AE Freezing while using Essential Graphics Panel

Windows 11Pro 10.0.22000 Build 22000

AE 2023.5

I'm experiencing very long-duration pausing/freezing when I use the EG panel.

Cause: I add a parameter to the panel. Then change anything and try to select another item in the panel. AE becomes unresponsive (as seen in task manager) for between 15 seconds and 3 minutes. I observed that sometimes if I click in the comp and then back to the EG panel it won't freeze, but this is not consistent. As my project has grown the delays have increased. Unfortunately, I'm accessing much of the same source materials and even precomps across mogrts.

I wonder if this is related to the menu issue. I am creating a package of mogrts and I figure this is costing me about 120 minutes a day.