come on. And when the time I finished
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  eating, half the table was cheering me on.
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  Like I was in some type of sport.
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  Like it became like the sport. It was crazy.
• 12:10
  And it was like, they're cheering.
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  Come on, you can do it. Come on, you can do it, right?
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  The worst part? I started to avoid social stuff
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  altogether. I really did because I just
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  didn't want to go through that again.
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  And at first it felt safer. Fewer eyes, less stress.
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  But you know what? It actually made everything
• 12:27
  worse. Isolation adds more anxiety,
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  which feeds your symptoms. It's like building your own
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  stress factory. So here's my approach now.
• 12:40
  This is what I do now. If I'm nervous about going out,
• 12:44
  I plan a small win. I plan small wins, coffee with
• 12:47
  one friend, Right? Short bits, I tell myself.
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  You're not performing, Bryce, you're connecting.
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  You're not performing, You're connecting.
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  And if things get awkward, I make a joke.
• 12:59
  You know, one time I told a stranger at a cafe, don't worry,
• 13:02
  I'm not cold. No, I just came with my own
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  vibration setting. We both laughed.
• 13:09
  I laughed and suddenly it just wasn't a big deal anymore.
• 13:14
  So if you ever pulled off a funny save like that one, I want
• 13:16
  to hear about that too. Because I, I love hearing what
• 13:20
  you say, what I say and how it all goes together.
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  OK, but what can we actually do about it?
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  OK, this is, this is, this is important stuff.
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  OK, so the. So those are our five ways that
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  stress messes with my Parkinson's.
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  But now here's what helps me fight back.
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  You ready? Here we go #1 breathe before
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  reacting. Most stress starts in the moment
• 13:39
  between feeling something and responding to it, and that's
• 13:43
  where I pause. One breath, always one breath #2
• 13:46
  prep before pressure, right? If I know something stressful,
• 13:50
  travel appointments, doctor appointments.
• 13:52
  I take my meds early, I get hydrated, and I give myself
• 13:55
  time. Parkinson's hates rushing.
• 13:59
  I'm always best on my second dose, so I get up even earlier.
• 14:02
  Number three, stop hiding. The day I stopped apologizing
• 14:05
  for shaking was the day my stress cut in half.
• 14:08
  I'm telling you right now, it cut in half because hiding takes
• 14:11
  more energy than honesty ever will.
• 14:13
  Hiding takes more energy than honesty ever will.
• 14:16
  And you got to stay connected. The inner circle community saves
• 14:19
  me more than I can say. It's where I can vent, I can
• 14:22
  learn, I can laugh, and I'm not. I don't need to ever explain
• 14:25
  myself. And that's priceless.
• 14:27
  You know, for example, I read and respond to every single
• 14:30
  comment in in the YouTube, every single comment on YouTube and
• 14:35
  you're probably sitting going well, you haven't responded to
• 14:37
  mine. Yeah, I'm behind because you
• 14:38
  know what something happened here.
• 14:40
  This thing exploded and we're getting like I have thousands of
• 14:43
  comments, hundreds, hundreds of comments.
• 14:46
  You know, we're just blowing it up and I love it and don't get
• 14:48
  me wrong, I love it, but that doesn't mean I don't like want
• 14:51
  leave reading the comments and respond to them.
• 14:52
  I'm just behind. I'm trying my best to catch up.
• 14:54
  And so if you've left a comment lately or or within the last
• 14:58
  month and I haven't got back, got back yet know that I'm
• 15:01
  coming. Don't you worry it's coming
• 15:02
  because I, I would stick by my word and I'm them and I love
• 15:05
  them and I want to be a part of that.
• 15:07
  And you won't understand for me, reading your comments and
• 15:10
  hearing your hacks and hearing what you're going through and
• 15:12
  hearing, you know what's happening out there and how
• 15:14
  you're feeling, man. That's where I get my energy
• 15:18
  from. And that that's where I can go.
• 15:20
  And it's like, Oh my gosh, I just love it.
• 15:22
  So anyway, if I'm behind in the comments, I haven't got back to
• 15:25
  you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, but I'm coming.
• 15:28
  And that inner circle, you know, that's what I was going to say.
