I was wondering if any, or many of you experience this. I talked to the doctor about it thinking it was Parkinsons, and he said no way, that is was just part of his "condition"
When dh gets up, about half the time his legs will seem "stuck", and he has to work to get them going. Then he walks in these tiny little steps until he gets moving, and things get back to normal.I am glad others have seen this too, so they don 't think I am crazy.
Of course he walks real slow now, I took him shopping the other day, I try to be patient but he takes 10 minutes just to put his shoes back on, and walks sooooo slow, and just follows me. He used to love to shop, poor guy.
The signals aren't getting from the brain to the legs in a timely manner. Processing is slower. Have you noticed that it takes him much longer to understand what you are saying and much longer to respond? That's the slow brain processing. Same thing with the physical.
thanks Joan funny I wish the doctor could have explained it as simply as you did. And yes to your question, in fact , when I question him he gets a nervous look like it is going to be something bad. Or that it is a strain to try to understand.
How I wish I could just get into his head for a few moments, to see how it feels.
Coco, it's interesting. I just came on and did a search for "parkinsons" to see if anyone had experience with parkinson's-like symptoms and you had posted the same question just a few minutes ago. The tiny shuffle and takes a while to tell his feet to move--walks stooped over with arms hanging. Yes, Joan, I realize that it is a loss of connections between the brain and the feet, but I was wondering if there is any med that will help.
I guess it must be pretty common. When I mentioned Parkinsons to the doctor he told me no way, that it would be obvious if that was it.
It is so sad to see it, usually in the morning. Some days more than others. Odd how some days they seem more alert yes?
When he tries to get his legs going , one will go and the other one will be in a different position. It takes him a bit to straighten them out.
He has a bit of hand shaking too, which he never had before. And, when I look in his eyes, there is not the same guy as before. Oh how we miss them, I even miss the occasional fight we used to have, at least he was "on" then, and once in a while right. (smile)
Coco you hit it there. The eyes - that's where I know for sure he is gone. The guy I've known all my life almost has left and this other person now lives in his skin. Heartbreaking.
Coco, a slow, shuffling gait was the very first symptom of my husband's dementia. Because of that it took years and years for us to finally get a diagnosis. His gait problems began in at least 1999. He is now stage 6/7 and lives in a care facility and is confined to a wheelchair, unable even to use a walker. Parkinsons has been ruled out numerous times. The best explanation given to me was by a neuro specializing in movement disorders. He said the part of his brain that allowed him to walk was "gone", having been destroyed by the AD/VaD.