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Parkinson’s Tremors: 5 Surprising Ways to Calm Them Fast When They Spike · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

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  If your tremors suddenly spike or you're just having a rough
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  Parkinson's day with stiffness, anxiety, or that overwhelm
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  feeling, well then this episode is for you.
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  I'm going to walk you through 5 surprising techniques that you
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  can use right in the middle of that bad moment to help calm
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  things down and calm them down fast.
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  And these aren't the same techniques that you've heard
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  anywhere else. These are brand new and some of
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  them are going to absolutely surprise you.
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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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  Well, welcome back, friends. Now, if you're new here, my name
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  is Bryce, and this is Living with Parkinson's, The good, the
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  bad and the reality. And this is where we tell the
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  truth about living with Parkinson's.
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  We share real stories and we make sure that nobody ever feels
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  that they're doing this alone. And a great big welcome to all
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  the new subscribers who joined up this week.
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  And there were a lot of you Now. If you're watching for the first
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  time, drop a doing life today in the comments so that I can say a
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  special hello to you. OK, Tremor spikes, those lovely
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  little surprise moments when your body like just goes like,
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  you know what? Let's just make this harder,
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  right? And they never happened.
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  When the pressure is low, it's always when you're holding on to
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  something or you're signing something or just pretending to
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  be a common adult in society. Well, let's get into these
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  techniques because they've helped me in real moments,
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  they've helped me in public moments, and they've helped me
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  in those private, you know, are you kidding me moments.
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  And you know what? They're going to help you too.
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  OK, technique #1 is the jaw drop trick.
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  And I know it sounds weird, but stay with me because this one
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  works fast. You know, research, research
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  shows that when your jaws tight even a tiny bit, it increases
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  tension through the nerves in your face and your neck.
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  And that tension spreads throughout your upper body.
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  And the more tension you have, the stronger your tremor or your
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  symptoms are going to get. And when you drop your jaw
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  slightly, it actually releases the tension chain.
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  It signals to your nervous system.
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  We're safe. And the tremor or those symptoms
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  that you're experiencing right then, they often settle down.
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  Now in plain English, tight jaw, big tremor, relaxed jaw, calmer
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  tremor. And I learned this one the, the,
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  the loud way in public, of course.
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  Because you know what, I always say that Parkinson's loves
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  having an audience. All right, I was at the pharmacy
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  and the pharmacist handed me that tiny little signature pad.
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  You know the one. You know, the pen weighs like a
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  feather and the screen is designed to humiliate anybody
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  who has shaky hands. It really is.
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  So she hands it to me and boom, of course tremor starts spiking.
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  My hand turned into a loose car part that desperately needed
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  replacing, and the more I tried to control it, the worse it got.
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  People behind me were watching, and out of pure panic my jaw
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  just dropped open a little and the tremor eased almost
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  instantly. It was like, whoa, what just
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  happened here? So I kept trying it.
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  I kept trying it, and it actually it works.
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  So try it with me. Drop your jaw just a little.
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  I let those muscles go soft and breathe.
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  It really works. It does.
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  So if you you know what right then if you even felt a tiny
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  shift, drop a drop like a it works in the comments.
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  OK, now why does this matter long term?
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  It matters because every time we reduce tension during a tremor
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  spike, we protect our energy, our joints, and our fine motor
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  control. And those little winds add up.
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  They really do. OK, let's move into the next
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  technique. And this one is really powerful.
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  It really is. Technique #2 is the opposite
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  movement trick. Now, most people freeze when
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  their tremor spikes, right? They try to hold still, they try
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  to grip harder, they try to clamp down.
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  But research shows that this actually lets the tremor take
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  over. Instead, when you give your
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  hands a slow controlled movement, like gently touching
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  each finger to your thumb, your brain switches focus.
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  The movement becomes the new main program, and the tremor
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  program gets pushed into the background.
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  Yeah, interesting. Well, how about in plain
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  English? Well, your brain can't run both
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  at full power. The controlled movement wins.
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  OK, so a real moment. I was texting the other day, and
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  my hand suddenly decided to do to do the the Macarena.
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  Right? Like right then just did his own
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  thing. I couldn't hit a single letter.
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  So I stopped fighting it and I tapped my finger slowly, thumb
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  to index, thumb to middle, and within seconds the tremor eased
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  enough for me to finish the message without autocorrect
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  turning it into a crime scene in there.
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  Hashtag crime scene in the comments, but try that.
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  That one works. So when you start your tremor or
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  any symptom starting to get out of control, just start doing
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  that, OK? And how about a solo spotlight
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  right here? If you're doing Parkinson's
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  alone, this is your moment. You don't have someone at home
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  noticing your tremor spike. You don't have someone to hand
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  something to you. But this technique, you can use
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  it anywhere, anytime without needing help.
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  It's something that gives you back a piece of control.
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  So if you're solo today, drop a heart in the comments and let me
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  know. OK, so which one hits harder so
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  far? Drop a one or two in the
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  comments. Just solely no, we're not alone
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  and moving on. And the next one, this might be
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  the most practical one of all technique #3 is the weighted
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  object trick. Now, research shows that when
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  you add a small amount of weight, even the weight of a mug
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  like a coffee cup or a phone or a water glass, it gives your
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  nervous system something steady to organize around.
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  It changes the rhythm of the tremor just enough to help it
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  settle. OK, plain English.
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  A little weight gives your brain something to hold on to.
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  And this happened to me this week.
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  It was my son's 31st birthday. Yes, I know I don't look old
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  enough to have a 31 year old son, you know, And please
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  continue to keep telling me that in the comments.
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  But anyway, we were at dinner and the server handed me the
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  debit machine and right on cue, tremor spike.
