I will try not to overdo it again today. I think I detected a smidgeon more dyskinesia when I woke up this morning. My tremor didn’t seem to be improved at all, though – I’m still shaking too much. I’m fairly happy (within reason) to accept an increase in one symptom as a trade-off for a decrease in a more troublesome symptom. I get a little pissed-off when I get the increase with no corresponding decrease! I can tolerate the majority of my Parkinson’s disease symptoms: poor balance is a nuisance, but (up to now) I have had remarkably few falls, and mostly I catch myself with ease; a weak voice can be a pain, especially when I’m repeating myself for the umpteenth time, but it’s not the end of the world; dystonia in my foot is uncomfortable, but (providing it doesn’t get any worse) it’s bearable; muscle weakness and stiffness can be painful and frustrating, but I’m managing (so far); the poor levels of energy and motivation have (thankfully) improved, but when they were at their lowest I was still getting by; bradykinesia is more frustrating for other people than it is for me. Luckily I haven’t suffered with freezing of movement (yet). Tremor drives me to distraction, particularly in my right arm and hand, because it makes it difficult or impossible for me to function normally – make a cup of tea and drink it, pour a beer, prepare (and eat) food, sign my name, type an email, relax… Dyskinesia is another symptom (of my DBS surgery, not of Parkinson’s Disease) that I find difficult to tolerate, because it robs me of control, and draws attention to me. At the moment my dyskinesia is tolerable, but my tremor is becoming intolerable at times. So the dilemma is whether or not I increase the voltage to my right side on my device, to try to moderate the tremor, and risk the dyskinesia becoming intolerable.
This afternoon I increase the right side voltage on my neurostimulator by another 0.05v (still 1.75 on the left, now 2.2v on the right). If my dyskinesia increases to a point where I can’t put up with it, then I’ll try the Group “A” settings and see if they will give me a better tremor/dyskinesia balance. In the meantime, self-medication is calling!