Energy/Sleeping

[Donzim]

. PLEASE, PLEASE...all of you get tested for sleep apnea. You don’t have to be overweight or snore. All it requires is a little finger monitor overnight at home and presto! Your sleep doc will know. DO NOT rely on some docs opinion...diagnosis requires a test. The effect can be enormous!!!!!

[condor39]

Having Parkinson’s does not make you immune from any other conditions.

[Donzim in reply to condor39]

Actually having any disease probably increases the likelihood of influencing any number of systems in the body. It’s called the ‘anchor effect’....one goes down and drags others with it.

[condor39 in reply to Donzim]

“Probably” is the right word

[movinngroovin1]

What are the symptoms?

[Donzim in reply to movinngroovin1]

There are two kinds: obstructive which is when one lays down to sleep, the nasal organs and tissue shift backwards to ‘obstruct’ free flow of air. The other is neurological when the brain signals which tell one to breathe are irregular. One can have either or both. Symptoms include cognitive deficits (forgetfulness, confusion), daytime sleepiness, sleeping lightly (easily disturbed), need to urinate frequently during night, snoring or NONE. I did not even know I had apnea until I went into the pulmonary docs office to re-up his oxygen tank. I saw the apnea chart with the fact that urinary frequency was a symptom. I was getting ready to go to a urinary specialist as I got up 3-4x to pee every night. One night with the finger monitor showed that I had 35 apnea’s (breathing stops) every hour....severe apnea. The first night on the machine and I slept all night and for an hour less. Woke up easily instead of groggy. When I asked how long I needed the machine, was told apnea stays forever. Remembered that PD husband had used machine years before but discarded it...never monitored or warned of the life long use. Got him tested...had obstructive and neural with huge numbers. Went on for rest of his life and was able to sleep peacefully for more than a few minutes at a time. I spoke with his cardio dr and chided him, saying that whenever a patient is told he has a disease, the next words should be, ‘now let’s see how you are breathing while you sleep’. He totally agreed and said specialists are just busy with their own expertise and don’t think to do it. Think about the effects of not getting sufficient oxygen for years.

[Pnyldy in reply to Donzim]

I have never heard of this finger monitor? Sounds great. What is it called? Going to ask my sleep doctor about it.

[Donzim in reply to Pnyldy]

How could a ‘sleep doctor’ not know of the most used diagnostic tool in the world of apnea? The finger monitor is used as the first level of diagnosis. On me it showed immediately that I had 35 apneas per hour...severe sleep apnea. On my husband , it picked up further information and he had to spend the night in a sleep lab where they monitored him with more elaborate equipment and discovered that he not only had obstructive apnea but neurological as well...something like 125 apneas per hour between the two types...stopping of breath every 30 seconds. He had a sleep problem for years but nobody even mentioned apnea until I complained that sometimes he looked like he wasn’t breathing when he was sleeping. I would put my hand on him to be sure and wake him up. Even then, once he was diagnosed and used a c pap, nobody told us it had to be used for life. He discarded it and we never knew until my recent experience. I immediately insisted on getting him tested again and the results were terrible. Between the two types of apneas, he could hardly sleep at all and no REM sleep. This had to have had a devastating effect on his PD, if for no other reason...the interruption of oxygen. I predict that one day, it will be malpractice not to have patients routinely tested for apnea. I highly recommend Sleep Interrupted by Steven Park, a short book on the subject (Amazon).

[daughter-Advocate in reply to Donzim]

So happy to see advocacy on sleep apnea!!! Do you mind sharing which machine you're using? Having a bit of a hard time choosing which one to "try", especially with the fact of getting up to pee 3-5x a night so need to have the tube/the process of removing the item from the face to be seamless.

[Hidden]

THANK YOU for sharing the in-home monitoring! I hadn't even considered testing, thinking it would involve sleeping in a lab somewhere...

[Xtandiuser]

I am asking this for a friend with PD. He is having very bad dreams causing him to thrash around in his sleep!

First of all, are BAD DREAMS common with PD?

And, do you think part of his problem might be Sleep Apnea? He just told me about his BAD DREAMS and THRASHING! Help, please! Thanks!

[Parkie- in reply to Xtandiuser]

Hello Xtandiuser

Yes, this is common in Parkinson’s Disease.

Here is a link and an extract that explain it well. I control mine very well with melatonin, a supplement you can buy without a prescription.

google.com/amp/s/healthblog...

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) — is a condition characterized by the acting out of dreams that are vivid, intense and violent. People have been known to yell or talk while asleep, carry on conversations or hit themselves or their bed partner. Even if physical damage does not occur, the condition can be frightening for the bed partner to witness.

REM (rapid eye movement) behavior disorder does not necessarily disrupt the quality or quantity of sleep itself. But it is potentially harmful because of the physical movements involved.

Why RBD occurs

Normally, the body is paralyzed during REM sleep, which is when dreams occur. In certain conditions, such as Parkinson’s, the “off” switch doesn’t work, so then a person might “act out” dreams without knowledge of doing so. Sleepwalking is almost never involved in RBD.

RBD can precede the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease by many years. In fact, the vast majority of people we see in RBD studies will develop Parkinsonism, or any condition that causes a combination of the movement abnormalities seen in Parkinson’s disease (such as tremor, slow movement, impaired speech or muscle stiffness), or conditions in which the brain is not functioning properly

[Xtandiuser in reply to Parkie-]

Thanks so much! I will pass this on to him!