There is a song from the 60’s that keeps going through my head:  “It’s a Turn Down Day ” by The Cyrkle.   I have no idea what a Turn Down day is, but the lyrics I keep hearing are “its a Meltdown Day…….”  

Last Tuesday I flew to Chicago to visit my daughter and her family.  We had a wonderful couple of days together.  On Friday I left to fly to Florida to go to meetings for the next few days.   Getting through the airport security was easy.    We boarded on time and we were ready to go when the pilot announced that the wings needed to be de-iced, so we would leave in about 20 minutes.   Due to a series of delays, we sat on the Tarmac for over 2 hours before we finally took off.    Since I am used to traveling alone, I was fine.  I met friends for dinner at someone’s home,  2 hours late, but that was ok.  I stayed with a friend, relaxed on Saturday and then headed out to the hotel for my meetings.

But, sometimes I forget that I have PD because my meds work so well,  so I didn’t see the warning signs.   I got to the hotel Saturday night for a dinner meeting and then started at 8 am the next morning with meetings all day.  By the time I went out to dinner, I didn’t know what hit me.   As my husband says, I was “melting”.  Because of the time changes, my timing on my meds was off and I just fell apart.   Outwardly I was fine, but it was the internal “tremors” that did me in.  It’s that feeling that you just can’t get comfortable and you just want to jump out of your skin.  If my friends noticed anything, they were kind enough not to say anything.    Eventually my next dose of sinimet kicked in and I recovered from the meltdown.

It seems that there is a pattern when I travel.    I am usually fine the first few days, no matter what the time difference.   Usually there is a day where I just fall apart physically because I have pushed myself too hard.   Those are the PD days where I should probably just stay in bed with a good book and a cup of tea.   It’s hard to do when you have a full schedule for the day.   When I am at home, my days are never as busy as when I am traveling, and I have a regular routine so I usually don’t experience the total meltdown.

Maybe I will learn to move at a slower pace at some point.  As long as I feel good, the temptation to keep on moving  at what was once my normal pace is hard to resist.  So, for now, I will just have to keep watching for the warning signs and learn when to take the much needed break.