Fatigue can be an unwelcome companion on the journey with Parkinson's disease; I know this all too well. I've navigated the treacherous waters of exhaustion and emerged with strategies that have kept me not just afloat, but actively pursuing the things I love. This episode of our podcast is a treasure trove of insights for those battling the multifaceted nature of fatigue, be it mental, physical, or emotional. I delve into personal experiences with sleep disturbances, pain, and mood disorders, shedding light on how these issues intertwine with and exacerbate the feeling of weariness. But it's not all about the challenges; it's also about the relief that comes from treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy and the energy-conserving techniques that I've woven into my daily life.
If you're feeling bogged down by the relentless nature of fatigue in Parkinson's, this episode offers a beacon of hope. I walk you through practical environmental management tips that have helped me reclaim my vitality. From decluttering your space to scheduling rest periods that optimize your energy throughout the day, these strategies are game-changers. We don't stop there, as regular exercise, nutrition, and hydration are all spotlighted for their critical roles in combating fatigue. Each suggestion is a stepping stone toward a more energetic and fulfilling life, and I'm here to guide you on how to implement them.
Learn practical strategies to conserve energy throughout the day and reclaim control of your life. We discuss:
Understanding the causes of fatigue in Parkinson's
Effective strategies for energy conservation
Tips for prioritizing tasks and pacing yourself
The importance of sleep, exercise, and stress management
Additional resources and support options
Finally, I extend an invitation to join the vibrant Parkinson's community, a collective of individuals who understand the nuances of your experience. By sharing success stories and connecting with others, we all grow stronger. Remember to swing by fanlist.com/Liveparkinsonslife for engaging discussions and visit liveparkinsonscom for enlightening blogs. My book, "Spectacular Life: Four Essential Strategies for Living with Parkinson's," awaits those eager to learn more. Together, let's embrace these strategies and tips, building a life with Parkinson's that's not just manageable, but spectacular.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Fatigue can be an unwelcome companion on the journey with Parkinson's disease; I know this all too well. I've navigated the treacherous waters of exhaustion and emerged with strategies that have kept me not just afloat, but actively pursuing the things I love. This episode of our podcast is a treasure trove of insights for those battling the multifaceted nature of fatigue, be it mental, physical, or emotional. I delve into personal experiences with sleep disturbances, pain, and mood disorders, shedding light on how these issues intertwine with and exacerbate the feeling of weariness. But it's not all about the challenges; it's also about the relief that comes from treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy and the energy-conserving techniques that I've woven into my daily life.
If you're feeling bogged down by the relentless nature of fatigue in Parkinson's, this episode offers a beacon of hope. I walk you through practical environmental management tips that have helped me reclaim my vitality. From decluttering your space to scheduling rest periods that optimize your energy throughout the day, these strategies are game-changers. We don't stop there, as regular exercise, nutrition, and hydration are all spotlighted for their critical roles in combating fatigue. Each suggestion is a stepping stone toward a more energetic and fulfilling life, and I'm here to guide you on how to implement them.
