We have been dancing this waltz with Parkinson's Disease for only a short time, Paula was diagnosed in February of 2010. We can remember signs as far as three to four years prior to being diagnosed. What we are about to share with you, is our experiences with the disease. By no means do we think this is a cure for the disease or even that everyone can have the same results that we experienced. So with that said , let us share with you our experiences, and we hope it will help someone with their battle with Parkinson's.
We have taken quality vitamins and been diet conscious, from the time we met in 1989. We were involved with a Multi level marketing Vitamin company as a business for probably 5 years. During that time we attended multiple seminars on nutrition and the way vitamins are made and how they work, after that period in our life we have continued to be health conscious. Part of the mind set that we have developed is that medical doctors are trained to prescribe medicine and their prescriptions are based on proven factual studies and very good scientific testing before the drugs are available. So when we go to a medical doctor we can expect to get medicine.They don't seem to get very involved in diet and the use of vitamins and supplements.
On the other hand, there are Doctors of Naturopathy , we are no experts but basically these doctors look at how the body can best heal itself, through nutrition. The effects of good or bad food that we put into our bodies.Which foods produce positive results and which produce negative results. Following this path can require some discipline, lets face it, most of the best foods for us, are not that tasty. Our bodies are an amazing chemistry concoction enveloped by our skin, we can add things to that cauldron of chemistry experiment that help the body heal itself or we can add things to it that diminish its ability to heal itself, that is how we have arrived at this juncture. We have looked for and tracked down information on what the naturopathy community has deemed as good for the body and bad for the body. Unfortunately most of the foods that are good for the body are not known as comfort food, and most of the foods that are bad for the body seem to be the very best tasting and make excellent comfort food. So, if we have a medical doctor that is giving us the best medicine, and we are putting the best foods and nutrition that the naturopahy doctors recommend, then we should expect the best results. We just need to find a way to make the good foods taste good, and for us this shake does the trick.
When Paula was diagnosed, we started searching for information on nutrition and the brain and what we could do nutritionally to help a brain with Parkinson's disease. We were happy with the Medical doctor (Neurologist) we had and felt he was at the top of his game and doing a great job in getting her the right medications to treat the symptoms, as time has progressed we are even more convinced, due to attending seminars and hearing other experts opinions.The doctors tell us they can "treat the symptoms" there is no known cure "yet". So we were in search of information that could help us to assist the brain and body to do as much as it possibly could. I read a book by a Doctor of Naturopathy, I subscribed to a newsletter by an ex brain surgeon that studies the broad range of science and information on the brain and the body and puts out a monthly newsletter. What we learned is when we reach about the age of 30 we start to die, yes if you think about it we must reach a point that the human body peaks and the growth and development must end, so a declining process must take over. Just like a flower that sprouts from the soil and pushes up to the sky then blooms, reaches a peak and then starts the process of dying, the petals fall off and the plant starts to dry up. So, what is it that starts this declining process? Could it be small changes inside the body, like not producing things that it used to, and not absorbing and converting things as well? Well what happens if we identify these things and then start putting them back into the body, and studying what really happens at the cellular level inside the body. These studies have been going on for years, but it seems it is all a secret, because unless you seek out the information, you will not hear much about it. There is amazing research and studies, and communities that have been practicing the use of all of this information for years, with astounding results. So I think you get the idea, and there is no way I'm going to try to explain in detail the "why fors and how comes" because I can't. So , I will tell you our personal experience, pictures of the vitamins we are taking, and our diet so you can possibly benefit from the information.
