Help need sleep advice

[Joy_gitt]

my dad 81 with PD for 18 yrs sleeps restlessly

His nuro had him on colazapan but made him groggy during the day

So I moved him to melatonin he takes between 5-10 mg

He can sleep a lot goes to bed at 9pm doesn’t get up till 10-12 but my mom says he moans and has to get up to go to bathroom etc

Most days it’s like he didn’t sleep at all

He wakes up exhausted and foggy brained takes him 1/2 The day of napping to get back to normal

I’ve tried adding magnesium the capsules and. Spray still hit or miss on his sleep

I’d love any other suggestions this really affects his quality of life

ty my amazing PD family! ❤️

[Dabaa]

Ensure the Mag is L-threonate, take one hour before bed. Invest in a sleep mask to black out light, ensure he's away from emf sources; viz, bedside lamp, phone, any gadgets on stand-by switch off, (invest in an emf meter to measure radiation fields) avoid blue light an hour before bed (install f.lux app on any laptops/computers), massage mastoid process 30+ times immediately before putting head on pillow (ensure pillow is neither too hard/soft, shallow/deep), do not lie east-west but north/south, listen to natural white noise eg. crashing waves (app: A soft murmur). Hope this helps.

[Joy_gitt in reply to Dabaa]

great info ty you so much for taking the time to share it with me 🫶🏼

[Dabaa in reply to Joy_gitt]

My pleasure. Thank you for expressing your gratitude.

[Gallowglass]

is he active during the day? Seeing people? Involved in exercise and projects? I sleep better when I am active. Also stop all caffiene and alcohol for 3,weeks. If things are better Dutch that junk forever.

[Joy_gitt in reply to Gallowglass]

yes to all! the active part - going out get in his exercises is determined by his exhaustion levels on bad sleep days he can barely walk talk eat or keep his eyes open so it’s not even a possibility also his cognitive thinking is very affected but on good days we keep him very active with rest in between

[JohnPepper]

Dabaa. I know he is 81 and I am 88 . Has he tried FAST WALKING Yet? If not, it is never too late to start. His brain will start rejuvinating and he will get the strength to get faster and faster. If you need to know more then come back to me!

[Joy_gitt in reply to JohnPepper]

he lives to walk but has to use a walker for the las few years do to falling from balance issues and feet sticking but he exercises any day he physically can stationary bike walks pt etc and YES any advice info on fast walking and how to get him safely do that would be amazing (he is naturally a fast walker so I think it would be a great fit for him!! Ty you so very much ❤️

[JohnPepper in reply to Joy_gitt]

Tell him that when he concentrates on his movements they all work PROPERLY!

[JohnPepper]

You may not be aware that NO MEDICATION HAS YET BEEN FOUND TO REVERSE THE SYMPTOMS OF PD. HOWEVER, THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN ALL DO ABOUT IT!!!!!

WE CAN START DOING FAST WALKING.!!

You may all think that there is no way he can sytart dioing fast walking. I HAVE BEEN THERE AND I STARTED WITH PD LONG BEFORE 1992, WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED.

I started to walk very slowly, every SECOND SAY!

, for as long as I could. Afte about 10 minutes I could go no futher. That was in 1994, when I just stopped taking the Sinemet and slowly built up ny time by an aditional 5 minutes every second week. When I got to one hour I never added any more time but i contined to walk faster and faster until I was doing 9 kilometres per hour, in my 63rd year. I am now 88 and have no symptoms of PD and still walk every second day.

I have also got prostate cancer and have had my genitals removed. I also had atrial fibrilation, which was followed by a 5.5 hour oheart operation. After that I soon started my walking again, wight from the beginning and soon got back to one hour everyu second day. I am now 88 and have all sorts of other health problems, on and off, but still do my walking at 88 yeras old.

If I can do that som can others!

[Joy_gitt in reply to JohnPepper]

that is AMAZING what a inspiring testimony I will start this with my dad right away will keep u posted ty ty ty ❤️

[pdpatient in reply to JohnPepper]

I'm constantly amazed by your optimism. I am in my 50's and find it difficult to walk.

What is the reason for your attitude 👍? How are you so Motivated at 88?

[JohnPepper in reply to pdpatient]

Good results always keep people motivated. When you decide to do exercise and you concentrate on what you are doing, the worldd becomes a better place!

[MarionP]

The antihistamine Benadryl often helps, and so does melatonin... And you can use both at the same time.

[Joy_gitt in reply to MarionP]

ty so much 💕

[Toogood in reply to MarionP]

how much do you take of each and how often..Ty..

[Joy_gitt in reply to Toogood]

he takes between 5-10mg melatonin & 300-400mg of magnesium nightly at bedtime

[MarionP in reply to MarionP]

I didn't mention doses because everybody is individual and needs to discover their own dose.

If you start with the antihistamine you can start with the lowest dose, 25 mg, common but not strong, or the usual typical dose which is 50 mg. So I would do that first. 75 is no harm either. Benadryl (diphenhydramine the brand is more expensive but generics tend to be a bit weaker, if you don't mind paying a little bit more you can't go wrong with the generic.. of course you can always add more generic and then you get the benefit without the extra cost).

Then over time I would begin to experiment with the melatonin. Again, melatonin does not interfere with diphenhydramine or does Benadryl interfere with melatonin. Melatonin is your naturally produced substance that your brain needs but only produces enough of during childhood, you can take quite a bit of that because you need it anyway. And you should start studying what melatonin is. It has many positive and necessary functions and on top of that is what your body produces when it is time for you to go to sleep ( and it is your brains version of a natural sleep preparation aid). But is it is many more things besides and interferes with virtually no supplements or medications. The supplement industry produces many versions, doses, rate of onset, durations, and that wide variety means that you are going to take a long time to find what's the right amount anyway, which is why you go with diphenhydramine the antihistamine first and use that's Benadryl as your main starter because he needs to get reliably and safely asleep ASAP.

I sometimes use Benadryl to go to sleep, my spouse often uses Benadryl to get to sleep either for an app or for bedtime... as a great many people do. I mostly use it myself to stop my chronic skin itching, I have had either allergies or in general chronic "atopic skin" since I was very young and Benadryl tends to work perfectly... It also wears off after about 3-4 hours which I prefer rather than the kind that lasts 10 hours because I want to preserve the choice of having a short time before it wears off since I can always take some more.

Benadryl (generic name is diphenhydramine) will give him a bit of a dry mouth, that's a normal antihistamine side effect.

[chartist]

L Theanine will be slightly additive to the melatonin at 200 mg/night an hour before bedtime.

Art

[Joy_gitt in reply to chartist]

ty so much will do that right away see if it helps him ❤️

[Gcf51]

B1 pretty well eliminated my sleep problems. I recommend Dap1948 's book and her Facebook Group.

amazon.com/gp/product/B09TZ...

facebook.com/groups/parkins...

[Joy_gitt in reply to Gcf51]

I have it and we are doing the shots for about 3 months now our struggle is he is super sensitive and overstimulates even though he isn’t on the dose he needs so we have to go very slowly in raising him

He is up to the equivalent of 720mg now I see a lot of small improvements and hoping and praying for me as we move along let pray sleep is one of those improving symptoms

I need to visit her site more thank you for the reminder

Maybe I could find tips on how to better support safely raising him and avoiding overstimulation

ty so much ❤️

[Rujack]

Try gabapeptin (will need a prescription) for sleep.