Parkinson sufferer looking insomnia cure

[MgtMc]

I was diagnosed with Parkinsons about 3 years ago … I am currently on no medication but for the last few months I have been suffering from chronic insomnia and now it’s so bad I only get about 1 hour of rest per night … I am looking for advice on any medication people found helpful or any tips that helped with sleep, I have done all the usual things avoiding caffeine, having a cool room, melatonin tablets and a regular bedtime but nothing works. The consultant gave me a prescription for sinemet and ropinirole, don’t know if anyone has any experience of these drugs …. Hopefully someone out there can help… thanks guys

[Binday]

my sleep was very bad, so I eventually went to see my GP she prescribed Mitrazapine, which for sleep you take half or quarter of a tablet 15mg (its the lowest that is available) its been a lifesaver for me!

Also, maybe its time to start some low dose parkinsons meds?

Good luck!

[Hope-full1970]

At night I take Lithium orotate 5 mg and 5- Htp and I think it works well. Traditional medicinals makes Nighty night tea. That works great!

My husband used Tryptophan and it worked great for him.

I hope you find something that works!

[Deforel_Ch in reply to Hope-full1970]

I take 200mg of 5htp (started with 100mg) at dinner and 500mg of tryptophan at bedtime and it works well for me.

[38yroldmale]

Red light therapy has fixed my sleep issues. I use the coronet from Well Red from Australia. I use the nasal attachment as well. I also have a sauna that helps a ton!

[Jojaku123 in reply to 38yroldmale]

how much time each day do you need to use the red light device? Just wondering what the time commitment is…

[38yroldmale in reply to Jojaku123]

24 min 2 times a day. The unit turns itself off

[EllCee]

There are several threads about glycine on this forum. It's cheap, its safety profile seems decent and it works for me taking 1,000mg at bedtime and another capsule if I wake up in the night. Partner with PD wants to try it too but he just started Azilect and doesn't want to introduce too many subatances at once. I would stay away from high doses of glycine over 3 grams per day since there aren't a lot of studies on that level of dosing.

[Bear1927]

Have you tried magnesium citrate/powder? Most of people are deficient in magnesium. What about your diet? Try glass of plain keffir 1 hour before bed or a plate of chicken broth. Diffuse the air with Frankinsence oil and have a hot tub with lots of magnesium flakes. Sauna, steam room and massage - you'll sleep like a baby

[Karmaone in reply to Bear1927]

I recently cut all supplements and my sleep suffered. I reintroduced magnesium glycinate 300mg, before bed, and I'm back to sleeping through the night. I have to set an alarm because I've been sleeping so deeply.

[LAJ12345]

too much levodopa caused insomnia for my husband as it made him very agitated at night. He takes 1.25x 0.5mg clonazapam cut into quarters spread over the day with 2 pieces before bed. That and melatonin knocks him out.

He also reduces his amount of levodopa in the evenings and has them further apart .

He tried zopiclone for a while but it made him very agitated and restless at night and suicidal, and constipated so that had to go.

[Dotconnectr]

Broccoli seed tea resolved that issue ( plus several others ) for me. Contact the research group to get connected to a BST club:

resolveparkinsons.org/contact

[SylvesterB]

My husband takes GABA in evening w yogurt and it has really helped his insomnia

[Lovemycat5871 in reply to SylvesterB]

GABA the supplement? Can you share what brand and dose you take?

[Jefferami]

I've always been a bad sleeper but got tangibly worse the day i started taking rotigotine. My Prof doc said minimum dose of melatonin is 5mg and up to 12mg is okay. How much are you taking? I find cbd oil helps me relax at night so with 6mg of melatonin for me most nights are OK now. Oh and I reduced from 8 to 6mg of rotigotine which helped too.

[Jojaku123 in reply to Jefferami]

do you take liquid melatonin?

[Jefferami in reply to Jojaku123]

Nope. Tablets slow release that my GP doc prescribes.

[Jojaku123 in reply to Jefferami]

Oh wow! You can’t even get them over the counter?

[Jefferami in reply to Jojaku123]

Sadly no. Not in the uk

[jocelyng]

Sinemet and Ropinirole are PD meds and don’t help sleep as far as I know. insomnia is the characteristic of Parkinson’s, unfortunately. I wish I had something constructive to offer.

[Parkinsunny]

i started carbadopa levadooa six months ago and it was life changing! Also Mirtazapine at night. I too had suffered from insomnia but sleep great now!

[Megafone]

Hi, my insomnia started about 10 years before my diagnosis. My GP prescribed trazodone one pill per night. Now, 18 years later, I am allowed up to two per night. It works well, although I have to take the second pill in halves when I wake up in the middle of the night. I hate being dependent on a pharmaceutical to sleep, and one day I may not need it, but I’m sure glad that I have it. If I don’t take the first pill when I go to bed, I just don’t fall asleep. I lie awake the whole night.

[pdpatient]

MgtMc perhaps these articles might help give additional perspective.

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/296...

[rebtar]

I think starting PD meds could help. Worth trying.

The book "Effortless Sleep Method" is helpful for me (reading it now). I've done CBT for insomnia, it works, this book has a slightly different focus, sleep hygiene yes, but also the real key being your mind. In a nut shell, you need to shift your thoughts, beliefs, and not focus on wanting to sleep.

The more desperate you get, the less likely you are to sleep.

Also, sleep hygiene emphasizes a regular get up time, and going to bed only when you're sleepy.

I know how awful a stretch of very little sleep can be. Been there, many times.

[PetroaMichaels]

I was in the same situation 18 months ago -- I was only sleeping an hour per evening and going crazy!

For the year previous to that, I resisted taking levodopa medication. The nighttime restless leg syndrome, tremors, and anxiety at all times was getting more and more intense.

Finally, in desperation, I started taking it --- and was able to sleep much better.

Peter in Toronto

[pdbuzzboard]

We have been working this issue (my WWP and I) for a while now with some success. She takes 20mg of Melatonin right before bed. She also takes zzzquil Ultra (Doxylamine Succinate) and Chamomile tea. These helped, but didn't really get us home. We added (about two months ago), a Pulsed ElectroMagnetic Field (PEMF) mat running at 3hz to help her stay asleep once she gets asleep. We also added a magnet on her wrist (eastern medicine). The combination of the mat and the magnetic have had a substantive impact on her sleep quality and quantity (we keep a sleep diary)

[TL500]

I saw this mentioned about high dose DHA helped with sleeping too:

healthunlocked.com/cure-par...

[quiz0019]

I take 250 mg magnesium citrate, 10 mg melatonin and Zenium. Zenium is available on amazon and contains Ashwangandha, 5 HTP, L-theanine, Rhodiola Rosea, GABA and lemon balm. I think I've tried most everything. The addition of Zenium, I believe, was key for me. I should add I'm 7-8 years post diagnosis and am on no meds.

[quiz0019 in reply to quiz0019]

I just realized I forgot to add that Zenium also includes 150 mg magnesium and vitamin d3

[TL500]

I have just received this information, hope it helps:youtu.be/mRBG1jjXEJ4?si=gH-...(Not working as expected?)

[Righteousness]

Hi sleepless, I spoke with a girl, older woman from America on the Michael J fox buddy network and she told me that magnesium helps to overcome this in her husband I think it was, he has parkinsons