Category Archives: Beliefs and Parkinson’s

Update from Christian Hageseth

Robert and I have recorded interviews three times in the past:

  1. September 2016: Five years no medications. Parkinson’s improving. How I had gone for 5 years without meds and was doing well using exercise and yoga
  2. January 2017: Wholistic (or holistic) how different PWPs approach their treatment.
  3. October 2018: Shifting the Parkinson’s disease mindset.
  • This is my fourth appearance on the show today, and I still hold to my beliefs.  
  1. EXERCISE. EXERCISE, EXERCISE. I cannot exercise as hard as I did before. Gradually I had to walk more and jog less. Could only 3 – 4 miles.
  2. More convinced than ever that MINDSET/ATTITUDE is the key, PARKINSON’S IS A CHALLENGE, NOT A CURSE.  When I was formally diagnosed, I was 70 years old. Life expectancy for me was 84.1. Well, now I’m 82.4. In a year and a half, I will have reached my life expectancy.
  3. YOGA remains critical.
  4. WAIT UNTIL you really must take Levodopa. Levodopa induced dyskinesia (LID) is a real deal and can be disabling. Google it on YouTube. 
  • Let’s look at my life since we last met, year by year.

2018 – I shot a video titled So High So Low for the “I HAD A DREAM PROJECT” where I hiked a three mile walk trail and climbed a thousand feet. 

Link: https://www.ihadadreamproject.com/i-had-a-dream-project-videos 

That year I also went to Uganda to demonstrate the practices I used to manage so long without meds. (Robert, this is quite a tale, plus I have pictures.)

  • 2019 – After directing the local Parkinson’s support group, I resigned so new blood could take over.

BUT: New symptoms emerged that I didn’t know about:

  1. Anomia: a language specific disturbance arising after brain damage whose main symptom is the inability of retrieving known words. But it’s not dementia!
  2. Pseudo Bulbar Affect Crying or laughing excessively upon feeling any deep feeling.
  3. Dysphagia: difficulty or discomfort in swallowing as a symptom of disease. It starts out with mucus as postnasal drip. Get to an OT!
  4. Oily, flakey skin
  5. Sleep disturbances. Fall into deep sleep in the middle of the day. And then don’t sleep well at night.
  6. Pain in bed at night. Interfered with sleep.
  • 2020 – It was a remarkable and horrific year. PANDEMIC!

No more yoga classes! No gym with weightlifting. Social interaction approached zero. 

  • 2021 – Then, a condition worse than Parkinson’s emerged: Major Depression.

March 2021 – Fell and shattered right knee – 16 days in hospital.

July 2021 – Fell and broke my right hip.

August – Severe depression, I became suicidal.

September – Chose to have a course of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT)

October- It worked, and my PD improved a lot.

The falls were due to the antidepressant I was taking may increase fall for people with Parkinsons.

LESSON: Make sure you MD goes through all meds in case a med might make falling more likely

My story with Depression

Family history is strong.

Parkinson’s did not cause my suicidal depression, genetics and environment did.  Antidepressant medication failed to work and led to my falls!

2022 – I returned to my new normal. And that’s where I am today. I just have more symptoms and feel weaker.

I followed up with PWPs who I have advised in the past.

It became clear to me: I want to coach people with PD. 

I HAVE A LOT TO OFFER!

Teach PWPs how to become a “Bad Ass with PD.” 

No more withdrawal and depression.

My PD website: www.makemostofpd.com  

Robert, I want to come back with a program I have just developed to make being a person with PD and their caregiver have a better relationship. 

New website www.the-kindness-dialogue.com 

Robert Rodgers PhD
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery
https://www.parkinsonsrecovery.com

Solutions for Parkinson’s Symptoms

On Parkinsons Recovery Radio today. Fred Phillips offered his insights into how he gets immediate relief from a variety of his Parkinson’s symptoms.  His solutions for Parkinson’s symptoms are novel and profound. Do you ever have difficulty when walking with:

  • Freezing?
  • Standing up?
  • Shuffling?
  • Slowness?
  • Leg Cramps?

If so, I strongly recommend that You listen to my interview with Fred today. Click the arrow below to hear the replay. Fred has discovered some powerful, yet simple solutions to these
symptoms that have helped him enormously.

One of now over 70 pioneers of recovery I have hosted on Parkinsons Recovery radio, Fred also previews his 10 step protocol for recovery.