Learn practical strategies to conserve energy throughout the day and reclaim control of your life. We discuss:
Understanding the causes of fatigue in Parkinson's
Effective strategies for energy conservation
Tips for prioritizing tasks and pacing yourself
The importance of sleep, exercise, and stress management
Additional resources and support options
Finally, I extend an invitation to join the vibrant Parkinson's community, a collective of individuals who understand the nuances of your experience. By sharing success stories and connecting with others, we all grow stronger. Remember to swing by fanlist.com/Liveparkinsonslife for engaging discussions and visit liveparkinsonscom for enlightening blogs. My book, "Spectacular Life: Four Essential Strategies for Living with Parkinson's," awaits those eager to learn more. Together, let's embrace these strategies and tips, building a life with Parkinson's that's not just manageable, but spectacular.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Hello and welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life. I'm your host, chris Custombotter, and I've been living an exceptional life with Parkinson's for the past 14 years. The mission of this podcast is to help as many people as possible living with Parkinson's lead a great quality of life. Now today's topic is managing fatigue strategies for conserving energy throughout the day. Are you tired of being tired? I understand the struggle with fatigue in Parkinson's all too well, so join me as we explore practical tips and tricks to conserve energy and reclaim your day. Before we just dive right in, I want to dip our toes into the water first, so we know what we're getting into. So let's give you an overview on what we will be covering in this podcast. We'll start by providing a brief intro on how pervasive fatigue is in Parkinson's. That way you understand you're not alone in the struggle with fatigue. Then we'll move into understanding fatigue in Parkinson's. We'll discuss the different types of fatigue in Parkinson's. Wait, did I just say different types of fatigue? I sure did. So you'll be able to know and conquer this phobia by knowing which type or types affect you most often. Then we'll explore the potential causes of fatigue in Parkinson's, because knowing your competitor is half the battle to winning it, am I right Now? Once we have a good handle on the causes, we'll turn our attention to energy conservation strategies no, I'm not talking about home heating and cooling here, but specific strategies that you can use to beat fatigue. Finally, I'll provide some tips and tricks. Now. I'm not a magician, but I do have a number of great card tricks that I could do for you. These tips and tricks are going to help you to use and regain energy and take control of the day. These are things that I do myself to help keep fatigue at bay, so I can participate in activities and hobbies that I enjoy. So what we're going to be talking about are things that affect a large percent of the people with Parkinson's. These are things that I use myself on a daily basis to help keep fatigue at bay. So, if you're ready, and without further ado, let's help you overcome fatigue and help you regain your life.
Speaker 1:
How pervasive is fatigue in Parkinson's, and what exactly is fatigue? According to John Hopkins Medicine in the American Parkinson's Disease Association, fatigue is a feeling of extreme tiredness, whether mental or physical. However, unlike sleepiness, fatigue doesn't necessarily lead to sleep. It's that feeling where you get where I don't want to get up and do anything because I'm exhausted. It's not just feeling tired after doing physical activity. Fatigue can persist continuously. How pervasive is it? According to the American Parkinson's Disease Association, multiple studies in both Europe and the US showed that fatigue occurs in one third of people with Parkinson's, and they consider it the most single bothersome symptom, and even more than motor symptoms such as tremor, slowness and stiffness. In addition, about half of the people rate fatigue as one of their three most bothersome symptoms.
Speaker 1:
Fatigue causes people to struggle with their daily activities. So, for instance, you have difficulty concentrating, you may have decreased stamina or memory issues. Now let me give you some personal examples to see if you can relate. I wake up early every morning, around 3am. So when my wife and two boxer dogs are sleeping, I go upstairs and work on preparing for the next podcast or I write a script for a YouTube video. Then I sneak down to the basement and do some light weightlifting or some shadow boxing. Then, when my wife gets up, we go to the gym where I do a group fitness class or swim. Now remember how I said exercise is one of the key strategies for maintaining a great quality of life. Okay, you can see that I incorporate exercise every day into my daily routine. Then, after I get done at the gym, I do some errands around town or at home and then I take care of my two boxer dogs.
Speaker 1:
Most days by 2 o'clock in the afternoon, between 2 and 4, I would say I'm exhausted, not sleepy, but I'm just exhausted and don't feel like doing much of anything. And I'll think to myself why don't you go read a book? Great idea. Until I realize that I'm exhausted and can't concentrate and I find myself reading the same page four times or I try to remember what I read. Or I might say to myself why don't you go practice a guitar or go tie some flies for fly fishing? Again I say to myself, great idea. Until reality steps in and I say, nah, I'm just exhausted. I really don't feel like playing guitar or tying flies right now. I think I'll just sit here and watch some YouTube videos. Then late afternoon and evening roll around, I'm exhausted and don't feel like doing anything. Now does this sound familiar? Not to worry, you're going to learn some strategies to help fatigue be put on the back burner. So it's important to learn conservation strategies, maintain activity and well being.
Speaker 1:
So let's take a look at the different types of fatigue in Parkinson's. And you're probably stating yourself wait, there's more than one type of fatigue. Yes, in fact, we will be discussing three types of fatigue you may experience. Geez, aren't we lucky. The three types of fatigue are mental, physical and emotional. So let's talk about each one in a little more detail.
