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The Hidden Anxiety Side Effect Doctors Never Mention · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

• 0:01
  They told him he had five good years left.
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  That was 15 years ago. He's still standing, still
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  speaking, still living. This is living with Parkinson's,
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  The good, the bad, and the reality.
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  A podcast about what happens when life throws you something
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  incurable and you fight back anyway.
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  Hosted by Bryce Perry, diagnosed at 4015.
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  Years into the battle, This is the truth behind the tremor.
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  Let's begin. You know, they told me that
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  Parkinson's would affect my movement, but nobody said it
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  would feel like I was living in a constant state of fight or
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  flight, my heart racing, my thoughts spiraling, my body
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  frozen and not from the tremors. You know, anxiety isn't just
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  part of Parkinson's. It's one of the most invisible,
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  most misunderstood symptoms that we face.
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  And today I'm going to lay it bare and make sure you stick
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  around to the very end because I've got a Bryce ISM waiting
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  that might just shift how you see this whole anxiety mess.
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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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  Hey friends, Bryce here. And this is living with
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  Parkinson's, the good, the bad, and the reality.
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  And I've been living with this disease now for over 15 years.
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  And if you're new here, you probably know that Parkinson's
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  is a lot more than tremors. This channel, it's about the
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  truth, the raw stuff, the stuff that doctors sometimes don't say
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  out loud. So if that's what you need
• 1:39
  today, then go ahead and hit that subscribe button and follow
• 1:41
  along and join our movement of real life, real talk, and real
• 1:44
  community. And if you've ever been told
• 1:47
  it's just in your head or felt like no one gets what you're
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  going through, well, guess what? You're not crazy and you're not
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  weak. So let's talk about Parkinson's
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  and anxiety. And let's clear this up first.
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  Anxiety isn't just a side effect of dealing with Parkinson's,
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  it's actually part of the disease itself.
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  Parkinson's effects dopamine. And guess what?
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  Dopamine plays a big role in mood regulation.
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  So when it drops, yeah, your mental state does too.
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  You know, some days I'll feel a rising wave of dread, like
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  something terrible is about to happen, but there's nothing
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  wrong except my brain chemistry is completely out of whack.
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  And the worst part? People say, like, just calm
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  down. Just calm down.
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  As if I haven't tried that already.
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  So how does it show up? Well, this is what it looks like
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  for me. I start getting like a rapid
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  heartbeat. I get a tight chest, racing
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  thoughts, and sometimes an overwhelming sense that I can't
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  handle what's happening. Even if it's just because it's
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  Tuesday. Sometimes I wake up anxious, No
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  trigger, no reason, just a full body storm before I even get out
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  of bed. Other times it hits mid
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  conversation like I'm smiling, I'm talking, I'm laughing, but
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  inside I'm crumbling. It's like wearing a mask over a
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  panic attack. And yeah, this happens even when
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  my when my motor symptoms are fine.
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  And that's what makes it so confusing and so exhausting.
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  Been there. It's hard and I know it is and
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  I'm here for you and this community is here for you.
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  So stick with me here because we're going to get through this.
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  Let's talk about off times. OK, The anxiety off cycle.
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  When my meds wear off, my body slows down, but my anxiety
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  spikes. It's like my brain starts
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  screaming while my body's whispering.
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  Some researchers believe off periods trigger anxiety because
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  dopamine is crashing. And others, well, they say
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  anxiety might even be part of the off experience.
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  Well, either way, when I'm off, I feel like I'm being squeezed
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  from the inside. And here's the kicker.
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  That anxiety makes it harder to know when to take my next dose.
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  It clouds my thinking, my my timing, my awareness.
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  So yeah, it's a vicious cycle. And I know I'm not the only one
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  caught in it. I know I'm not.
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  And if it's you and you're struggling today with some
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  anxiety and you get caught up in it, you know what?
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  Just let me know. Let me know in the comments.
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  Just say me too. How about that?
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  Me too. I read, I respond, and I every
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  single one of them. Now, this isn't talked about
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  that often. It's kind of taboo.
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  And why does nobody talk about it?
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  Well, let's be honest, people with Parkinson's don't love
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  talking about mental health, do we?
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  And why is that? Because we already feel like
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  we're being judged. We already look fine on the
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  outside and we don't want to seem this dramatic or weak.
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  That's for some of us, others other of us.
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  You can see by the outside that you're not doing fine, right?
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  And so why add more to it? You know, we don't want to seem
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  like I know this is me and I know this is you.
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  And if this is you give this video a like that, you don't
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  want to seem dramatic and you don't want to seem weak and you
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  don't want to seem another thing, right?
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  You just want to add another thing.
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  People, here we go. What?
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  Who's going to talk to me anymore?
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  Now it's like, not only does this happen to me, not only am I
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  shaking, not am I quaking normally am I'm slurring, not
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  only am I sweating, not only am I, you know, having trouble
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  talking, I don't don't seem drunk.
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  But now guess what, on top of all that, I'm feeling anxious.
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  My gosh, right. You don't want to burden people
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  with that. But here is the thing.
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  This is the truth. Anxiety is legit.
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  It's a legit biological part of Parkinson's and pretending that
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  it's not happening just makes it worse.
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  I've had neurologists brush it off.
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  I've had friends tell me to think positive, even well
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  meaning people saying, but you're so strong, you know?
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  Let me be real with you. Let me be real.
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  Being strong doesn't mean never breaking down.
