Connect
← Return to Extreme Insomnia Due to Inability to Lie Still at Night
Discussion
Extreme Insomnia Due to Inability to Lie Still at Night
Parkinson's Disease | Last Active: Sep 11 11:14am | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
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.
Replies to "Another issue we are struggling with is: Its very hard to discern whether my dad's behavior..."
My husband has Parkinsonism/Parkinson’s with dementia. It is common with this diagnosis to have a day and night reversal. It’s a struggle to returning to a more normal circadian rhythm. He ended up in a geriatric dementia unit for a couple of weeks and they were able to stabilize him. He takes olanzapine at night, 7.5 mg and 15mg of Natrol extended release melatonin. As we age, melatonin is less available in the body so supplements often help. I mention the brand because I’ve personally experimented with various brands and this is the most effective that I’ve used. It also helps if you can have daylight in your eyes first thing in the morning and perhaps some time in the sun during the day.
He also takes sertraline in the morning. That helps stay up.
I had a really hard time needing to be up at night with my husband and then taking care of him and the household all day.
He still gets up a couple of times a night to go to the bathroom but not twenty times like it was before.
I hope you all get some relief soon.❤️
Connect
@ vi30295, HUGS!!! Oh man been there done that. Ran around in circles trying to figure it out. In the end I decided to slow down and give the meds a little more time, as it appears that a lot of these drugs need at least 2-3 weeks of regular use to take affect. When I personally started on the carbidopa/levadopa I thought it wasn’t going to help me, and then 2 weeks in I realized it was helping. The brain is a fascinating organ. For my dad and his brother (one diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the other with Alzheimer’s), their journey’s were different but similar. But at a certain point both passed through the sundowners and agitation phase. For my dad he became kind of fixated on me. As long as he could see me he would calm down. Quite a surprise considering how contentious our interactions were earlier in my life. 🤣 we were both stubborn😂.