No thanks Bacchus. I am already there...

Bacchus was the Roman god of wine (Dionysus if you prefer Greek).

In a painting, Bacchus was depicted as having a staggering body almost teetering off the edge of a cliff. In other words folks, he was drunk as a skunk - causing him to be dizzy, clumsy, and out of control.

Guess what, today I achieved that state without having taken a drop of alcohol. The very definition of a person with parkinson's can include dizziness and a staggering gait.

I now know the uncertainty brought upon us by the duet of Bacchus and Dionysus, having been there and done that, without any stimulant.

My OCD kicked in about 4:30 AM and I achieved quite a good speed, using my trekking poles, when I went for my early morning walk. I "nordic walked" for only a little over a mile and during the last 5 minutes, I began to feel like I was going to fall over, forward. "Festination," I muttered out loud. I sat down on a stone wall to await a more normal feeling. I lingered only a moment. Home was but a few hundred yards away. I got up and began my trek. My poles were getting out of place and I was staggering but I managed to use my poles to prevent festination and I was successful in remaining upright, that is until I stood on my stoop and teetered head first into the door (my metaphorical Bacchus cliff). I didn't hit the ground but remained stiffly at an angle, with my head against the door for stability. With much cursing, I managed to get my key in the lock and open the door. I entered the house to find I was still in my parkinson's gait mode and headed awkwardly toward the sofa, where I sat for 10 minutes until the feeling passed. It happened yesterday morning but has not returned; perhaps because I spent the today in bed with a cold. I hope it was one of those fleeting symptoms that won't make another appearance for some time. No more vertigo for me please.

Festination is an alteration in gait pattern characterised by a quickening and shortening of normal strides. This phenomenon is most commonly observed in patients with Parkinson's, and is sometimes known as Parkinsonian gait. Festination can be disruptive for a patient and may interfere with the ability to work, exercise, and engage in daily activities. It is also a noticeable sign of Parkinson's which can attract unwanted attention."

This change in gait is the result of hypertonicity in the muscles, where there is too much tension in the muscles and the patient has trouble controlling them as a result. The patient will have difficulty initiating muscle movements, such as those needed to start walking, and it is also hard to slow down and stop. In a patient with a festinating gait pattern the gait can take a hopping or shuffling form and the patient has no control over it.