Latest / Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry / Freezing of Gait: The Symptom That Stops You in Your Tracks

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Freezing of Gait: The Symptom That Stops You in Your Tracks · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

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  Imagine stepping off the curb into traffic and your feet
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  freeze mid step. Cars are moving, the light is
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  green, but your body has hit pause.
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  Well, that's freezing of gait and it's one of the scariest
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  symptoms of Parkinson's because it can happen anywhere, in
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  public, at home, in the middle of a crowd.
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  Well, today we're going to break it down, why it happens, how it
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  feels, and the tricks that actually help me get unstuck and
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  stick with me because I've got a bright system about freezing
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  that you won't forget. Welcome to Living with
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  Parkinson's, The Good, the Bad, and the Reality.
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  Real talk, real life, real community with Bryce Perry.
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  Let's begin. Well, welcome back to Doing Life
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  Today. I'm Bryce, and this is living
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  with Parkinson's, The good, the bad and the reality.
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  And today we're going to talk about one of those Parkinson's
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  symptoms that people outside of our world often don't
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  understand, freezing of gait. Now, let me tell you, it's one
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  of the strangest things that I've ever experienced with this
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  disease. It's not tripping, It's not
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  stumbling. It's your brain saying go and
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  your feet say, Nope, not today. So I want to give you some
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  examples because this isn't something that you forget right
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  at home. It's often doorways.
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  You know, Carmen will be halfway through a door and look back and
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  there I am, 1 foot halfway lifted, completely frozen.
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  I look like a statue, like I'm like someone hit pause on a DVD
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  player. Number of DVD players Anyway.
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  Another time I was in the kitchen carrying a coffee cup
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  and I froze. Bitstep.
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  Now you'd think that would be harmless, but no coffee all over
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  the floor because my hands kept going while my feet didn't.
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  And there Then there are the public ones.
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  I froze in the middle of a Walmart once in front of a soup
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  aisle. I must have sit there for 20
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  seconds, starting at tomato soup.
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  People probably thought I was reading labels or just trying to
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  be really, really indecisive. Instead, I was panicking.
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  And then there was this hockey arena, you know, took my son to
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  a game, crowded bleachers. And I froze halfway up the
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  stairs. My son's yelling at me.
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  You know, Dad, hurry up. And I wanted to shell back,
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  buddy. If I could, I would.
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  It was awful. But now, you know, we can laugh
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  now in the moment. Brutal.
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  So let me throw this one to you very early.
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  Where does freezing hit you the hardest?
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  Doorway, stairs, crowds. Comment below because your story
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  could help somebody else and I'd really would like to know that
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  I'm not alone. Or maybe it happens in places
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  that I didn't mention. Wherever it is, let me know.
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  So why does this happen? Well, Parkinson's basically
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  scrambles the signals. The brain says walk, but the
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  message doesn't get delivered properly.
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  A doctor once explained it to me.
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  It's like a like an orchestra. The brain, the brain's the
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  conductor, the body's the orchestra, and normally
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  everyone's In Sync with Parkinson's.
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  The conductor drops the baton and the violins are lost.
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  You know, here's how I explain it.
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  It's like having dial up Internet in a Wi-Fi world.
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  You're cruising along, everything's fine, and then
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  suddenly that and everyone else is standing there wondering why
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  you're stuck. And here's the serious part.
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  Freezing isn't just frustrating, it's dangerous.
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  You know, research shows that about 30% of people with
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  Parkinson's who fall regularly have freezing to blame.
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  So let's talk about what actually helped because this is
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  where we take back some control. So the first thing you can do is
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  there's visual cues. This one works wonders.
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  I step over cracks on the sidewalk, right floor tiles,
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  even shadows. Carmen has literally put her
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  foot down in front of me so that I had something to aim for.
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  It's like tricking your brain into something, into thinking
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  you're stepping over something. So I'm always thinking of those
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  cracks even though they're not there, always thinking of those
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  cues that I have to step over. Another thing you can do is
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  shifting your weight right. If I can't go forward, I rock
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  side to side. It looks like I'm warming up for
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  a slow dance, but but that little movement usually resets
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  things. And what, you know, once I froze
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  in line at the coffee shop and people must have thought I was
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  swaying to the music, only I couldn't hear anything.
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  You know, whatever works, works. Rhythm.
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  You know, counting out loud or counting out loud or humming a
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  tune. I'll do 123 step right, or I'll
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  hum something ridiculous. You know, one time I was stuck
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  halfway. Sorry, I was stuck in an airport
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  walkway, and I started singing. I started humming that Staying
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  Alive, and not only did it get me moving, but the guy behind me
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  joined in, right? So there we were, two strangers
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  in a prompt to Bee Gees concert just so I could keep walking.
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  You know, it was actually in the last video, I touched on this a
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  little bit and someone in the comments put put something that
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  they start singing that these boots were made for a walk in
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  and that's just what they'll do. One of these days, these boots
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  are gonna walk all over you. Excuse the singing.
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  Excuse the singing. No bad comments, please.
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  Or if you liked it, but you know, give me a thumbs up.
