Hi, If you are a non tremor dominant pd patient having sleep issues, kindly help. I am currently having sleepless nights. My sleeping aid like Mirtazapine, clonazepam and Melatonin does not work for me anymore. I started with 15mg mirtazapine, 3mg melatonin and half 0.5mg clonazepam, which worked for roughly 7 to 8 months. I increased to 9mg melatonin, 30mg mirtazapine and half and a quarter of 0.5mg clonazepam which worked for only one month.
My main problem is falling asleep and staying asleep. The best I have ever got to sleep post pd diagnosis 5 plus years ago is 5hours unbroken sleep. I don't want to be hooked on too many antidepressants or anxiolytics for sleeping. So please help.
I was told at the ER last night by a doctor on call that, it is usually the parkinson's medication, that causes insomnia mostly. He however gave a new prescription for an antidepressant Trazodone. He also wants my MDS reduce/adjust my Rytary.
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This video interview with Dr. Matthew Walker might be helpful, youtu.be/bEbtf7uS6P8
It is chaptered, but the whole thing is interesting (but long). Towards the end he talks about sleep medicines, alcohol, and marijuana and how they affect REM sleep. I learned a lot that I wish I'd known sooner!
Mirtazapine is supposedly only helpful for falling asleep when you take it at the lower dose 7.5. I too struggle with sleep. What I find helps the most is taking the melatonin high dose of good quality melatonin an hour before I want to fall asleep. I have a REM sleep disorder which high doses of melatonin 20mg are supposed to help. My doctor said to use REMfresh as other over the counter melatonin supplements most often don’t contain wha they say on the package. And my CBT therapist says not to go to bed until you are sleepy. Listening to a podcast with one airbud in the side you are not sleeping on if a side or stomach sleeper. I found a few that I found very effective “Get Sleepy” Thomas and most of the male narrator are the best. I do not like Abbe or Elizabeth “Nothing Much Happens” on Podcasts but other places too. They are free for one new episode a week and for 8.99 a month for 2-3 a week. Insight timer is also free and they offer a lot. I think it is a marketing tool for yoga, meditation professionals. The best thing to do is save or like episodes you searched for using the heart button. Watch out for the playlist because they will keep going to the end or you stop them. Yoga Nidra for Sleep and Rest by The StillPoint, Yoga Nigra for Sleep by Jennifer Pierce, MBSR Body Scan by Dave Potter Palouse Mindfulness. I use the podcasts mediations if I wake up in the middle of the night. They work pretty well for falling asleep sometime i will do a yoga one followed by a Get. Sleepy story. I take alprazolam and have been on 7.5 Mirtazapine for a month but haven’t found it helpful for sleep yet. I am taking it because I have developed anxiety when in off periods while taking Rytary. Anyone else develop anxiety at off times. I never seemed too get the benefit from this drug. I am on 36.5/145mg and 5 times a day and it does not last more than three hours at most and 3/5 times it doesn’t work so I have to supplement it with Sinemet. Anyone else have this issue. I do not have a tremor and my MDS my said the next thing is DBS as the subcutaneous device is not yet approved by the FDA and is not available yet nor is the better extended release. I would love to talk with others who have had DBS for non-tremor motor symptoms and whether the subthalamic nucleus or the globes paladins was targeted. Should I instead be looking at the Duopa pump?
Yes, I know the feeling O! My neuro prescribed magnesium citrate and melatonin initially. Then, after a couple of weeks then prescribed 50mg of trazadone at bedtime. After taking trazadone for a month with minimal effect my neuro changed to mirtazapine which I think has been a more effective sleep aid. At about the same time, however, I also thought I would try a gummi at bedtime as well so it difficult to tell which is the most helpful. Although I am now getting about 5-6 hrs of sleep per night (rather than one or two) it still takes me two hours or so to get to sleep each night.
Other things that also help me is getting a sufficient amount of exercise each day. And, also trying to limit sugar intake after 6pm.
Mannitol really helped. Pre diagnosis sleep was awful. After mannitol it improved a lot. Not like all the time but overall much better.I'm sure exercise is another factor. I wasn't exercising as much pre diagnosis.
Where are you based,I also took mitrazapine, but your body get used to them,I take three 300 mg of gabapetine at night supposed to be for restless legs, but they help me sleep,I'm in Scotland
Very sorry to hear of sleep issues ... years ago, I had protracted and severe insomnia (got to a point where I had not more than 3 hours of fragmented sleep a night, could not nap during day, and got close to the point of collapse). Not diagnosed with PD, family has PD.
What thankfully helped me recover at the time:
Best friend gave me a Dream Hivox, an electric acupressure wristband. I had to keep turning it back on a number of times until it relaxed me enough. Natural way to relax nerves ... helped me get off drugs, which affected my memory ever since.
Red reishi (listed as #1 herb in Chinese pharmacopeia, excellent adaptogen ... deepens sleep, calms nervous system, such that even if I had little sleep, I could recover/function much better).
These three things combined were indispensable to me at the time in replacing drugs.
If your mind is racing, then there is the "military method of sleep" (can google it).
Nowadays, I take red reishi at times and magnesium bisglycinate when I need extra help relaxing. Wear sleep mask, and go sit or lie right by window where sunlight is brightest upon awaking. Perhaps you can also look into "sleep efficiency" and "sleep restriction." All the best.
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