Robert Rodgers PhD
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease

 

 

 

Health Affirmations

Health Affirmations

Many people who currently experience the symptoms associated with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease focus their primary attention on therapies that have helped other people in similar circumstances reverse their own symptoms. Such a strategy of recovery can be invigorating and yield exciting victories. There may however be an undercurrent process which ultimately undermines your success with reclaiming your health. What in the world might this be?

Most people do not acknowledge that there is often an unconscious process that undermines a positive intention to heal. Since the process is entirely unconscious it is hidden and thus impossible to detect. Why might a person’s subconscious be undermining their positive intent to recover?

There are many reasons of course, but the person is getting something out of being sick that they would not get if they were well. Perhaps they are getting disability payments or special attention from family and friends. Perhaps they finally have a perfectly justifiable excuse to quit a job they have never liked doing.  If a person is getting something out of being sick, it will be virtually impossible to heal.

I believe that everyone has unconscious processes at work. We all wind up sabotaging our best and highest intentions at one time or another.  I know I do. The first step in paving a clear and unobstructed pathway down the road to recovery is to acknowledge that unconscious processes do exist that undermine our good intentions.  The second step is to take a minute out of every day to state your intention to recover with a clear and loud voice.

My suggestion is to print out the health affirmations below, attach them to your refrigerator and say them out loud each and every day for 40 days.

My intention is to maintain health and wellness for myself.

I admire and model people who are healthy.

Health makes life more enjoyable.

I am healthy when I do what I love.

I deserve to be healthy because I add value to other people’s lives.

I receive compliments and gifts from others with an open heart.

I am grateful for the health I have now.

Opportunities to reverse any and all symptoms always come my way.

My capacity to reclaim full health and wellness expands each and every day.

If there is no unconscious current which is undermining your recovery, the task of  saying the statements above for 40 days will strengthen your intention and facilitate your recovery. If, on the other hand, there is an unconscious process at play which is undermining your good intention to reverse symptoms, you will not succeed in saying the statements out loud for 40 days. You might succeed for 30 days – but suddenly you skip a day.

Saying the health affirmations above out loud only takes a minute each day, yet you forget to do it. It was not because you did not have enough time!

When you realize that you “forgot” to state your affirmations, you will know that there must be something that you are getting out of your disease that you are not acknowledging.

And if this is the case, what do you do? Acknowledge that there must be part of you that does not want to get well. It is no big deal. We all sabotage ourselves in one way or another. The most important step is to acknowledge it.

Then, simply begin saying your affirmations again starting with day one. See if you get through 40 days without missing a day. If you succeed, celebrate your success with paving an unobstructed road to recovery. If you forget again, start the 40 ritual again. Maybe three times will be a charm.

If three times is not a charm, why not simply accept the reality that you are getting something out of being sick that may actually be worth all the trouble?

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Five Steps to Recovery
www.fivestepstorecovery.com

I Ignore My Parkinson’s Disease

I wrote a plea in my newsletter for help in changing the false belief that Parkinson’s Disease is “degenerative.”  What follows is one of the many responses I received. Brad gave me permission to post the statement that follows. Be prepared to be inspired.

Robert Rodgers,Ph.D.
Pioneers of Recovery
http://www.pioneersofrecovery.com

Why is it we “fight” cancer, but we must “accept” Parkinson’s Disease? I never accepted anything, that is why I continue to work, exercise, live normally, etc. Mostly I ignore my Parkinsons Disease.  I skip my drugs whenever possible.  I am too busy to be bothered with degeneration.  

It has not made me very popular with the medical establishment.  Parkinsons Disease is exceedingly psychogically and emotionallly sensitive.  When our mind is preoccupied with growth, involvement, concentration (“recovery” mode), our symptoms abate.  When we are upset, angry, anxious (“degeneration” mode) our symptoms are exacerbated.  

As most athletes and artists know, in order to accomplish something, we must first “visualize” the possibility.  If we do not believe something is possible, it will never be so.  If we believe, anything is possible.  

When my symptoms caused me to lose my ability to bicycle ride at a high level of performance, I fought back and reversed those symptoms.  Last fall, my girlfriend and I rode six or seven difficult “century” rides (100 miles in one day), including one back to back days for the first time.  

I still have Parkinson’s Disease, but I can do anything I choose to do by simply deciding to let nothing stand in my way.

