My husband keeps a pretty set routine so when he says he doesn’t feel like participating in his exercise or PT, I know something is up. We understand that he sometimes has what are referred to as off or low energy days. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for them, they just randomly happen. When one of these hits, it is all he can do to get out of bed. He often recovers by mid-afternoon, occasionally they last the entire day. My challenge is to make sure he is okay while I continue with whatever I have planned for the day. It’s not always easy.

My emotions appear to be keyed into him. When he is off in any way, my anxiety levels go up. He is resting, recharging, and I am amping up from the stress of wondering what I can do to help him. I don’t like to see things going wrong for him without knowing why. The energy drop probably is caused by his Parkinson’s but what if it isn’t? Should I be doing something more? We actually did head out to the Emergency Room once and that turned into a bigger issue for us both. After several hours waiting, it was determined that his PD was to blame. It took him days to recover from the ER visit.

I have found that simply providing a good meal followed by a nice long nap can sometimes reset his body. In the meantime, I try to detach from my worries and move ahead with any chores or plans I have for the day. I don’t leave him alone when he’s feeling like this and may check on him a bit more. If he isn’t better on day two, I call his doctor or take him to urgent care. So far that has only happened once. They were able to determine that he had a mild viral infection and sent him home to rest. Most of the time he is able to acknowledge it as a low energy day and move on. It’s all just another part of our uncertain journey with PD.