Speaker 1:
Physical fatigue is characterized by a profound sense of tiredness or weariness that affects your body. It's just not the wow, I'm tired at the end of a long day. Physical fatigue is not like sleepiness either. You don't feel like, well, I'm yawning, I really need to go sleep. Go get some sleep to get refreshed. Physical fatigue persists even when you don't necessarily feel like sleeping. It can often worsen during your off periods, when your medication may be wearing off and you're noticing your motor symptoms being more pronounced. According to the Parkinson's Foundation, physical fatigue is common in the early course of the disease, but it can also occur at any time, regardless of whether movement symptoms are mild or severe.
Speaker 1:
Now, when I personally experienced physical fatigue, I felt so exhausted I found it difficult to get out of the chair or to do any physical activity or chores around the house. I equate it to when you have the flu and you're sick and you're laying there in bed and you're feeling after two or three days. You feel like you're beginning to recover, but yet still trying to do anything requiring any physical movement or activity is a chore. That's what physical fatigue reminds me of. Now, mental fatigue is the second type of fatigue, and that's the feeling of being mentally tired, making it difficult to concentrate. You may have heard the old saying my brain's fried. Well, that would be the saying I would use to express the times I've had mental fatigue.
Speaker 1:
I've often experienced mental fatigue and it's often happens when I've tried to read a book and I'll do one of two things I'll either drop the book that I'm trying to read because I lose my focus and maybe like not offer just a second, and or I will end up picking up the book and start to read and, just like I said before, I'm reading the same page over and over again and not remembering what I'm reading. Another time that I've experienced mental fatigue is when I'm practicing guitar and I have the pick in my hand and I'm looking at the song book, at the chords, and all of a sudden I notice the pick is on the ground and I think to myself how did the pick get on the ground? Oh, I'm so mentally fatigued that I lost my concentration and just dropped it. I often get frustrated because I love to read, but I very rarely read books anymore, just because I don't have the concentration of focus that I used to have. So a lot of times friends will say, oh, you should read this book, and I'd like to, but I have very difficult time reading a whole book anymore, which bothers me because that's one of the things that I really like to do. Besides being difficult, mental fatigue can also be as frustrating as physical fatigue, at least for me.
Speaker 1:
And then, finally, emotional fatigue is the third type in Parkinson's, and it refers to the feeling of exhaustion that is closely tied to both your emotional and your psychological aspects of living with Parkinson's. Emotional fatigue is often associated with motor symptoms, and they often occur alongside each other, especially with tremors, stiffness and slowness of movement, and there are several factors that can contribute to emotional fatigue. These include depression. Emotional fatigue can be associated with depression, which is common in Parkinson's patients, and I'll talk about depression a little bit later on in the podcast. Sleep disorders, poor sleep quality can contribute to emotional fatigue. If you think about when you're extremely tired because you're not sleeping, it's very difficult and you a lot of times with emotional fatigue. You may get angry, you may get sad, you may get depressed just because you're not getting enough sleep. It can also lead to muscle stress. The physical strain of muscle rigidity and movement difficulties can lead to emotional fatigue. So how does it impact a person's daily life? Well, I'm glad you asked. Emotional fatigue can affect all aspects of your life, including your mood. Feeling emotionally drained can make up mood issues, like I just mentioned anger, sadness, depression. It makes all those things worse. Motivation may cause you to lose motivation to participate in activities that you enjoy. And then, finally, social isolation. Fatigue can lead to withdrawal from social interaction. Now, these three types of fatigue can have a huge impact on your quality of life. We also discussed strategies to help overcome all three of these types of fatigues that we just talked about.
Speaker 1:
Let's turn our attention now to potential causes of fatigue in Parkinson's. Why do we feel fatigue throughout the day? We might start out the day with a lot of energy, but we get to the afternoon and, next thing, you know, our energy's crashed and we don't feel like doing anything. Well, the first reason could be medication side effects. Parkinson's medications primarily aim to boost dopamine production in the brain, which we're all most of us are aware of. However, the level of the drugs can vary. Now, if the dosage is too low, you may experience low dopamine state. That can lead to fatigue. Some medications for treating Parkinson's motor symptoms may contribute to fatigue or make you feel sleepy, so adjusting the doses of these medications may help alleviate the problem. For example, I take a dopamine agonist, and they're known for causing sleepiness and tiredness. Some people with Parkinson's, after taking dopaminergic medications for a while, may also experience dyskinesias, which are the fidgety and voluntary movements that we all see or experience, and dyskinesias and tremors can cause fatigue. So it's important to discuss with your doctor any fatigue you may experience to help determine if medication needs to be adjusted. That might be one of the options to help you overcome your fatigue.