Brad

Transforming Beliefs about Parkinsons Disease

Below is an email I have permission to post anonymously regarding transforming the false  belief that Parkinson’s is degenerative that I addressed in my most recent Parkinsons Recovery newsletter.

This posting is anonymous for a very smart reason. The person does not want to be thought of as someone who has a “disease.”

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
http://www.parkinsonsdisease.me

 

I do believe that we can change the belief template, as you say.  I am doing this every day with my qi gong practice, walking, reading, talking about changing the information that my mind receives, being in the chi field of possibilities.  And it is hard work sometimes.

When symptoms change or strange new sensations show up, it’s so hard not to go into fear and dread.  Mostly the qi gong practice gives me tools with which to hold all this.  And most of the time I can say this is just my mind thinking thoughts that are not the reality.  And most of the time I am really happy and optimistic about reversing my symptoms.

I am very lucky in the three years since diagnosis they have barely progressed, mainly tremors and some lack of dexterity in my right hand.  But some days the tremors feel more frequent or stronger, I’ll be tired a lot, and I wonder is it getting worse?  How to not always think about it is the question, because it is visible when the tremors are happening.  I find that taking a vigorous walk always makes me feel better, and when I’m not too tired the qi gong practice is magical too.

Thanks again for your excellent vision and work.  Count me in as someone intending to change the paradigm for healing.

Brain Cell Regeneration

Question:

In several of your articles about Parkinson’s, it is stated as fact that by the time one experiences the first symptoms of Parkinson’s, 60-80% of the brain cells in the Substantia Nigra area of the brain have been destroyed. If this is a medical fact then how does it stand to reason that the body is merely out of balance or suffering from toxins?

I believe that the body can be out of balance but has it suffered the reality of irreversible damage?  It is important to have a positive outlook but I also think it is important to be realistic.

I hope I do not sound overly direct because I appreciate all you are doing and have found much of your information to be thought provoking and helpful.

Thanks,  A.G.

Response:

The estimate that 80% of the dopamine producing cells have been destroyed comes from autopsies of people found to have degradation in the substantia nigra. A startling proportion of persons are misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s – estimates vary from 25% to 33%. It is a tough diagnosis to make and it is easy for doctors to miss the mark on this call.

This means that although the person has symptoms that are like the symptoms of Parkinson’s, they are not being driven by a dopamine deficiency. It may simply be that the myelin sheath coverings around the neurons are clogged by toxins or obstructed by trauma to the tissues. Or, other factors may be at play.

I personally believe that we find ourselves trotting down a dead end alley much too often if the “problem” of Parkinson’s is defined as a dopamine deficiency. The body can always produce sufficient dopamine under the proper conditions. And, the body can always generate new cells and rejuvenate itself. Healing becomes possible when the symptoms are viewed in a broader context of health and wellness rather than death and destruction.

At the most basic level, all healing rests on the foundation of thought forms. When we focus on what is not possible, nothing becomes possible. When we set out intention for change and renewal, anything is possible.

You encourage me to edit my own writing. I think it is a mistake to focus on the cells that have been destroyed in the body. Cells are being born every micro second.  The body can reconstruct anything – cells, neural pathways, tissues – you name it. When we focus on what has been destroyed, we have sunk into the negative thought form trap which leads us into nagging thoughts that recovery is impossible. This is why work at our Parkinsons Center in Olympia now focuses on releasing negative thought forms and why I wrote the Five Steps to Recovery.

Thanks for the reminder. The body can and does rejuvenate itself.

Robert Roders, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery
www.parkinsonsrecovery.com

What Can I do about Problems I am Having with My Fingernails?

Question:

Why am I having problems
with my Fingernails?

Response 

One healthy approach for understanding
any health problem – in this case problems
with your nails – is to acknowledge that
your body is sending you a signal that
something is out of balance. Perhaps
there is a mineral or vitamin deficiency
such as, for example, the C or B vitamins
or both.

The challenge is to figure out what
your body needs. When bodies 
scream at us to be heard, 
it can be difficult to figure
the problem out. I have two
approaches for you to
consider: homeopathy and 
an exploration of the underlying
reason for the condition. 

Homeopathy 

Homeopathy can be very
useful in getting to the root
cause of a problem. Homeopathy 
treats illness in a novel way.
Homeopathic doctors use 
substances that produce,
in a healthy person, symptoms
similar to the symptoms seen in the
illness. 

