Latest / Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry / Parkinson’s Brain Fog: My 5 Favorite Hacks to Cut Through the Cloud

Transcript

Parkinson’s Brain Fog: My 5 Favorite Hacks to Cut Through the Cloud · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

• 0:00
  If you ever walked into a room you stopped and you thought,
• 0:03
  wait why did I come in here? So you stand there like a
• 0:07
  tourist who lost the map and instead of figuring it out you
• 0:10
  say since I'm here I might as well grab a snack.
• 0:13
  Well that's brain fog. I've opened up the fridge,
• 0:17
  stared inside and completely forgotten what I've wanted. 5
• 0:20
  minutes later Carmen finds me having a silent standoff with a
• 0:23
  jar of Pickles and she says what are you doing?
• 0:26
  And all I can say is I think the Pickles know a personal
• 0:30
  favorite. I once lost my phone while I was
• 0:32
  talking on it. Not beside me, not under the
• 0:34
  couch cushions, in my hand, against my ear.
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  And Carmen just shook her head and said, really, Bryce?
• 0:40
  And I know I'm not alone. Brain fog sneaks up and makes
• 0:43
  you laugh and it makes you cry all at the same time.
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  Well, today we're going to dive into Parkinson's brain fog, what
• 0:50
  it is, why it happens, and five simple hacks that I use to cut
• 0:55
  through it. And here's a quick teaser.
• 0:58
  Stick around to the very end to unlock today's Bryce ISM because
• 1:01
  it changes how I handle brain fog.
• 1:03
  But I also have a bonus hack that sounds silly, but it works
• 1:08
  every single time. Welcome to Living with
• 1:11
  Parkinson's, the good, the bad, and the reality.
• 1:15
  Real talk, Real life real. Community.
• 1:19
  With Bryce Perry, let's begin. Hey friends, I'm Bryce and this
• 1:23
  is living with Parkinson's, the good, the bad and the reality.
• 1:26
  If you're new here, welcome. And if you're part of my inner
• 1:28
  circle, you already know you are the heartbeat of this community.
• 1:33
  Now here on this channel, in this these podcast, we share
• 1:36
  real life, the real life side of Parkinson's, the raw, the funny,
• 1:39
  the frustrating and hacks that actually help.
• 1:41
  So if that's the type of thing that you're looking for, hit
• 1:43
  subscribe and know that you're not alone or you're not alone
• 1:47
  anymore. But let's get right into this.
• 1:50
  If you have ever felt like your brain clocked out without giving
• 1:53
  notice, well, these hacks are for you.
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  Let's start with the hack #1 which always surprises people.
• 1:59
  OK, when brain fog hits, my instinct is to plop on the
• 2:03
  couch. What actually helps is the
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  opposite. Moving, You know, one day Carmen
• 2:09
  convinced me to walk when I was full fog mode.
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  I grumbled like a kid told to lawn to like mow the lawn, and
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  halfway down the block something shifted.
• 2:19
  My body loosened and my thoughts cleared just enough to feel
• 2:22
  human again. I remember another time I was
• 2:25
  finding an e-mail like it was a final exam and you know, I
• 2:29
  decided to take a quick loop around the block.
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  I came back. The words finally played nice.
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  You know, movement. Movement did not cure
• 2:37
  Parkinson's. It didn't cure my Parkinson's,
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  but it reset the brain enough to get it started.
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  And you know, we have tons. I love this community, tons of
• 2:46
  comments in the community and, and tons of people that that
• 2:49
  share their own hacks. And you know, I took a couple
• 2:51
  out of here out of there. One of the one of you said I
• 2:54
  danced in the kitchen to oldies and it clears the fog better
• 2:57
  than anything. Another said 5 minutes of gentle
• 3:01
  stretching gets my wheels turning.
• 3:04
  My favorite confession. A fellow was saying that he
• 3:08
  vacuums when his fog hits. His wife loves it and he feels
• 3:11
  sharper and that's a win for everyone.
• 3:15
  Now why? Why does this help?
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  Well, movement increases blood flow to the brain.
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  Think like an etch A sketch. Remember those old things?
