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Parkinson’s Progression: How to Spot Changes Early Before Your Doctor Does · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

• 0:00
  You ever have one of those moments where you know
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  something's off, but you can't quite explain it?
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  Maybe your meds hit differently, maybe your stiffness creeps in
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  earlier than usual, or maybe you just feel it in your gut.
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  I remember 1 morning I was getting ready for work, trying
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  to button up a shirt. Same routine I've done year
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  after year, and suddenly my hand just didn't cooperate.
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  Not bad, not scary, just different.
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  And that tiny little change? It rattled me more than anything
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  else. Now, here's the wild part.
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  When I told my doctor about it, you know what he said?
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  Oh, that's normal. Normal for who?
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  And then it hit me. Sometimes you notice your
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  Parkinson's changing before your doctor ever will.
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  And today, we're going to talk about how to recognize it early,
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  clearly and confidently before it sneaks up on you.
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  Now stay tuned to the end because I'm going to share
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  something brand new that I've been building that'll help you
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  spot these changes faster. Plus, Carmen's got a care
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  partner corner that you don't want to miss.
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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.
• 1:17
  Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel.
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  I want to take a second right off the top to thank my loyal
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  viewers and listeners who keep showing up week after week.
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  And a massive welcome to all of our new subscribers.
• 1:30
  New to the podcast. This community is exploding
• 1:32
  right now. I mean, the YouTube channel
• 1:34
  alone grew by over 1700 subscribers just in September
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  alone. And that's just not numbers,
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  that's people. That's stories.
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  That's a movement forming right here.
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  So if you're new, I'm Bryce, and this is living with Parkinson's,
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  The good, the bad, and the reality.
• 1:52
  Our channel is all about the real stuff, strength, hope,
• 1:55
  humor, and honest conversations about life with Parkinson's for
• 1:59
  both those living with it and those who love them.
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  And if that's the kind of space that you've been looking for,
• 2:05
  hit that subscribe button, leave a comment and get involved
• 2:08
  because this is where we figure it all out together.
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  Now let me tell you about the day that I knew something had
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  changed. It wasn't dramatic.
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  There wasn't a fall or a big symptom flare up, just a subtle
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  moment that fell off. I was getting ready for work,
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  meds were on time, same breakfast, same schedule, but my
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  body just felt like it was running a few seconds behind my
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  brain like a badly dubbed movie. My thoughts were saying move and
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  my hands were buffering. And of course, I did what most
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  of us do. I blame something else.
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  I didn't sleep well. Too much stress.
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  Maybe I need some more coffee. Which, to be fair, is usually
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  true. But when those little moments
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  start happening more often, you start noticing a pattern.
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  And here's the key, paying attention to those whispers.
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  Because Parkinson's rarely shouts.
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  At first it starts with whispers that only you can hear.
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  Now, I'll be honest, I didn't always listen.
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  There were days that Carmen would say you're moving slower
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  today and I'd say no, I'm fine, which in Parkinson language
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  means I'm absolutely not fine. And she'd say, OK, just
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  checking, which, you know, that's marry people code for.
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  I told you so. Or it's going to be.
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  And that's the beauty of having someone who notices.
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  But it it's also why self-awareness matters.
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  You can't fix what you don't recognize.
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  Let me say that again. You cannot fix what you don't
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  recognize. So here's what I've learned
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  after 15 years of living with this Your doctor sees you for 30
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  minutes every six months if you're lucky.
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  And you live with Parkinson's 24 hours a day, which means you're
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  the expert on your own body, whether you realize it or not.
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  And the sooner you start paying attention to those tiny shifts,
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  the sooner you can bring them up before they turn into something
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  big. And that's the key.
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  That's the key. Now, let's talk about how you
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  can actually notice these changes early.
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  First, you've got to know you're normal.
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  Not normal, you're normal. If you don't know what you're
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  what a good day looks like, you're not going to recognize a
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  bad one creeping in. You know, I used to think I just
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  remember how things were going. Spoiler alert, I didn't.
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  That's like trusting me to remember where I left my keys
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  for the car. And you trust me, I never, ever
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  remember where they are. And that's why I started jotting
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  down little notes. Nothing fancy, just quick, quick
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  observations when I took my meds, when they kicked in and
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  how long they lasted and how my energy felt.
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  And what I started to see was a rhythm, a pattern that told me
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  more than any single appointment ever could.
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  And I'll tell you a secret, the people who know their patterns
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  are the ones who feel more in control because instead of
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  reacting, they're responding. So if you ever notice something
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  off and thought, hmm, maybe I'm just imagining it, you're
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  probably not. You're just picking up the
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  signals before the professionals do.