Homeopaths use serial dilution (which
involves shaking between each dilution)
to remove the toxic effects of the remedy. 
The underlying qualities of the substance
are retained by the diluent. The diluted
substance is usually indistinguishable
from pure water. 

Practitioners select treatments according
to observations they have of a patient
through consultations that explore both
the physical condition and any emotional
issues that may be associated with the
condition. 

Below is a link to a web site that
lists various conditions with nails
and suggests possible reasons why
such conditions might develop. 
The descriptions give you an idea of
how homeopathy can be helpful
in sorting through a health challenge
and finding a solution to it. Homeopathy
can be used to treat any condition.

http://www.hpathy.com/papersnew/traub-finger-nails-homeopathy.asp

Explore the Underlying Cause of the Problem

A second way of figuring out what your
body is telling you is to investigate what
might be the underlying (and unconscious)
reason for the problem.  

Louise Hay, author of You Can
Heal Your Life,
believes that
there are always underlying reasons
why a particular health problem 
presents itself.  She offers probable
reasons for a wide variety of ailments. 

In the case of problems with nails she 
writes that a probable cause is linked
to issues connected with protection.
The new thought pattern that she
suggests will help heal this problem is:

“I reach out safely.”

On a more general level, Louise Hay
says that problems with fingers are
related to issues associated
with the details of life. The healing
thought pattern is:

“I am peaceful with the details of life.”

If either of these possibilities resonate
with you, then you might want to
write one or both mantras on a piece of
paper and affix it to a place you
will see it everyday like your bathroom
mirror, refrigerator or front door.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery

© 2008 Parkinsons Recovery

Reflections from a Healer Whose Husband has Parkinson’s

Below are reflections written by a 
a woman whose husband has
Parkinson’s:      

“As the middle of July approaches
I am intensely aware that almost
1 year ago my husband was diagnosed
with Parkinson’s Disease.  I reflect
back on this deeply emotional year
and am actually surprised at some
of our learning and growth plus
the continuous challenges.  And
interestingly, I am also aware
of a new sense of joy and intimacy
in our relationship.” 

“But our year didn’t begin that way. 
I go to a school of healing.  One
that teaches that energy follows
thought and physical illness may
be a result of our beliefs.  Through
our physical illnesses we have an
opportunity to heal ourselves in
the areas of our lives where we
have previously been stuck or have
held unconscious negative thoughts
about ourselves and our lives.” 

“SO, I was very aware that in my
school the line of thought may be,
‘What is it your husband needs to
learn from having Parkinson’s?’ and
indeed a classmate did ask me that,
although in a very loving and concerned
way.” 

“I had read the book by Louise Hay,
‘You Can Heal Your Life’ where she
correlates probable causes of PD to
fear and an intense desire to control
everything and everyone. Another author,
Karol Truman, adds to this with
several more possibilities:
lack of inner communication, fear of
not being able to control and not
understanding a fear you have which
stops you from believing in what
you do and say.” 

“I gently asked my husband if any of
these feelings or beliefs resonated
for him but nothing did at the time. 
As an outside observer, I was wondering
about the possibility of the lack of
communication with his inner or real
self.”

“As the year unfolded, a big struggle
for my husband was what to say when
people talked to him about Parkinson’s
Disease.  Someone once said to him
very sincerely, ‘I’m sorry about your
diagnosis’ and my husband’s response
was to laugh.” 

“I discussed this with him and suggested
that laughing may have been a way not
to feel a deeper emotion.  We also
talked about how his response to illness
is an opportunity to teach others and
help them to connect with their own
vulnerabilities, insecurities and
feelings about illness.” 

“The other day we were invited to a
party and my husband was nervous that
Parkinson’s would be discussed.  We
decided to do some role playing to help
him come up with some responses.” 

“I said to him (as someone previously did
to me), ‘You know, people with Parkinson’s
don’t have the tremor when they sleep.’ 
He replied, ‘Oh, have you slept with
someone with Parkinson’s?’   I burst
out laughing. Yes, that would be a
good response to that.” 

“Then I asked him what his plans were
for the future now that he had Parkinson’s
and he burst out laughing.  ‘I’m sorry’,
he replied. ‘It’s just too serious a
question not to laugh.” 

“Then I got a little tougher.  I said,
‘I’m sorry about your diagnosis’ and
he very quietly and gently said, ‘I’m
sorry too.” 

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery

© 2008 Parkinsons Recovery