Speaker 1:
The second potential cause of fatigue in Parkinson's is sleep disturbances. Now, this one's a big one for me as well as for many of you. Sleep disturbances can range from sleep fragmentation, where you sleep, you wake up, you sleep, you wake up and you repeat this multiple times throughout the night. Excessive daytime sleepiness, where you have the feeling of being especially tired or drowsy during the day, even after getting a good night's sleep Restless leg syndrome as well. There's another whole host of sleep disturbances, including sleep apnea, that can cause fatigue in Parkinson's. So if you want to learn more about sleep disturbances, listen to my podcast Parkinson's and the Sleep Spectrum Demystifying the Ten Disruptions in Unlocking a Restful Night's Sleep. In that podcast, I talk about a lot of these different sleep disorders that are going to keep you awake at night and lead to fatigue throughout the next day. I must have been the lucky winner because a lot of these in the sleep disturbance contest, because I have many of the ones I talked about Sleep fragmentation, restless leg, sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness so I guess I have actually been lucky and won the prize. I don't know what that is, but I guess it's insomnia and feeling tired the next day. Don't let sleep disturbances ruin your quality of life. On a serious note, as I was referred to a sleep specialist to help me address some of my sleep disturbances and I would highly recommend that you ask your physician to help you recommend a sleep specialist to help address any sleep disturbances that are keeping you up at night. The sleep specialist I saw was excellent and I can personally attest to the help she provided and helping me get a better night's sleep, so don't be afraid to ask for additional care these specialists can provide.
Speaker 1:
The third potential cause of fatigue in Parkinson's is pain and discomfort, and according to the article Pain in Parkinson's by the Parkinson's Foundation, chronic pain is twice as common in people with PD as it is in the people without. They further state that 80% of people with PD report experiencing pain and many say it's their most troubling non-motor symptom. So if you experience pain, realize you're not alone. There are some different types of pain you may experience, along with their prevalence, and we'll look at the prevalence in the overall PD population. The first type of pain you may experience is musculoskeletal pain and according to the Parkinson's Foundation, up to 75% of people have musculoskeletal pain, and this includes discomfort in the muscles, bones and the skeleton, and this type of pain I personally experience. The article references frozen shoulder or rotator cuff problems. This is actually a current problem that I'm having. I've been having a lot of shoulder pain and problems and I went and have been working with physical therapy and I'm going to see a shoulder specialist. Musculoskeletal pain is a pain that's very common and you can get help by asking your healthcare professional for assistance, whether it be through medications, seeing a specialist or going to physical therapy.
Speaker 1:
Dystonia pain Some people with Parkinson's get dystonia, which is pain from muscle spasms or cramps. I tend to get these in the arch of my feet and they can be very painful, and these type of pain occurs in about 50% of Parkinson's patients. And then another type is the neuropathic pain, which occurs when the nerve is either crushed or inflamed, and this occurs in about 5% to 30% of people with PD. So as an example of neuropathic pain, sciatica would be a common example that many people have. So please don't suffer with pain and silence. Your doctor can help you alleviate your pain. If they're not aware of it, they're not going to be able to help you. So if you're experiencing any pain, please make your doctor aware and they can help you.
Speaker 1:
Number four on the list of potential causes of depression and anxiety According to the Parkinson's Foundation that at least 50% of the people with PD will experience some form of depression during their Parkinson's journey and up to 40% will experience anxiety disorders. So let's define each one to get a better understanding of what each of these conditions means. Now, depression is unlike general sadness, in the extent that depression can last for weeks or longer. Some people can be depressed for months at a time, and it's going to have a significant impact on a person's quality of life. A lot of times, depression, if un-goes-untreated, can lead to social isolation, which has such a detrimental effect on people's quality of lives.