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  Right? And a big one.
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  And the kind where the machine starts wobbling and you're
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  praying you don't accidentally launch it into the next table.
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  It's like, Oh my gosh, this can't be happening.
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  So I grabbed my glass and I held it for a second, just a little
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  bit of weight and boom, my tremor eased enough for me to
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  slide my card in without turning it into a magic trick.
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  So if you ever had a public tremor spike like that, drop a
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  bin there, Bryce, in the comments and let us know about
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  it. Tell everybody about it because
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  the whole part of this channel, this community is to everybody
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  to realize that we're not alone and these things aren't unique
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  to us. And people read the comments.
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  So somebody will be scanning the comments today and they'll read
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  something you put in there and they'll be able to relate to it
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  and it's going to help them. So you be that person today.
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  OK, on to the next technique. And this one works shockingly
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  fast. Technique #4 is the temperature
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  reset The research Research shows that cold sensations
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  activate a different set of nerves that compete with the
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  tremor signal. Your brain can only focus on one
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  thing at a time, and temperature grabs the spotlight.
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  Plain English cool takes over. Trimmer backs off.
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  So touch a cold glass of water, a bottle, the fridge door, the
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  metal railing, whatever's nearby.
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  I use this constantly because I live in Winnipeg and it's bloody
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  cold out here. But you know if my tremor spikes
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  while holding something, right? I touch something cold for a
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  second or two and it usually gives me just enough control to
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  finish the task. Oh, so if that's new to you,
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  drop freezing in the comments. Or or move me to Winnipeg.
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  No, don't do that. OK, final technique, and this
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  one is hilarious but it works. Technique #5 is the visual
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  fixation trick. OK, so research shows that when
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  your eyes lock onto something 1 still object.
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  It helps calm down the part of your brain that gets overwhelmed
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  during a tremor spike. Your brain resyncs your body to
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  the stillness that you're seeing.
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  Plain English. Find one thing, stare at it, and
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  your brain will follow. So I once stared so intensely at
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  a salt taker in a restaurant that the server probably thought
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  I was trying to season my food with my mind.
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  But guess what? The tremor eased.
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  Like you got to stare down this this non moving object, right?
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  Find a non moving object and stare it down like it owes you
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  money. And I'm telling you what, it
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  just calms everything. Your brain just follows suit.
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  It's like trying to like monkey see monkey do.
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  All right, did I just call you a monkey?
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  I don't know. I probably call myself a monkey.
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  OK, shifting gears, it is time for Carmen's care partner
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  corner. So when my wife writes some
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  things down for all the care partners out there, and this is
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  what she had me say to you today.
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  When your tremor suddenly spikes, we see everything that
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  you're trying to hide. We see the frustration.
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  We see the embarrassment. We see that moment where your
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  confidence dips for just a second.
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  And I want you to know you never have to hide that from your care
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  partner. Let us step in.
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  Let us hold the cup. Let us study your hand.
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  Let us give you a second to breathe.
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  Supporting you isn't a burden, it's a privilege.
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  And you don't have to. You don't have to do every
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  tremor spike alone. Wow, that was that was really
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  good. Carmen, thank you for that.
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  And if you felt that, drop a big heart in the comments for all
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  the care partners out there. OK, so that's it.
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  Those are the five surprising techniques that you can try the
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  next time your tremor spikes or you're just having one of those
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  off overwhelming Parkinson days. Draw drop to release tension,
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  opposite movement to give your brain a new job, a little bit of
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  weight to stabilize the chaos, cold to override the signal and
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  fixation to anchor your brain. And no, they won't fix
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  Parkinson's, but they give you a moment of control in a moment
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  where Parkinson's tries to take it away.
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  And some days that's everything. Which one are you going to try
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  first? Drop a number in the comments,
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  one through 5, and let me know. And thank you for joining me
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  today. But if you made it this far,
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  you've unlocked the Brycism of the episode, and here it is.
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  Here is your Brycism for today. With Parkinson's, A tremor spike
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  can sometimes feel like there's a tiny intern inside your arm
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  who just drank 6 espressos, panicked, and started pressing
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  random buttons like he's trying to reboot your entire nervous
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  system. Buddy, it's time to go home,
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  Little jaw drop. All right, hit that like button
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  and share this with somebody who you might need, who might need
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  to hear this today. And again, just let me know
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  which one you're trying first. Some of the stuff could sound
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  crazy, but it actually works. It really does.
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  And before you go, if you're not in the Inner Circle yet, now is
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  the time, right? Next week we're recording our
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  Big Beach Band interview episode.
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  The Inner Circle members get to join the live virtual studio
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  audience. The full behind the scenes
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  experience, it's like the VIP experience right along with me.
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  And our inner circle call will be coming up really soon as
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  well. So it's just a call with me and
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  we get to just talk and do life together.
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  There is a link in the description below and you can
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  try it out. There's a free trial.
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  Just come on in, check it out. Might be for you, might not be
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  for you, but I'm sure there's a place for everybody there.
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  And until next time, you keep showing up, you keep doing being
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  real, and you keep doing life today.
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  We'll see you next episode. Parkinson's may be part of your
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  life, but it doesn't get to define it.
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  Thanks for listening to Living with Parkinson's, the good, the
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  bad, and the Reality. If this episode moved you and
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  helped you or reminded you you're not alone.
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  Share it with someone who needs to hear it.
• 13:01
  Want to go deeper? The inner server was waiting
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  monthly Zoom calls, 24/7 community, and a Direct Line to
• 13:08
  Bryce. You'll find the link in the show
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  notes. Until next time, keep showing up
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  and keep doing life today.