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Extreme Insomnia Due to Inability to Lie Still at Night
Parkinson's Disease | Last Active: May 31 4:54pm | Replies (28)Comment receiving replies
@vi30295, Yes- fortunately for us it worked. I’m sorry I don’t remember the final dosage on the Trazodon ( he was a big guy-not overweight). We did 5 milligrams of melatonin about 30 minutes to an hour after dinner, then I would encourage him to do a little task (sort something, fold something, anything that did not stress him out-sometimes it was watching a bit of a National Geographic video on nature, or listening to a cd of old time songs from his era). Then when I could tell he was getting a little tired of that I would give him his trazodon and a little treat, then off we would go to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.
We started doing this routine every night when he first started showing signs that sundowners was upon us. I knew if I let him get upset or stressed, the meds would not help and we would be in for a bad night (or more). It was a long journey. I felt so bad for him-he had been a vibrant outdoorsman. And I felt both relieved and guilty when he lost control of his legs, and I didn’t have to worry about him wandering outside anymore. Even then we kept the routine and I always left something on his bed to entertain or distract him.
I am so sorry for all who are in this situation. I hope you can find a resolution.
Replies to "@vi30295, Yes- fortunately for us it worked. I’m sorry I don’t remember the final dosage on..."
@janna2
hi janna2,
wonderful advice. so glad he was willing to go along with what you had him to do. i can't get my husband to do what i want him to do. so far, no sundowner's, however, i have to go to bed early and i know he stays up late and then sleeps a lot during the day. thing is: your schedule is perfect. now, my husband is in a lot of pain, so he takes tramadol. which only takes the edge off of his pain. sleep is hard for him to get and i would love to try the melatonin and trazadone. which might help him get better sleep but i really don't know that. he was suppose to go to the neurologist, but, has now cancelled 2x's. sorry for the long rant, but, i had to tell you how wonderful you are handling your situation. i say prayers for all the mayo sufferers.
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Another issue we are struggling with is: Its very hard to discern whether my dad's behavior is a side effect of the medication or just chronic sleep deprivation building up. Like, we tried the rivastigmine patch for a few days but his mobility started suffering greatly so we discontinued. But in hindsight, was that the patch or was it just the chronic sleep deprivation? If you see your father struggling and wondering whether its a drug side effect, its very hard to keep giving him that drug with that thought in the back of your mind. But on the flip side, are we not doing him any good by not just powering through and giving him the drug no matter what to see if it might possibly have a benefit? Feel like we are stuck in a very difficult place right now. My mom is also very skeptical about loading my dad up on a lot of meds so as soon as she suspects a possible adverse reaction, she takes him right off the medicine. But like I said, that leaves me wondering whether we are even giving the drug a fair chance. Frustrating and sad at the same time.