Speaker 1:
Anxiety, on the other hand, can manifest as excessive worry, fear or apprehension. Maybe you're afraid to go out shopping, or I'm afraid to drive, or I don't like to get on the highway. Excessive worry could be you're just worried about what's going to happen throughout the day, or you're worried about who's going to take care of you or how you're going to be able to function if you're having motor symptoms or if you fall. Those are the types of excessive worry and, again, they too can have a detrimental impact on a person's quality of life. Now, just to be open and honest, I used to personally suffer from panic attacks, but I was successfully able to use cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, and meditation to help overcome the problem. So if you experience depression or anxiety, please tell your healthcare professional. They can help you, address the issue and ensure that you're leading a great quality of life.
Speaker 1:
There's nothing to be ashamed of with either depression or anxiety. Most people have them. It's a lot of times we look at, we project our inner feelings on someone else and think, wow, how can they be so steady all the time and don't worry about anything? Well, that's not necessarily true. So just realize that there's a large majority of people that suffer from anxiety and depression. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. So please, if you're experiencing this, please consult your doctor.
Speaker 1:
Now that we understand the fatigue and what some of the potential causes are, let's look at some energy conservation strategies that you can use to help keep fatigue at bay, so you can continue to participate in a lot of the activities that you enjoy and just doing the daily activities around the house. The first is prioritization and pacing. Well, that sounds great, chris, but what does that mean? Well, essentially, it's focusing on the most important or critical task and then breaking them down into smaller, more manageable steps. Just like the old saying, you can't eat a whale in one bite. You have to eat it in small, bite-sized pieces. You're going to want to do the same thing with a lot of the tasks or activities that you do. You want to break them down into more manageable steps where you can focus on little things at a time.
Speaker 1:
So you can use things like to-do lists and start by listing. Typically, what I do is start by listing the most important things at the top and then taking those important things and breaking them down into manageable pieces, and then I go in decreasing order of importance so that the things that aren't very important are on the bottom. One of the key things to remember that this is just a list to help you keep and stay organized. So do what you can and don't worry about the things that you didn't get done. Again, it's simply a list, so if you didn't get something done, don't worry and then start causing a lot of anxiety. Just move the task to the next day and work on it the next day. That's going to save you a lot of energy and grief. Rather than trying to kill yourself trying to complete your to-do list. You're defeating the purpose because you're working so hard to get everything done on the to-do list that you're sapping your energy and you don't have the energy then later in the day to do the things that you want to do or need to do because you use it all up in the morning. So remember a to-do list is simply that these are things that you want to do. Break them down into smaller, bite-sized pieces, but don't worry that I didn't get something done.
Speaker 1:
Another thing you can do is to use timers to stay organized. So what you can do is set a time commitment for each thing on your to-do list. So, for instance, task number one, you might say I need to do some dusting around the house. You might put a 15-minute time limit on it. You set a timer. At the end of 15 minutes you're done. Whatever you didn't get done, you can move to the next day. That way you're able to conserve energy, and you can do that with anything.
Speaker 1:
Take your to-do list and just I do this with guitar practice as well. I say I'm going to spend five minutes on warm-up, five minutes on scales, five minutes on alternate picking, five minutes on playing songs they already know, and then 15 minutes or 20 minutes on learning a new song or new songs. So I'll set a timer and then, when the five minutes are up, I move to the next section, whether I feel like I'm completely done or not. Now I do a podcast, a YouTube, and I work on the website, so I can myself get personally overwhelmed and tired. So I started I just happened to be over the weekend here. I started using a project management tool called ClickUp and it's a. They offer a free personal version and it's helped me track the to-do list, the status and some other things, and it helps me from getting overwhelmed so I can look at it on a chart or on a calendar. So I know, oh, I've got to prepare for this podcast or I've got to shoot this video or I've got to write a new blog for the website. So it's helped keep me on task. So any type of tool that you can use to help you stay on task, and if you set timers, it's going to help you conserve your energy.
Speaker 1:
The second strategy you can use is planning and scheduling. Plan your activities according to when you have the most energy. Now, for example, I'm a morning person. I'm usually brain dead later in the afternoon, so I schedule all the activities requiring a lot of energy and pep in the morning, when I'm most energetic and alert. This is usually when I exercise, when I run errands or do housework, and that's when I try to schedule my appointments as well. This saves me a lot more time for more sedentary activities in the afternoon, like playing guitar, reading, tying flies, those type of things. So by scheduling your activities when you're the most active, you should definitely see a decrease in fatigue and an increase in energy. So that's definitely going to help you focus and conserve energy by doing more sedentary activities when you have the least amount of energy.
