Parkinson's Update - 27 months after diagnosis, 8 months postpartum

After I had Jaxon, I experienced a brief lull in my symptoms. Even when they came back, they were not as bad as they had been before the pregnancy.


But now, 8 months after his birth, my symptoms are definitely back, though the severity of some of the symptoms is different than before.  


The most constant symptom is the pain in my legs. I have seen websites that state that Parkinson's doesn't cause pain. Yet everyone I have talked to that has Parkinson's has some level of pain. For me, it's not a sharp pain, it's more like the pain you would have if you had exercised very hard or done a lot of walking -a dull ache, if you will. Most of the time it's tolerable and only affects my daily activities slightly, though at night when my legs are tired, I often wish I could just take them off to relieve the pain. I can't say that the pregnancy caused the pain to be more constant. It might be worse than pre-pregnancy because I am on my feet a lot more than when I worked a desk job. Being a homeschooling mom of 4 is much more physically demanding than my "real" job ever was.


My bladder issues are present, but not as terrible as they were prior to pregnancy. I have to say that this issue is one that is made better by being at home most of the time. I have my own bathroom. I never have to wait for a stall to open up. It's never closed for cleaning unless I'm cleaning it, and I can obviously do that at a time that is convenient for me. No one stops me to ask me a question while I'm rushing to the bathroom. Best of all, it's close. No walking down long hallways - I can be at a toilet in 15 steps. 


As for my tremor, I personally feel as if it's not as bad as it used to be unless I'm upset or sick. When I've been sick with a cold or mastitis, my entire body seems to be overwhelmed and all of my PD symptoms are worse, but the tremor is obviously the most noticeable of these symptoms. I still notice the tremor when I try to do certain things that require steady hands, but most of the time it doesn't bother me.


The only symptom I've noticed any real "progression" in is one that I'm not sure I've even mentioned here before - choking. Prior to becoming pregnant with Jaxon, I had not noticed any issues where I choked on my food. But while I was pregnant with him, I choked while I was at work. It happened twice at work and both times it was scary. Both times I was able to cough free whatever had choked me. It happened a handful of other times while I was pregnant. It's happened multiple times since Jaxon was born. Every morning, I cough up phlegm. Yeah, it's gross, sorry. I'm glad I'm coughing it up, instead of it just building up in my lungs. But it concerns me because this is not something I struggled with before and since it indicates to me that things are getting to my lungs that should not be there. It's a little scary to me- I guess because I've read so many stories of Parkinson's patients dying from aspiration pneumonia- caused by the inhalation of food (and drink) during meals.  


My husband and I have talked about the possibility of me starting Parkinson's medication again soon. I have several hesitations on that. I'm not really ready to wean Jaxon yet, and starting on the medicine is very tough on me. There are side effects that I have to adjust to, and I'm not sure I want to do that while homeschooling is in full session. Plus, the main issue that scares me right now is the swallowing, and everything I've read says that typical Parkinson's medication doesn't help with that issue. So for now, we'll just continue on as we are and pray that the symptoms do not get worse.