• 15:30
  You know, I know I've made some people mad because they they're
• 15:33
  thinking I haven't got back to them in the inner circle.
• 15:36
  You know what I'm having? It's been, I've been tired and
• 15:38
  it's been a long run. I don't have to worry about
• 15:41
  people thinking, oh, Bryce didn't get back to me within an
• 15:43
  hour. What's the matter?
• 15:45
  And I'm comfortable in that. And they know I'll they know I
• 15:48
  will. They know I will.
• 15:49
  So, and, and when I say they, what a wicked community.
• 15:52
  If you're not part of it, come on now, come on.
• 15:54
  Links in the description. I'm telling you, it is fun.
• 15:56
  It is fun. It's our community, right?
• 15:59
  It's, it's our community. And #5 accept what it is.
• 16:04
  I can't control stress, but I can choose not to stress about
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  the stress. And that's power.
• 16:12
  And that leads me right into Carmen's care partner corner.
• 16:14
  And this is what she asked me to say to you.
• 16:17
  You know, stress doesn't just hit the person with Parkinson's,
• 16:19
  doesn't just hit Bryce. It hits US.
• 16:22
  It hits US. And when I see Bryce start
• 16:26
  tighten up, I don't rush in. I've learned to stop and ask,
• 16:31
  what's your stress level right now?
• 16:33
  That's one question that has saved us so many arguments, so
• 16:38
  many arguments. What's your stress level at
• 16:40
  right now? My advice to other care
• 16:43
  partners, you can't carry their stress for them, but you can
• 16:47
  carry the calm beside them. Wow.
• 16:52
  I mean, that was quick, but wow, I like that.
• 16:56
  So true. Sometimes what helps most isn't
• 16:59
  the solution, it's just steady company.
• 17:02
  So if you're a care partner out there watching this, drop a drop
• 17:05
  a heart. Drop a heart in the comments for
• 17:07
  Carmen. She'll absolutely check later to
• 17:10
  see how many she got. Anyway.
• 17:13
  OK, and guess what? There's some people out there
• 17:15
  doing partners alone. Here's a solo tip for you if
• 17:17
  you're living alone, remember this calm doesn't always come
• 17:20
  from company. Sometimes it comes from routine.
• 17:25
  I keep sticky notes everywhere, right?
• 17:28
  I've told you this one. One says breathe first.
• 17:30
  Another one says still here. They're my tiny reminders that
• 17:33
  no matter how stressful the day gets, I'm still showing up.
• 17:38
  I'm still showing up. And if you got your own solo
• 17:40
  trick, share it. Share it below because I'd love
• 17:42
  to try it myself. So that's it.
• 17:45
  Stress isn't just emotional, it's physical, it's chemical,
• 17:49
  and it's deeply personal. But the big thought there is
• 17:53
  it's manageable. You can't get rid of stress, but
• 17:57
  you can outsmart it. So here's your challenge this
• 18:00
  week, and I really mean this challenge.
• 18:03
  When stress hits, don't push it away.
• 18:05
  Name it. Say, OK, I see you.
• 18:08
  Because once you name it, it loses half its power.
• 18:12
  It really does. Now, if this video is hitting
• 18:13
  home, please hit that like button and tell YouTube that
• 18:16
  this content is worth sharing. And if you're new here, please
• 18:19
  hit subscribe for more real talk about living with Parkinson's.
• 18:22
  And if you want to go deeper, as I mentioned before, join the
• 18:25
  inner circle. There is a free trial going on
• 18:27
  right now, so you can check it out first with no obligation.
• 18:30
  That's where we hang out after the camera goes off and we talk
• 18:32
  stuff through stuff together and there is like a solo group in
• 18:37
  there and a care partner group and everything else.
• 18:39
  Anyway, OK, so thanks for sticking with me all the way to
• 18:41
  the end. And because of that, guess what?
• 18:44
  You have unlocked the Bryce ISM of the episode and here you are.
• 18:48
  This is your Bryce ISM of the day.
• 18:50
  With Parkinson's, stress doesn't just live in your mind.
• 18:54
  If there was a house party in your nervous system and guess
• 18:58
  who's cleaning up afterwards? All right, until next time, keep
• 19:03
  showing up. You keep you keep laughing and
• 19:05
  you keep doing life today. Love you guys.