Heatwave

Thursday 19 July 2018

Does Parkinson’s get worse when the weather is hot?

During the heatwave that the UK has experienced over the last month - the longest hot spell since 1976 according to a headline I saw - my local Parkinson’s WhatsApp group was abuzz with stories of aggravated movement symptoms. People complained of freezing and of cramps and general discomfort.

There was also the obligatory chatter about dietary supplements, from calcium to magnesium. Though with my own Scotch whisky fad, I am certainly in no position to be judgemental.

For myself, I have noticed a bit more tremor over the last couple of weeks. So perhaps hot weather does make it worse.

But the biggest issue is that I’m totally knackered. Sleeping has been a sweaty, restless affair, even with windows open, fan on and even an ice pack under the pillow.

For the first time I’ve started to experience another one of this strange condition’s myriad symptoms - daytime falling asleep.

Well actually, whilst at weekends I fall asleep like switching a light off when having my afternoon power nap, I have yet to fall asleep at my desk during the working week. But I’m getting perilously close. 

It normally happens after lunch. Not just a general feeling of tiredness but a rush of a powerful sleep potion that rises through my body to my head. A bit like the feeling of a general anaesthetic surging from the cannula, up the arm and into the brain. I frantically fidget and the feeling subsides for a minute or two, before I need to fight it off again. After perhaps half an hour, I start to perk up and just feel very tired. By early evening the sleep demon returns and I often crash out by 9pm.

In fact, I think I do microsleep at my desk occasionally - with eyes still open, I slip into la la land for just a couple of seconds - but surely it’s just a matter of time until I have a genuine snooze in front of my computer. That is certainly going to be an embarrassing episode when it finally happens.

As for the hot weather, mercifully it’s a little cooler today and I am able to function more normally.

But the forecast says the hot days are due to return next week. A long summer indeed for people with Parkinson’s...