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  A little shake and the picture resets.
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  So that's hack number one. But what if the problem is not
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  stiffness? What if it's being overwhelmed
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  all the time? If that brings me back, that
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  brings me right into hack number two.
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  Brain fog turns every task into Mount Everest.
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  You know that. So what do I do?
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  I lower the mountain instead of clean the kitchen.
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  I wipe the counter. Instead of answer all my emails,
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  I reply to 1. I once told myself that I would
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  fold three towels. Just three, and by the time I
• 3:56
  finished, I folded the entire basket.
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  If I had told myself to fold all the laundry, I would probably
• 4:03
  still be there staring at it today.
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  And Carmen laughs because I'll say, hey, I'm just going to go
• 4:08
  and put the forks away. And then 10 minutes later, the
• 4:10
  dishwasher's dishwasher's empty. And you know, you just need that
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  small doorway in. Just think of it as a small
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  doorway in. And again from the comments from
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  the community, one of you said I break chores into 10 minute
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  chunks with a timer. I do not always finish the job,
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  but I finish something and that feels like a win and it sure
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  does. Another one shared.
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  I go one drawer at a time and if if I try the whole office I fail
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  drawer by drawer though, I win. That is progress over
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  perfection. Now why?
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  Why? Well, Parkinson's makes
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  multitasking harder. Breaking things down lowers the
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  cognitive load. It's like downloading a huge
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  file in parts, it just gets through faster.
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  So hack number 2 is about shrinking the mountain.
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  But even when tasks are small, they still vanish if I do not
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  set reminders. Which brings me to hack #3.
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  If it's not written down in my world, it does not exist.
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  My phone Dings so much it deserves its own paycheck.
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  True story. You know, I re.
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  I once reheated coffee and I totally forgot about it and
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  three hours later I Carmen's asking me what is that smell and
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  if I cook the coffee into a hockey puck.
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  It was crazy. Another day I found the TV
• 5:27
  remote in the fridge. Maybe I thought it needed to
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  cool down. I don't know.
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  We only found it because Carmen wants some yogurt.
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  Otherwise, I'd still be looking for that thing, you know?
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  And one of you told me in the community that that you plaster
• 5:38
  sticky notes on the bathroom mirror, the front door and the
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  TV. And if it's in my face, I will
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  not miss it. Someone else said that they set
• 5:46
  alarms on their Alexa, their phones, their tablets.
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  It's like a Symphony of reminders.
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  And another person said, I keep a big white board in the kitchen
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  with my top three things I need to do tomorrow, not 30 things,
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  just three. If I get those done, the day is
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  a win. Now I love that top three rule.
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  When the fog is heavy, a mile long list feels like punishment
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  3 actually feels possible. And why?
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  Why is that? Well, dopamine hits working
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  memory, right? Reminders are your are like your
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  backup hard drive. So hack 3 is reminders.
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  But sometimes no reminder in the world will cut it, will it?
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  And that is when we turn to hack #4.
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  Now I've stared at a blank screen for two hours and I've
• 6:35
  told myself I was working. Then I close my laptop and then
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  I lay down for 20 minutes and I woke up again with ideas.
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  So trick of the trade, you got to slow down, got to take a
• 6:46
  break, but keep it short. Keep naps short. 20 minutes is
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  gold. 2 hours is a ticket to groggy town.
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  Someone once told me that they close their eyes for 5 minutes
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  with calming music and it reboots them.
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  I always like that reboots them. Another person said that they
• 7:01
  knit quietly and it resets the brains without knocking them
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  out. Now for me, sometimes it's just
• 7:07
  10 minutes outside. No phone, no screen, just
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  breathing. And the fog may not vanish, but
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  it sure does soften. So Hack 4 is all about pausing
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  instead of pushing, and that leads me right into hack #5.
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  It's funny how they all just lead into each other.
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  Sometimes you need a spark. For me it's music.
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  I have a playlist that puts me in focus mode on command.
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  It's like my Let's Rock it Out playlist.
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  Sense Work 2 peppermint oil, freshly brewed coffee.
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  The smell alone wakes, says says wake up and that wakes me up.