Speaker 1:
The third strategy is delegating and asking for help. Ooh, this is a good one, especially for all the type A personalities. Now, raise your hand how many of you don't like to delegate because you think no one else can do it as well as you can, or they won't do it the way you like it? I think we all may be a little goady of this one. The other one, asking for help, is on the other side of the coin, and this is one that I have trouble with personally, for two reasons. The main reason is because I just don't like to bother people, because I feel like I'm taking up someone else's time, and secondly, a lot of times I just want to prove myself I can still do it. One of the things that a lot of times, parkinson's takes away from people is the feeling that they have to give things up, and I like to challenge myself. Now there are things that I can't do, that I used to do even pushing myself, but things that I still feel like I can do. I like to challenge myself, so I don't necessarily like to ask for help, but by not asking for help sometimes I'm using a lot more energy than I need to expand, which causes fatigue either later that day or it carries over into the next day. So please don't be afraid to ask, to delegate or ask for help. Your friends and your family, even your coworkers, are all willing to help when you need it. Now I know, since I started to ask for help and delegate some of the tasks, I saw a dramatic improvements at my energy level, and I know you'll see dramatic increases in your energy level as well.
Speaker 1:
Number four in our strategy conservation effort is managing your environment. You may have heard of Feng Shui, which is a traditional Chinese practice of arranging spaces and objects so that they're in harmony with the flow of energy. Feng Shui aims to create positive Qi that can improve health, relationships, prosperity and luck. Now, whether you want to practice Feng Shui or not, it's just helpful to adapt to your environment to help you minimize energy expenditure. So you can use things like comfortable seating, you can organize things that you use frequently so you know exactly where they are. So you don't have to spend a lot of time house hunting to find where you put something, where you're using up a lot of energy, where you're going up and down the steps multiple times trying to remember where you put something. If you can keep it all together, it's going to help you conserve your energy. And then minimizing clutter is another great way to help you from expending too much energy as well. So the more clutter you have, the more issues you have with walking around things or picking up things to get to the items that you need, and then therefore, that's going to expend some energy. So by decreasing clutter, you're also decreasing the amount of energy you expend.
Speaker 1:
Number five incorporating rest periods. It's important to schedule regular rest periods throughout the day, even if they're short little breaks to prevent becoming overly fatigued. I always say you want to channel your inner child and don't be afraid to take a 20 to 30 minute power nap to recharge your batteries and they're going to give you some added energy and you're going to feel great for the rest of the day. Now, I admit I like to use these when I'm really tired, and they do make a world of difference just that 20 to 30 minute power nap. Number six is sleep hygiene. This simply means setting things up to give you a great quality of sleep. Now it can range from keeping your room cool and dark to using a white noise machine to minimize noises that may wake you up, reducing the amount of liquid you drink before bed so you're not getting up to use the restroom two and three times during the night. And cutting out screen time and stopping using the computer or watching TV or being on your phone at least an hour before bedtime. So all these things are going to help you sleep better, which in turn, is going to give you more energy the next day, and the more energy you have, the less fatigue you're going to have.
Speaker 1:
And then, finally, number seven, your favorite of mine is exercise. We, as I talked about before, exercise is very important for all of us with Parkinson's because it's one of the things that's going to keep us moving. It's going to help improve our strength and our balance and our flexibility. So don't be afraid to exercise, because regular exercise is going to help boost your energy because it helps release those feel good neurotransmitters which are going to give you the extra energy that you need throughout the day. Even low impact exercise can help improve your energy levels and help you with your overall well-being. So what are you waiting for? Lace up those sneakers and go, grab a friend and go for a walk. That's going to give you a little bit of boost of energy.
