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Parkinson’s Dopamine: Why Feeling Good Can Suddenly Backfire · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

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  Do you ever have one of those days where your meds hit just
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  right, you're moving smooth, you're feeling strong, and you
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  almost forget that you even have Parkinson's, and you think, wow,
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  I'm really doing great today. And then three hours later, it's
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  like somebody pulled your batteries out?
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  Yeah, that's what I call the dopamine illusion.
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  Because sometimes feeling amazing isn't the victory, it's
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  the setup. Stick around.
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  Because today we're going to talk about why that happens,
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  what your brains actually doing, and how to keep your balance
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  before the crash hits. 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. Hey everyone, welcome back to
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  Living with Parkinson's, The Good, the Bad, and the Reality.
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  Now, if you're new here, I'm Bryce.
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  And around here we talk about the real stuff.
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  We laugh about it, we learn from it, and we live through it
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  together. Now, if that sounds like
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  something you need in your week, why don't you hit subscribe?
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  It's free, it helps the channel grow, and it tells the YouTube
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  that Parkinson's stories actually matter.
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  OK, let's get into this. Let's talk about dopamine and
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  why it's both your best friend, excuse me, and your biggest
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  troublemaker. Now, here's the thing.
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  Dopamine isn't really a happy chemical.
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  It's an anticipation chemical. It's what makes you want to
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  move, want to talk, and want to connect.
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  It's that little, hey, something good's coming spark in your
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  brain. Now in Parkinson's, that spark
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  gets weaker, which is why things take more effort.
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  So when your meds hit and that dopamine flows again, your
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  brains like, yes, let's go, right?
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  And that's the moment that you start cleaning, you start
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  organizing, or maybe you start mowing the lawn, fixing the car,
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  answering emails because you feel alive again.
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  You're you're signing up for things that you would normally
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  wouldn't. And honestly, I get it, because
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  it feels incredible to just feel normal again.
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  But here's where it gets tricky. That burst of dopamine.
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  It doesn't mean you suddenly have more energy, It means that
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  your brains temporarily feels like it does.
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  It's like your body giving you a free sample of normal, but it
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  still expects payment later. So what do we do?
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  We spend it all because we're human.
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  We finally feel good and we don't want to waste it, but
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  that's when the dopamine illusion gets us and the crash
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  starts creeping in. Now here's how I explain it.
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  Dopamine's got a credit card and, and every time you push
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  through, every time you overdo it, every time you skip a rest
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  or you're you're swiping that card and the bill, it always
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  shows up. Let me tell you, I've learned
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  the hard way so many times. Last week, for example, I had
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  one of those great days. Everything was firing right?
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  And so I thought, perfect, I'll tackle everything that I've been
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  putting off. Winter's coming, right?
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  I cleaned, I worked, I reorganized, I even decided to
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  make dinner. And by mid afternoon, I could
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  barely move. And that's when it hit me.
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  I just spent tomorrow's dopamine today.
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  So now when I feel that high, I tried to stop and I asked myself
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  this, do I really need to do all of this right now, or do I just
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  finally feel capable again? Because those two are two very
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  different things. And that's the tricky part,
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  right? Because in that moment, your
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  brains like cheering you on. It's like, yeah, let's do it.
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  It feels like motivation, but really it's momentum on credit.
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  Now, let's get a bit nerdy for a second.
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  And I promise this one's worth it.
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  When dopamine floods the brain, it creates that rush of movement
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  and and motivation. But if you use it too quickly,
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  the receptors that receive dopamine, they start to shut
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  down for protection. That's why you suddenly feel
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  tired and stiff and foggy. Your system is literally
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  resetting. So it's not that you lost it or
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  did something wrong. Your brain just went, OK that
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  was fun, but we're closing early tonight.
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  And here's the cool part. Balance brings it back faster.
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  When you learn to pace yourself, your dopamine system stabilizes.
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  It stops swinging between everything and nothing.
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  So weirdly enough, resting isn't being lazy, it's actually
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  dopamine training. Oh, I've got some big ones
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  today. Now I'll be honest, this took me
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  years to figure out because I'm a doer.
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  When I feel good I want to do things.
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  I go all in. But every time I overdid it, I
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  paid for it later. So I started experimenting with
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  what I call steady state living. Big words today.
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  Steady state living is basically pacing on purpose.
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  Instead of trying to stretch my on times as long as I possible,
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  I focus on keeping my energy consistent.
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  Now that means like short bursts of activity, planned rest
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  breaks, music or humor in between tasks to reset my brain.
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  Think of it like learning to surf.
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  You don't fight the waves, you ride them.