We changed our diet and increased Paula's vitamin intake about two months after her diagnoses, we cruised along for about 10 months doing really well, thinking that... she is in the beginning stages ( if there are stages) and it's a long process, so it could be 10 years before we see any big changes,let's keep our fingers crossed, and keep learning what we can about the disease. But, one day Paula started complaining about taking too many vitamins everyday, drinking these shakes everyday, eating all these vegetables,and putting up with all the gas it creates. Well, no man likes to hear his wife complain and me especially, so two or three complaints later, I thought to myself, how do I know that this is doing any good? This is costing money for vitamins, and my time making the shakes and cutting up the veggies ect. So, I just stopped the whole process and asked her, what would you like to eat today, then proceeded to please her palate. After a couple of weeks, I noticed slight changes, like asking me something she had already asked. Slowing of her motor skills and a more pronounced frowning face. All of this was gradual but continuing to get worse and worse to the point that, I could no longer trust her to manage her medications because she was getting mixed up and taking it twice, or not sure what she took ect. ect. I was spending half my day explaining what I had already explained, and fixing the TV controllers so she could get back to what she was watching. Her body was more stiff and painful, she couldn't remember her passwords and was having a lot of trouble composing an email, or even navigating the computer pages. I would have to retype emails so they made sense. My entire day was involved in helping her and making sure she was ok. Waking up at night when she would get up to go to the bathroom and watching her swaying as she headed to the bathroom ,hoping she didn't fall. We got the portable toilet seat that you place over top of your toilet that is higher with handles so she could get up and down. During the daytime, I was relieved when she was in bed napping , which was happening more often, because I could actually get household projects done. I was starting to cherish the moments that she was close to normal and feeling like I was saying goodbye to my wife as I knew her, because there was so much change so fast. I hadn't actually thought it was the lack of the vitamins and diet yet, because I just couldn't believe it could make that noticeable of a difference that soon. I thought we were lucky for awhile, and now the disease was just progressing faster.
But we deciding to go back on the vitamins and diet to try and regain some ground if possible, and with hopes that it would make a difference. About the same amount of time it took to decline, is the amount of time it took to recover, which in her case was around two to three weeks. A shake every morning, loaded with the foods you wouldn't call comfort foods,but actually tastes good, and including some special brain and nerve enhancing ingredients. She takes her vitamins as she drinks her shake.We soon started skipping lunch and eating an early dinner or sometimes just a snack because we just weren't hungry, I understand this is because when the body has good quality nutrition, then you just aren't hungry as much. Dinner would be earlier in the day and about 70% veggies and 30% skinless chicken, lean ground turkey or lean cuts of beef sliced about 1/4" to 1/2" thick and fried in a small amount of olive oil with tumeric sprinkled in. Always cooking only with extra virgin olive oil. It seems to be, not just what you put into your body but also, especially what you don't. We do start our day with a 1/2 cup of coffee (we used to have one or two cups each,now we make one cup and split it) and a piece of toast with butter, then usually 1/2 hour to an hour later we have the shake. We found a way to eat much better, but not the regimented cardboard and rabbit food diet. The key to eating, I think is to conform to 70% veggies and 30% other.
I can leave the house for hours now if needed. Paula can do her email by herself now, TV remote control malfunctions are very rare now, she is much better at remembering and comprehension, in short, I got a huge part of my life back and so did she.
Check out the post "Paula's vitamins and shake" it has pictures of the vitamins and shake ingredients that she is taking and I will also do a video of making the shake, and some of the meals we make. By the way, on Sunday we eat what ever we want, if she wants hot wings with mashed potatoes and gravy with cole slaw from KFC and a beer, then thats what we have, and quite often that's what she wants.
I don't know exactly what it is that is working , if it is one vitamin or just the diet change or if it is the combination of everything working together. If you can't afford the expense of the vitamins, and we do struggle to maintain them, then we suggest replacing a meal or two with the shake, and really think 70-30 when it comes to your meals. It works for Paula and we think it can work for you. Hope this helps some of you out there, this is a horrible disease and as you know it not only destroys the life of the person that gets it, it destroys the life of the loved ones as well. Good luck to you all. Don't forget to check out some of the links at the top right of the blog page. My favorites are
www.swansonvitamins.com and
www.vrp.com . And check out some of the other posts for additional Brain Specific and Nerve Specific supplements.