Speaker 1:
Before we move into our final segment, I just wanted to share with you an exciting offer from audiblecom, and I'm sure many of you like to read or listen to audio books. Well, in case you're not familiar with audiblecom, they're your one-stop resource for all of your audio entertainment needs. Audible has thousands of titles of audio books and podcasts, as well as audible originals from celebrities and noted experts. Audible is offering a free audio book if you sign up for their free 30-day trial. If, at the end of the free 30-day trial, you decide you don't want to become a member of the audible community, you can still keep the free audio book. Now, two of the books that are on audiblecom that I highly recommend and that I've read are Lucky man by Michael J Fox and Parkinson's Treatment Ten Secrets to Happier Life by Dr Michael Oaken. Now there's no obligation to purchase a membership to take advantage of your free audio book and free 30-day trial. Visit audiblecom slash exceptional life and I'll put that in the podcast description. But it's audiblecom slash exceptional life. Now for full disclosure, and I believe in honesty and integrity. If you sign up for the free 30-day trial and the free audio book, I receive a small commission from Audible which I use to help support my podcast and the website. So if you decided to try the free trial offer and the free audio book, I thank you for supporting this podcast. Remember, it's a personal decision and you decided this offer is right for you.
Speaker 1:
Now let's look at some of the additional tips and resources you can use to help you stave off fatigue. The first is nutrition. Eating a balanced, healthy diet can provide all the essential macronutrients, which are proteins, fats and carbohydrates, and the macronutrients your vitamins and minerals for energy production. So you have those available, for if you eat a healthy diet, they're going to help produce a lot of energy for your body, which, in turn, is going to give you the energy you need to go out and do the things that you like to do so. When I'm talking about nutrition, this includes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats like avocados and olive oil. You want to try to limit your sugar intake. All these things are going to help keep you energized and ready to tackle the day, because they provide all the essential vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antioxidants, as well as fiber, that your body needs.
Speaker 1:
Number two is hydration Drink, drink, drink some more water that is Now. Staying hydrated throughout the day is going to improve your energy level. So fill up that water bottle three to five times a day and don't be bashful about it. Drink up and try to make sure that you carry water with you all the time. It's definitely going to help with your energy and because when you become dehydrated, you lose energy and you become fatigued. So by staying hydrated, it's definitely going to help you with helping to stave off fatigue. And then, finally, tip number three is stress management, and that's using relaxation techniques like meditation or deep breathing to reduce stress, to help you conserve energy. Now, there are a lot of benefits, so if you haven't tried meditation, you should give it a try. It's going to help you to stay hydrated. It's going to help you to stay hydrated, and then there's a great learning. A lot of us it's something new, but you do feel great at the end of a meditation session, especially when you're listening to someone or walk you through a meditation process or a deep breathing exercise. So if you haven't tried it, that is going to give you some energy and it's going to help to stave off fatigue as well.
Speaker 1:
Millions navigate the challenges of fatigue with Parkinson's, and there are effective strategies to help you reclaim your energy and live a fulfilling life. Now here are some of the key takeaways from today's podcast. It was important to understand the different types of fatigue and their potential causes, so that can empower you to go find targeted solutions to the particular type of fatigue that you experience most often. Prioritizing tasks, pacing yourself and delegating when possible are crucial for energy conservation. So make sure you prioritize the task, but don't beat yourself up if you don't get something done. Move it to the next day. Creating a sleep routine, managing stress and incorporating regular exercise that's right. Regular exercise can significantly improve your energy levels. Now don't hesitate to seek support from healthcare professionals, therapists or support groups who can offer you some personalized guidance.
Speaker 1:
Alright, now it's your turn to take some action. Start by implementing one or two strategies discussed today and see how they impact your energy levels, share your experiences and connect with others online in either community or support groups. Together we can learn and empower each other. And, if you haven't already, visit the Parkinson's Foundation website for additional resources and support on fatigue. They've got some great information on there. Now remember managing fatigue is an ongoing journey, but with the right strategies and support, you can experience greater vitality and live life to the fullest.
Speaker 1:
Now I would personally love to hear from you, and one of the ways you can do that is please visit fanlistcom, live Parkinson's life, and you can leave me a comment. You can share success stories and there's also a community page on there where you can go on and just share your success stories and I hop on there and hopefully others will hop on there and we'll start a great Parkinson's community. So as we close today, I ask that you will visit my website and I put some new blogs there as well. It's liveparkinsonscom, and if any of you are interested in getting my book on the four strategies for living with Parkinson's, it's available on Amazon. It's called Spectacular Life Four essential strategies for living with Parkinson's my journey to happiness. I want to thank everybody for listening to this podcast and being part of the audience and I hope to see you on future podcast and you have an exceptional day, thanks.