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  Honestly, that's power. Now, who wants some power?
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  Who wants some power? Put power in the comments.
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  Now I want to share something from Carmen in what we call
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  Carmen's Care partner Corner. And she wrote this for all the
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  care partners out there. And she said we don't always
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  notice the big moments. It's the little things, the way
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  you move a bit slower, the pause before standing and the extra
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  sigh when you sit back down. At first I used to think maybe
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  it's nothing. I didn't want to nag.
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  I didn't want him to feel watched, but now I realize those
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  little things are often the first signs that something's
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  changing. So my tip for care partners, pay
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  attention, but with kindness. Ask, don't assume, offer, don't
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  override. And if you're a care partner
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  watching this, I want you to comment, hashtag, I'm seeing
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  you. Hashtag, I'm seeing you down
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  below. Because that's what this is all
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  about, seeing each other, not just the symptoms.
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  I love that. That's Garmin in a nutshell.
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  Practical kind, to the point, but always reminding us that
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  this is a shared journey. Now, if you made it this far,
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  you're probably realizing this isn't really a video about
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  symptoms. It's about awareness.
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  It's about being tuned into your body, your relationships, and
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  your patterns. So here are a few things that
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  you can do starting today to stay ahead of your own
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  Parkinson's curve. Number one, notice patterns, not
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  moments. A single off day doesn't mean
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  your meds are failing or your disease is progressing.
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  But three days in a row? Now that's start.
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  That's worth starting to pay attention to.
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  For me, I noticed stiffness showing up earlier in the
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  morning. Instead of panicking, I wrote it
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  down and when I mentioned it to my neurologist, we adjusted my
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  timing slightly and guess what? My mornings improved.
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  One small note, one big payoff #2 loop in your care partner.
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  See. They see things that you miss,
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  and sometimes they see things that you don't want to admit.
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  Carmen once noticed I was dragging my right foot before I
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  did. I thought she was just imagining
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  it until I watched a video of myself walking.
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  She was right. She still reminds me of that
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  regularly. Thanks, Carmen.
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  Thanks Parkinson's. Your care partner can be your
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  best feedback loop if you let them in and you have to let them
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  in. OK, now #3 write down or track
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  what's changing. I know it sounds boring, but
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  it's not about data, it's about patterns.
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  Write down when your meds kick in, when you ate, how you slept,
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  how you felt, did you exercise? And after a week, you'll start
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  to see. You'll start seeing things that
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  you could possibly remember otherwise.
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  And that's exactly why I've been working on something behind the
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  scenes that's going to make this so much easier for the entire
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  community. And it's called the Doing Life
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  Today Meds Tracker, a simple, free tool that I'm designing
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  specifically for people with Parkinson's.
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  I'm building it because I want it to connect the dots between
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  timing, between symptoms, between meals and how I feel
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  now. It's coming soon.
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  And trust me, it's going to be change the game.
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  So make sure you're you're subscribed so you don't miss the
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  launch next week. And here's what I want you to
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  remember. Your doctor might treat
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  Parkinson's, but you live it. You live it every day, every
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  hour. That means you often see the
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  changes first. Don't ignore them, don't
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  downplay them. Notice them, write them down,
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  talk about them. Now, if this resonated with you,
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  drop a comment below and tell me this.
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  What's one thing that you've noticed lately that others might
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  have missed? Because the more we share, the
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  more we learn and the less, the less this disease gets to
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  surprise us. Now, if you haven't already, you
• 9:10
  might consider joining the inner circle for deeper conversations
• 9:12
  and support. It's something that is just
• 9:15
  incredible to me. It's a, it's a community, it's
• 9:18
  growing, it's exploding. And inside they're going deeper.
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  They're they're keeping each other accountable and there's
• 9:23
  some really cool stuff happening.
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  And if you're new to Parkinson's, you're newly
• 9:27
  diagnosed or just ready to get going on your journey here and
• 9:30
  Start learning some stuff. Boot camp starting soon.
• 9:33
  Check out the links in all the descriptions for both.
• 9:35
  I will tell you there is only 9 seats left for boot camp.
• 9:38
  So don't miss it. And if you haven't already
• 9:40
  subscribed because we've got some big things coming and guess
• 9:44
  what, we've unlocked today's price system with Parkinson's,
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  your body whispers before it shouts.
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  The trick is learning to listen. There you go.
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  It's just for you. I know what you're thinking.
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  It's for everybody. No, it's not.
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  That was just for you. And I need you to remember this.
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  Until next time. I want you to keep showing up.
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  I want you to keep noticing. I want you to keep tracking.
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  And I want you to keep doing life today.