Exercise

Since being diagnosed with Parkinsons I have been touched by how many friends and family have donated to and raised money for Parkinsons related charities. At some point I made a mental note that I should return the favour for another charity one day. As the new year dawned I checked my Facebook feed and up popped a challenge from Diabetes UK: UK Wide Cycle Ride. The idea is that you choose a distance that would take you from one side of the country to another and to spend April accumulating miles toward that total and to gain sponsorship as you work towards that goal. I hadn't come across it before but I think a lot of charities also do something similar.

Image by Ricarda Mölck from Pixabay

Anyway, I hadn't made any New Year's resolutions, I've always enjoyed cycling and I've seen the serious impact that diabetes can have on families so I signed up albeit for the shortest available distance: 120 miles. That would take me virtually from Dundee to Fort William. Its good to have goals after all.

Last year, near the beginning of the first Covid lockdown, my neurology nurse gently reminded me of the importance of exercise in slowing the progress of Parkinsons. I've always been a fairly active person but I had started to let things slip a bit. I started cycling and running and almost immediately felt a lot better for it. Part of the fun of cycling is exploring so as the year went by I needed to go further to discover new areas. 

One day I had cycled about ten miles to Cawston and as I approached it I realised that it was about the time that I should have been taking my afternoon dose of Levodopa which I hadn't brought with me. Almost on cue my right leg started to go stiff. This is a problem when you are trying to pedal. You might think that you can rely on the other leg to take the slack but the trouble is that you need a certain amount of coordination to keep your foot on the end of your stiff leg on the pedal. As my meds wore off, my dopamine levels dropped so that coordination was lost. I was ten miles from home and every time I pedalled with my left leg my right leg would fly out like John Cleese doing a silly walk.

I was able to walk OK so I got home by pushing my bike up hills (thankfully not many in Norfolk) and coasting down hills (the flipside of that earlier positive thinking). It took a long time and taught me that there are limits to the benefits of exercise and also that I should be more careful about taking my meds at the right time.

In my next appointment with my neurology nurse I mentioned my unwilling leg and the fact that I was getting pain in my knee on that side too. This time the nurse gently indicated that exercise is a bit of a balancing act and that I had metaphorically jumped from one end of the seesaw to the other. She referred me to my GP about my knee and he advised me to stop running and cycling until the pain receded.

I've done plenty of walking since then but nothing too strenuous. Towards the end of March I took a short and steady ride about three miles up the road and was alarmed when I felt my right foot involuntarily twisting away from me, a sign that usually precedes my comedy pedal kick. My tremor had also been getting worse. How was I going to cycle 120 miles if I was struggling with this?

On the first day of the UK Wide Cycle Ride I cycled nearly 14 miles and had to get off and walk towards the end. I had made the same mistake of getting halfway through the journey just as my last dose of Levodopa wore off. So much for learning my lesson. The next day I timed it right and travelled the same distance with no problems. Yesterday I cycled 17 miles without problems and, for a change, I didn't fall asleep in front of the TV in the evening. Today I passed the one hundred mile mark and I feel stronger than I have for ages. My knee is still painful but it was anyway after three months of resting. Sadly the symptoms of Parkinsons can make it very hard to exercise but if you are in a position to give it a go, my limited experience indicates that it is well worthwhile.

 I should finish by saying a huge thank you to my family and friends who have been as supportive as ever and have donated generously to Diabetes UK's cause.