Recently I have had more and more disturbed sleep - waking up sweating around 3:30 - 4:00 am. I end up opening the window to let in the cold air, and throwing the blankets on the floor. One morning I got up and checked my temerature because I was sure I was coming down with a flu bug. My body temperature was my normal 97.4 F. The room temperature according to the thermostat, was exactly what it was when I went to bed and was cold.

Waking up because my sheet is up around my chin and the blanket is wrapped around my feet. I must've been running or doing a lot of walking in my sleep and other body movements to end up with this tangle.

Really intense dreams that wake me up in a panic (nightmares) usually about bugs - lots of roaches (gross), ants, ticks, and black beetles. Sometimes they're about really bad thunderstorms and tornados.

Really vivid dreams that I wish I could sleep longer to see. These are so vivid that I not only remember the details, but they involve exotic food that I can smell and taste, musical instruments that I can play and hear, and other things that I won't mention in public.

Dyskinesias when my Sinemet wears off. My legs and arms jerk around so bad that I sometimes sleep on my arms so I don't hit myself in the eye. I did that once and had to explain to everyone why I had a black eye.

All in all between the sweating, bladder wake-up, dystonia, and sometimes the dyskinesias, I may be lucky to gather around 3-1/2 to 4 hours of zzzz's lately.

John

Hi John,

Have you recently had a change in your drugs? Just about any change in your drug regimen could cause the symptoms you describe. If you haven't, I would make an appointment with a psychologitist to see if they can give you something for anxiety or depression. Going very long on the sleep you are getting, you are bound to get one or the other.

Vicky

Hi John,
Both of these responses come from the Parkinson Disease Foundation - Ask an Expert.

Question 4098 - The Expert's Answer

Q: (09/22/02) I perform morning care for a 75 yr. old gentlemen with Parkinson's. He has recently developed serious night sweats that cannot be attributed to anything. The doctor suggested that it was probably a function of the Parkinson's and/or the meds for same. Is there any literature on night sweats as it relates to Parkinson's?? Thanks. (T. H.).

A: Frequently, people with PD have symptoms indicative of dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. It is this system that deals with the "routine" function of the body such as sweating, maintenance of blood pressure and pulse rate, urination and the smooth functioning of the GI tract.
Excessive or abnormal sweating can be an embarrassing feature of automonic failure. Sweating of different body parts or excessive sweating at inappropriate times (such as during a northern winter) can be a side effect of using too much levodopa or bromocriptine. By decreasing the dosages of these medications, or by increasing the amount of carbidopa in proportion to levodopa, the sweating can often be partially or completely relieved. In some patients severe, drenching sweats occur when their medication is least effective. These sweating reactions probably reflect autonomic dysfunction involving temperature control They may improve when the antiparkinson medications take effect. In severe cases, the addition of a medication such as propranolol (Inderal) may be helpful (note: propranolol can lower blood pressure and therefore may not be indicated for a patient who also experiences hypotensive problems.)


Question 13737 - The Expert's Answer

Q: (12/25/04) I have had Parkinson's for five years, and about six months ago I began to experience vivid dreams. This has progressed to a nightly affair so much so that I don't want to go to bed. Could my medication or the disease be causing this? (E. B.).

A: Vivid dreams are a typical side effect of excessive levels of dopaminergic stimulation (as produced by most medications for PD) in the brain. An adjustment in the evening or nighttime dose of antiparkinson medications can lessen or eliminate this concern. When the evening dose produces a noticeable motor benefit (e.g., preventing the discomfort of rigidity or tremor during the night, which can make sleep less restful, or even wake the person up in the middle of the night), it may not be desirable to reduce the nighttime dose. In this case, another option is to take a medication to prevent the nightmares. Medications such as quetiapine and clozapine can be very effective in this regard.


Hope this helps,

GregD

Yes, I also often waken in the middle of the night, soaked in perspiration. My answer is I have to get up and put a tracksuit on, and sleep on top of the bedclothes until morning.
Greg, your amswers are useful
Ron

Many thank you's to everyone for their input on this. Greg, many more thank you's for the information.

I've done some thinking about when this occurs, and I've come to the conclusion it happens when I am off. By the time the sweats start happening, I've been off the Sinemet for about 5 hours from the time I took my final dose. This also about the same time that the dystonia and stiffness start to kick in as well.

The vivid dreams are pretty interesting, and I've noticed too that they seem to occur at the beginning of the sleep cycle when the dopamine is still at its peak. The problem is, as you know, that once it starts to wear off the other symptoms start like the stiffness, dystonia, and sweats. So basically I'm caught in between a rock and the hard place so to speak. I see my neuro next month so I'll add this to my "list" of concerns to present her at my next appointment.

Ron, this sounds way too familiar.

John

This describes my sleeping behavior perfectly. My MDS prescribed Clonazepam for me.

http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic524.htm