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  I wouldn't be crazy, but do it anyway.
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  But and people were commenting and was getting a lot of a lot
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  of people were reading that and going good one.
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  It's an easy thing to remember these boots.
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  And what's what I like about it is, you know, these boots were
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  made for walking like his feet were made for walking.
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  And one of these days they're going to walk all over you.
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  And I think of Parkinson's when I think of that, like you can't
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  stop me, right? You can, you can stop me.
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  You can slow me down, but you can't stop me.
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  How about that? OK, another thing you can do is
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  technology. Laser canes that project a red,
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  red line on the floor, you know, or metro naps that that give you
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  the beat, right? Or even a music playlist, right?
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  I've heard people say they use marching band music to keep
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  moving. Firstly, if I get really stuck,
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  I'll use I'll use the the metronome on my phone.
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  It's like boring a rhythm from outside when your brain won't
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  provide 1. So if I can't get that humming
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  to staying alive, I'll say, I'll say to my phone, you know, Siri
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  play staying alive and I get and I start to move.
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  And here's a practical tip you can try today.
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  Put a strip a painter's tape on the floor at home and practice
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  stepping over it. I know this sounds crazy, but it
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  trains your brain to respond to cues, right?
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  It's like Pavlov's dog. Ring the bell, you know, eat,
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  you know, ring the bell. Feed the dog, ring the bell,
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  feed the dog so he responds to cues.
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  Your brain actually does. So here's my process.
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  When I freeze, I stop. I take a breath.
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  I rock side to side I find or imagine a line, I count it out
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  and I step And if all else fails, Siri, play some Bee Gees.
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  Well, if you've ever frozen in public, hit the like button so
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  that we that I know that I'm not alone and I'm just looking over
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  at my phone and it is literally playing the Bee Gees.
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  So I guess it was listening to me.
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  All right. But here's what makes freezing
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  terrifying. It doesn't just happen in safe
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  spaces. It can hit at the worst possible
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  time. And I'm going to share probably
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  the scariest moment freezing ever hit me.
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  And I'm going to share that in just a minute.
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  And trust me, it's one that I'll never forget.
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  But a quick question before I get to that.
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  Has your partner or friend ever called you out on freezing
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  before you even noticed? Share in the comments because
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  those those stories are very, very powerful.
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  And I'm just would love to know that.
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  So the scariest freezing moment for me.
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  OK, I was crossing the street, the light turns green, I step
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  off the curb and suddenly I'm frozen off the curb, cars are
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  waiting, people are rushing, and I'm stuck mid step.
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  Now, nothing, and I mean nothing makes your heart ## like
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  realizing the world doesn't stop just because you did.
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  That was so terrifying and so frightening.
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  And, and I just thank goodness there wasn't somebody racing by
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  because it can be very, very dangerous.
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  Another one, escalators. You know, if you've ever frozen
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  at the top of an escalator with people piling up behind you, you
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  know, you know that panic. Carmen once reached out and she
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  tugged me forward like just in time.
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  And it was so close. Like, I literally was going to
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  go, like, it was crazy. And then, you know what?
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  There's even, like, little everyday ones, like freezing at
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  the bottom of the stairs at night.
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  You know, when I just want to go to bed, you know, I hear Carmen
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  yelling, are you OK? And I'm like, Yep, just, you
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  know, enjoying the view from Step 1.
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  You know, sometimes you laugh and sometimes you just want to
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  scream. And that's the reality.
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  Freezing isn't just inconvenient.
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  It's embarrassing. It's frustrating, and sometimes
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  it's very dangerous. But here's the truth.
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  Freezing of gait might stop us in our tracks, but it doesn't
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  stop us from living. The key is learning those
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  triggers, practicing the strategies, and reminding
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  yourself that you're not alone. And with that, here is today's
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  prices with Parkinson's. Sometimes your feet freeze, but
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  your spirit doesn't have to keep finding ways to move forward,
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  even if it's one small step at a time.
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  Well, there you go. If this video connected with
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  you, hit that button. Hit that like button so more
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  people can see the real side of Bargainsons and share it with
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  somebody who needs to hear it today.
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  And tell me in the comments, what's the strangest or the
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  scariest place that you've ever frozen?
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  Doorway, stairs, traffic. Your stories mean more to this
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  community than you realize. And if you're looking for a
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  deeper connection, check out The Inner Circle.
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  It's a private community where we talk live on Zoom, we share
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  stories, we share posts and remind each other that we're not
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  alone. And the link is in the
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  description below. And until next time, keep
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  showing up. Keep being real and you keep
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  doing life and you keep doing it today.
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  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
• 10:17
  with Parkinson's, the good, the bad, and the reality.
• 10:22
  If this episode moved you, helped you, or reminded you
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  you're not alone. Share it with someone who needs
• 10:27
  to hear it. Want to go deeper?
• 10:30
  The Inner Circle is waiting. Monthly Zoom calls, 24/7
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  community, and a Direct Line to Bryce.
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  You'll find the link in the show notes.
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  Until next time, keep showing up and keep doing life today.