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  At least that's what I hear. When I started doing that, I
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  noticed something wild. My off times weren't as brutal
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  anymore because I wasn't draining the tank every time I
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  felt full. And that's the secret.
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  Balance isn't boring, it's freedom with a strategy.
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  Now Speaking of balance, Carmen's got her own take on the
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  dopamine days, so this is what she asked me to tell you.
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  You can always tell when Bryce's dopamine kicks in.
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  He goes from zero to full renovation mode in about 5
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  minutes. I just stand back and I think,
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  OK, let's see how long this lasts.
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  I used to try to stop him. I tell him to rest or pace
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  himself, but that just made him want to do it more.
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  That's the rebel anyway. So now I don't manage the
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  dopamine, I manage the recovery. I make sure he's got, you know,
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  got food ready. I have food ready for him, space
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  to crash and nothing important later on that day because the
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  goal isn't to stop the highs, it's to soften the fall.
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  Wow. And that honestly is one of the
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  best lessons I've learned from her.
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  You can't just stop the highs. You shouldn't, but you can
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  prepare for them because when you do, you start enjoying those
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  good days without paying the price afterwards.
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  That was really good, Carmen. I went right in.
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  I was so excited. I went right into my own little
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  salute wee there, but that was really good.
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  I appreciate that. Now that was Carmen's care
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  partner corner. Now, if we have a ton of people
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  that are doing this journey alone, I call them my solo
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  warrior. So now for the solo warriors out
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  there, I've got one for you. Now there's something, there's
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  something one of our inner circle members, not one of a
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  friend of mine told me one time and it really struck me and they
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  called it the their dopamine anchor.
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  It's just a short list of small grounding activities that you
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  can do when you hit that crash. Things that remind your brain
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  that you're OK. Stuff like folding laundry or
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  making tea, watering plants, calling a friend, journaling, or
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  just playing music. The idea is when when you do
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  something familiar, your brain releases predictive dopamine.
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  It calms your system, and it helps you stabilize.
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  So if you live alone, write down your own list of your anchors.
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  OK. And when that wall hits, instead
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  of saying, what's wrong with me, ask which anchor can I grab
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  right now? Because that's how you pull
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  yourself back into rhythm. That's exactly small tasks that
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  you know. You see, the dopamine illusion
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  isn't about weakness. It's about misunderstanding how
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  our brains work. Feeling great.
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  It doesn't mean that you're cured.
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  It means that your system is firing for now.
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  And that's all we want, right? Just to fire your system firing.
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  And that's worth celebrating. But the real win is learning how
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  to stretch that balance, how to take a good day and turn that
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  good day into a good week. Because Parkinson's is
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  unpredictable, but your response doesn't have to be.
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  That's just an amazing way to think about it.
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  Parkinson's is all over the place, but we can learn to have
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  our responses. So no matter what it throws at
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  us, we have a response. Oh, wait a minute.
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  This is this. There's my anchor.
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  Wait. This is this.
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  This is what you know, that's how you win.
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  That's what takes a good day and makes a good week.
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  And that's what takes a good week and makes a good month.
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  You know what I mean? OK, if you made it this far, you
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  unlocked today's pricism, and I really like this one.
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  And if you're ready, here it is. OK Dopamine.
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  No, dopamine is like a good salesman.
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  It makes big promises, it closes the deal fast, and then it
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  disappears when it's time for the paperwork.
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  I like that one. OK, this week try living in
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  rhythm instead of in reaction. And when you wake up feeling
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  great, don't Sprint. Glide.
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  Enjoy it, protect it and spread it out.
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  And if you do happen to crash, just remember it's not your
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  fault, it's just chemistry reminding you that you're
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  actually human. Comment below and tell me this,
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  what helps you keep your balance when your dopamine wants to
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  Sprint? I read every single one.
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  I love learning from you all. I'm a little behind getting back
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  to everybody, but I will trust me.
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  And you know what? If you want to go deeper, join
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  the inner circle. It's where these real
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  conversations, they just keep on going.
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  You can find it at in the links in the description below.
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  There is a free trial so you can come on and check it out.
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  No harm no foul. But if you'd rather keep going,
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  if you want to go deeper, that's the place to be.
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  And don't forget, if you haven't already, please subscribe.
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  I put out new episodes every Tuesday, every Thursday, and
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  every Saturday at 9:00 AM. Plus we have a live on Sunday at
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  noon. And until next time, thank you.
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  Thank you so much for being with me and you.
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  I want you to keep showing up. I want you to keep laughing, and
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  I want you to keep doing life today.
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  We'll see you next time.