My PD symptoms have not progressed to the point where I freeze, but I
occasionally have a balance problem when I try to turn quickly. Also my
equilibrium is affected (I am made conscious of the balance problem) when
walking over uneven or rough terrain.
A year or so ago I was mainly concerned about the tremors in my left hand
and leg as some of the other symptoms had not progressed to the point of
noticing them. I was aware that, as was mentioned, stress of any
kind.........things that normally you would not even be aware was bothering
you.......would either bring on the tremor, or exacerbate it if present. I
also noticed that on awakening it was sometimes an hour before the tremor
began, and that a conscious mental effort could stop the tremors for as
long as 10 to 20 seconds. As I knew several people who had stopped smoking
by consulting a local hypno/therapist I reasoned to myself that maybe
hypnosis, particularly "auto suggestion" might help the tremor.
I had three sessions with the hypnotist and by the third visit I realized
that I was quite relaxed when the session was over. I never fell into any
kind of "trance" at all but the sessions did slightly improve my mental and
physical condition for an hour or so. At that time I was leaving for an
extended trip away from home and knew that I would have to start over. At
$30 a session, twice a week minimum, I decided that the results did not
warrant further visits at that time (I was also starting a very expensive
medication). At the last session I informed the therapist before she began
and so we taped the session for me to use while I was away. I am planning
to give the hypno/therapy another "go" when my schedule permits. The
sessions had progressed to the point that I was able to use verbal "cues"
spoken by the therapist to bring on a state of relaxation. An
example,,,,,"I am going to count to three and when you visualize the number
three......etc". This after visualizing being on a cool, but comfortable,
deserted beach with the waves crashing rhythmically, etc. The next step was
for me to bring on the relaxed state through auto-suggestion by visualizing
the number "3" whenever I was getting stressed. I do think that there could
be a benefit there if followed up. At the last session the suggestion was
"planted" that my "little grey cells" were to manufacture more dopamine
after every session!! Who knows, it might work!!! I suppose I will try
another month of therapy and see what happens. To paraphrase what a friend
used to say jokingly at our weekly poker game as he called an unusually
high bet, "Oh well, what's $30/hr to a sawmill man on payday! I'll see that
and raise you $30" (It was more like $5, LOL)
To sum this up, I think the sessions did relax me and make me feel
better for a while. Whether or not I could progress to the point of
relaxing through auto-suggestion and cues remains to be seen. If I try
again, I will report the results.
Regards
Don A
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