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  I can smell. You ever say the smell of fresh
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  coffee and you can smell it. It's crazy.
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  I don't know. Anyway, in the comments I read
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  that someone said that they recite a poem that they learned
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  as a kid and it it like it's like flips a switch.
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  And someone else said the smell of orange peel brings them back
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  to themselves. And the favorite one that I
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  read, I juggle 2 tennis balls. I am terrible at it.
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  That's the point my brain wakes up.
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  I thought that was really cool. Did something that they knew
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  they were awful at because they'd try and the brain would
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  wake up and cut through that clutter.
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  And why does that happen? Why?
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  Why would that happen? Why would that even help?
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  Well, let me tell you, senses are routines.
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  Senses and routines are wired into memory.
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  They light up brain circuits that they that feel dimmed by
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  Parkinson's. So that's why it works and
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  that's how it works. So those are my 5 hacks.
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  But honestly the best part is what's coming next, the wisdom
• 8:34
  that you share in the comments. So in the comments, I'd love to
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  hear your hacks. What do you do when the brain
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  fog is there? Is there anything you found that
• 8:42
  gives you relief? Share in the comments.
• 8:43
  Your comment might help somebody else down the like anybody
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  because people actually read the comments here.
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  They really do, you know, just basically there's a couple other
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  comments too, like, oh, I know a person said that, that what if
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  it matters, they book in the morning.
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  Something like if they're booking appointments, they know
• 9:02
  that their brain fog usually kicks in the afternoon.
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  So they're very important meetings or appointments that
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  they want to do. They go to the mornings because
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  the afternoons are a lost cause for them.
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  Now that's wisdom, right? That's not lazy.
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  They're working with the rhythm. Morning brain is different from
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  afternoon brain with Parkinson's.
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  And you know what? Some of us have morning brain
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  and some of us has afternoon brain, right?
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  And what did I mean by that? Well, it's just that fog.
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  What does the fog kick in? How about you in the comments?
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  Love you, right? Love it.
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  If you tell me right now, afternoon brain or morning
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  brain, which brain is better? Are you more cognitive?
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  Are you more like in charge and large and in charge in the
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  morning and foggy in the afternoon or are you more in
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  charge in the afternoon? Let me know.
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  Just afternoon just got like, you know, afternoon brain or
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  morning brain. Which one is better for you?
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  So I heard this other thing too, that somebody kept a journal of
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  funny brain fog fails. And they said they laughed at
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  themselves on purpose. You know that's medicine humor
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  lowers stress, lower stress lowers fog and stories like
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  that. They help the rest of us feel
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  normal, don't they? Anyway, here's another tip.
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  I'm just going to throw this in there prestage.
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  I prestage everything at night. You know, meds beside me on the
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  on the counter, clothes on the chair, coffee mug beside the
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  kettle. Like that is future you helping
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  present you pre decision is a brain fog superpower.
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  And there was another one I've heard as well that this one I
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  think is so great. It says I set a 2 minute rule.
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  If it takes less than two minutes, I do it now before my
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  brain wanders. Isn't that cool?
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  Like 2 minute rule if it's something so quick, just do it.
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  Just do it right then it's over. That rule has saved me more
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  times than I can count. He's on the hook peels, you
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  know, pills in my tray, e-mail sent.
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  It's just that simple, right? And let me add another one, once
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  I blanked out during a conversation at a family dinner
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  and everyone like they looked at me.
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  You know that feeling, it's awful.
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  I felt useless for a second and then I made a joke about my
• 11:11
  brain buffering and you know, I always have this thought of like
• 11:14
  3 little dots on top of my head going off, you know?
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  You know? Everyone laughed, the pressure
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  dropped and the words came back. Humor gave me oxygen.
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  So here's the thing, whether it is water, whether it's structure
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  or humor, all of these community tips line up with three themes.
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  Spark, structure, or break, and it takes us right into the
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  science behind it. You see, dopamine does more than
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  movement. It helps with attention and
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  working memory. When dopamine is low, the brain
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  has a harder time holding a thought and switching between
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  tasks. That feels like fog, Like brain
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  fog. Think of your brain like Wi-Fi.