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  You know what it means? It means showing up even when
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  you're anxious. And that's why we have to talk
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  about it. So let's talk about it right
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  here, right now together. Let's talk about things that
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  have helped me. I'm going to tell you things
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  that helped me and hopefully you can take some things away with
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  this. Let's talk about tools.
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  OK, first let's talk about meds. Yes, I've talked to my doctor
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  and yes, I've tried to low dose. I've tried low dose anti anxiety
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  options. But it's not just about the
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  pills, right? It's about patterns.
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  I want to know what triggers it. I want to know when does it hit.
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  And then I want to try different things and see what helps.
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  So again, I track my anxiety in a journal, right?
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  And I track it down. Whatever I'm dealing with the
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  most is what I pay attention to and I track it.
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  It's like one thing at a time. Let's take this one on.
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  You know, sometimes with Parkinson's, especially if
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  you've just been diagnosed, if you're newly diagnosed, listen
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  here. Listen hard.
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  This could be very overwhelming. You're you're, you're watching
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  videos, you're here to listen to podcasts and you're like, OK,
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  I've got to do this. I'm going to do this, I'm going
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  to do this, I'm going to do this.
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  And what about this and this symptom and I've got this going
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  on and that going on. You know what?
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  It's so overwhelming. Take a deep breath, take a step
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  back. OK, calm down and let's take on
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  one thing at a time. And anxiety is a big thing to
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  take on because anxiety will kind of accentuate all your
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  other symptoms. OK, so let's let's try that.
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  Let's start tracking it a bit. OK?
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  Here's another thing you want to make sure you don't do.
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  Don't try not to skip meals, OK? Because low blood sugar equals
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  high anxiety, low blood sugar equals high anxiety.
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  So if your blood Sugar's getting low, that's why.
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  Guess what? I carry around M&M's, peanut
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  M&M's, they're the best and I get an Amen for that one.
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  But peanut M&M's, I carry them around in little packs because I
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  sometimes I need a little bit of sugar.
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  Sometimes I got to get my blood sugar back up there.
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  And it, you know what? It actually, it's like this
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  weird thing that actually helps with some of the anxiety.
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  It actually gets it back going. OK, what's another thing that
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  you can do? Well, you can also listen to
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  some calming playlists, right? Calming playlist, you got to get
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  to your get to that Zen zone, right?
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  Calming playlists or do some breathing exercises, right?
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  And, and yes, you know what really they do help more than I
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  thought. I, I, I felt silly doing
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  breathing exercises, but you know what they actually do help.
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  But I'm going to tell you, here's the biggest game changer.
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  This is the biggest game changer for anxiety and Parkinson's.
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  You ready for this? Take out your pen and write this
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  down. I'm going to give you a second.
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  You ready? It's knowing that you're not
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  alone. It's talking to others.
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  It's it's communicating, it's getting together with people.
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  It's actually talking to other people that are going through
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  the same things you're going through.
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  The more we talk about it, the less anxious we feel, right?
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  I and I'm going to use the inner circle as an example.
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  I talk to others and they're they're talking to me, they're
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  talking to each other and they're worried.
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  They've got things on their mind, they've got symptoms they
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  haven't had before. They've got meds that are trying
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  to new things. And every time we try something
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  new or there's something going on, there's some anxiety with
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  it. But when they speak it out loud
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  and other members are jumping in and saying, hey, I tried it,
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  don't worry about it. It's all good.
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  It's like, right. So talking to others in the
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  inner circle, in the comments on Zoom, whatever it is, it takes
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  the edge off and it will reminds me that this is a shared battle.
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  It's not a you battle, it's a shared battle.
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  You're not in this alone. We're in this together.
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  I'm making these videos for you so you don't feel alone, so that
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  you know you're not the only person who's dealing with this.
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  So here's what I want to know. Have you experienced anxiety
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  with Parkinson's? Yes, in the comments, yes.
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  And what does it look like to you?
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  Just drop it in the comments. Let's support each other and if
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  this hit home for you, give it a like please.
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  And if someone you love needs to hear this, then share with them.
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  Please do that. We need to normalize these
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  conversations, we really do. And if you want to go deeper and
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  it's not something you want to talk about in public, again, the
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  inner circle's open to you. Come join us.
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  It's a private supportive community.
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  You know where we talk about stuff like this honestly with 0
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  judgement. The links in the description.
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  OK, guess what, You made it this far.
• 10:52
  You've unlocked the Bryce ISM, and that's the one I told you
• 10:54
  didn't want to miss. And here it is.
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  Here's the Bryce ISM of this moment.
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  With Parkinson's, anxiety isn't always in your head.
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  Sometimes it's in your bloodstream.
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  And no pep talk fixes that. But community helps, and so do
• 11:07
  carbs. Hey, if you made it this far,
• 11:11
  thank you. The space, it's not just a
• 11:14
  channel, it's not just a platform, it's a lifeline.
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  And you're not alone in this. We're figuring it out together,
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  one day, one video and one story at a time.
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  So until next time, keep doing life and you keep doing it
• 11:27
  today. Parkinson's may be part of your
• 11:35
  life, but it doesn't get to define it.
• 11:37
  Thanks for listening to Living with Parkinson's, the good, the
• 11:41
  Bad, and the Reality. If this episode moved you,
• 11:45
  helped you, or reminded you you're not alone, share it with
• 11:48
  someone who needs to hear it. Want to go deeper?
• 11:51
  The Inner Circle is waiting. Monthly Zoom calls, 24/7
• 11:55
  community, and a Direct Line to Bryce.
• 11:57
  You'll find the link in the show notes.
• 11:59
  Until next time, keep showing up and keep doing life today.