Last night I had a nighmare and I awoke to find my husband grabbing my arm because I nearly hit him. I was, apparently, thrashing both arms in the air. Does anyone ele have this? I am on sinemet, 13 tabs daily in divided doses and was diagnosed in DEC 2015.
Sheila
Might be time for separate beds.
My neurologist told me one of his patients broke her husbands jaw thrashing around at night. It's because whatever stops us from moving in our dreams dries up and we start to act them out. You need to be careful that you don't hurt yourself and can't wander off etc. Best discuss with your neuro - maybe there are some meds?
Agree you must tell your neurologist at next visit. Meanwhile might be a good idea to speak to your Parkinson Nurse about it. (You seem to be taking a lot of Sinemet).
I also think it seems a lot of medication given dx was a year ago. What is the total in mgs?
You're describing R.E.M. Sleep behavior disorder, rather common among PwPs. Mine is well controlled with .5 mg of Clonazapam. Scary though. Diagnosis is with a sleep study.
Hi Sheila. Wow, that's a whopping dose of Sinemet -- especially given your diagnosis was made so recently. What you describe is very common for PwP. For the past few weeks, I have been taking .5 mg of clonazepan nightly and voila -- no more acting out in my sleep.
I too have been diagnosed with REM Sleep Disoder which is described. Mine is controlled with 10 mg Melatonin as prescribed by my Neurologist.
BillDavid
Yes I have the same problem and also take sinemet. I actually fell out of bed one night I also shout very loudly.
Hi my husband has parkinson and he waves his arms in his sleep just the same and shouts ,he graded me once in his sleep so we had to go into single beds just so I can get some sleep.
This is so worrying when it first happens. Jax did the same and I used to gently wake her to find she remembered nothing of the episode!
I agree with the other comments that Clonazepam did the trick.
If you want to look at a questionnaire to judge if you are likely to have REM then look at bit.ly/REMQuestionnaire
Jax scored 10 - a count of 5 or above "Yes" confirms REM
Clonazepam reduces considerably the incidence of REM particularly early in the night but still expect the odd right hook overnight - but maybe that's just Jax using it as an excuse to beat me up and say she knows nothing about it in the morning!
I had dreams like this years before I was on meds and I still do have them
When my husband first went on carbidopa, levodopa he use to thrash until his body got use to it. One night he slugged me good. From that night on I've slept with my back to him as once in a great while he will have a dream and throw an arm out.. Now he mostly yells out so loud he could wake the dead or he starts roaring with laughter! I keep asking him what the dream was about as it must have been a good one but he never remembers. A friend of mine had the problem of thrashing so badly she had to sleep in another bed.
Wow! that's a lot of sinemet. Never heard of so many pills in one day.
yes my husband does this every night.
Also cursing, punching, lunging out of bed all while on colozapam. Yelling and scares the sleeping dog to,death!
Our small dog also sleeps at the foot of our bed, She seems to sense when I am having a violent dream and often awakens my wife. I find that, for me at least, the dream can be remembered if you "play it over" in your mind before going back to sleep.
Yes I have trouble with this. Rem Sleep disorder. In the past I have thrown my self out of bed. Hit the side unit and ended up with stitches in my face and a damaged shoulder. I now have a high density mat beside my bed to cushion any other adventures during the night, I now use 0.5 mg of Clonazapam which controls my dreaming. Definitely ask your doctor for this as it works well.
I too have strange dreams, but I am single so I don't have to worry about hitting a husband!
Hang in there! It doesn't happen every night for me
5-HTP helps me sleep soundly and I am less prone to vivid dreams. It is an inexpensive supplement might be worth a try.
Many thanks, all. I'll keep your suggestions in mind. It hasn't happened agaain - so far...
Did your external tremors 'start' as internal tremors?
Did PD start on your right side or left side? 
New guy with PD -- How effective is your meds at controlling tremors?
Atypical Parkinson’s Posture and Gait