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  The router still works, but the signal keeps dropping.
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  That's just brain fog. Out and in, out and in.
• 12:02
  Sleep problems, fatigue, stress, and some medications can add to
• 12:06
  it and make it worse, which is why it feels unpredictable.
• 12:10
  Some days the signal feels really strong, and some days
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  it's stutters. And your strategies make sense.
• 12:18
  Sparks boost arousal. Structure reduces the load,
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  brakes let the system recover. And that's why the simple things
• 12:27
  work. Don't over complicate this
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  simple things work. And the good news is researchers
• 12:32
  are also making progress. Longer lasting, longer acting
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  meds, cognitive training, even brain stimulation approaches.
• 12:39
  It is not just about moving anymore, it's about cognition
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  too. And that gives me hope because
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  cognition and these things that we deal with that no one else
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  can understand and things that we can barely explain to people,
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  they're the tar. They're the tough ones.
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  But the hope is there. And that hope is exactly what
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  this Bryce ISM is about today. Here you go with Parkinson's.
• 13:02
  Brain fog does not mean the lights are off.
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  It just means the Wi-Fi signal is weak.
• 13:08
  Now. I started saying that after a
• 13:10
  day where I blanked in a conversation and I felt
• 13:13
  completely useless. Instead of beating myself up, I
• 13:16
  said the signal dropped. And then I smiled.
• 13:18
  I reset, and I kept going. And that shift took the shame
• 13:22
  out of it. And Speaking of resetting, let's
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  end with the bonus hack that I promised you.
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  You ready for it? Narrate.
• 13:30
  Narrate what you are doing out loud.
• 13:32
  Now this sounds so goofy it sounds crazy, but it actually
• 13:36
  works. Say what you're doing.
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  I say like I am putting my keys on the counter and my odds of
• 13:42
  remembering go way up. They really do.
• 13:46
  I once couldn't find my glasses anywhere.
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  I don't know why this works, but finally I just out loud, I'm
• 13:51
  going to the bathroom and I'm going to find my glasses and
• 13:53
  guess what? They were on the sink.
• 13:55
  Talking out loud refocuses and resets your brains and keeps you
• 13:59
  on track. It's like telling your brain not
• 14:01
  just thinking about, it's telling your brain what you want
• 14:04
  to do and what you are doing and it keeps you on task.
• 14:07
  You know, I sometimes I even narrate my morning routine, you
• 14:10
  know, pill bottle on the counter, coffee mug on the left.
• 14:12
  Like I'm saying this out loud. Carmen thought I was auditioning
• 14:14
  for my own documentary or something.
• 14:16
  I did not forget a single thing that day.
• 14:19
  Not a step everything I said out loud.
• 14:21
  So that is the bonus hack and now I want to hear yours.
• 14:25
  What is your funniest brain fog story or, and or your best hack?
• 14:30
  Drop it in the comments. Remember, I read every comment.
• 14:33
  I respond to every single comment.
• 14:35
  And your tip might help somebody else today.
• 14:38
  Now if you want deeper support and real conversations between
• 14:42
  these episodes, then join the inner Circle.
• 14:44
  We hang out live once a month and we keep the chat going
• 14:47
  everyday. The link is in the description
• 14:49
  below. And don't miss the next episode.
• 14:54
  I've got a really important episode coming up.
• 14:57
  But until next time, keep showing up, keep laughing, and
• 15:01
  keep doing life today. Parkinson's may be part of your
• 15:07
  life, but it doesn't get to define it.
• 15:09
  Thanks for listening to Living with Parkinson's, the good, the
• 15:13
  bad, and the reality. If this episode moved you,
• 15:17
  helped you, or reminded you you're not alone.
• 15:19
  Share it with someone who needs to hear it.
• 15:22
  Want to go deeper? The Inner Circle is waiting.
• 15:25
  Monthly Zoom calls, 24/7 community, and a Direct Line to
• 15:28
  Bryce. You'll find the link in the show
• 15:30
  notes. Until next time, keep showing up
• 15:34
  and keep doing life today.