I've developed an odd problem...
 

In the last two-three months I have developed what for me is an odd problem.

When I sit down at the computer, or to read or any one of a number of other activities that requires me to think, I sudenly get very tired and drop off to sleep. I am jarred awake when I start to fall off the chair or start to fall over...even sitting on the floor. The problem is particulaly acute when I am dyskinetic. Or when I stop to reread what I have written in a post or my journal. I'm changing meds right now and trying to find a timetable that works well for me. If I do take a break I often fall into a deep dream sleep for 10-15 minutes. then I'm fine for a few hours. I'm increasing my mirapex....is this a side effect? People that bore me have this effect also.
Your thoughts? please keep it simple and in your own words -your own experience. I'm still recovering from the sinemet cr post from a couple days ago. Gotta go get my power nap in now.

Not sure if this will answer your question, but...
 

Hi, Rosebud...I wasn't able to determine whether or not you have already started the Mirapex and this "nodding off" had begun before or after taking Mirapex. I will just tell you, though, that while my pwp was taking the Mirapex, she experienced exactly what you said you have experienced....but, in all other respects, she felt really well while taking this medication...definitely alleviated...actually, eliminted her tremor...BUT, she had to stop taking Mirapex due to her developing OCD which is a side effect of this medication for some. She is now taking another medication along with the Sinemet, and this other medication (Parlodel) is in the same "family" of medications as Mirapex..very similar...but, she's taking it at a lower dose than the Mirapex. Although this medication seems to be helping with the tremor..as did the Mirapex...she definitely is experiencing the same kind of "sleep attacks" as you mentioned you are experiencing especially the sudden falling asleep experiences which is of prime concern as related to her driving....although, she has assured me that she is not experiencing the "sleepiness" when she drives. However, since it has been noted that Mirapex can cause sudden sleepiness..without warning...and since the Parlodel is a similar medication, there is some concern that she could fall asleep suddenly while driving because she certainly falls asleep very suddenly and without any warning when she is at home...I'm not certain that any of what I've said is of any value to you, but I felt that there was some similarity in what you are experiencing and what my pwp is also experiencing. I guess I just felt that I wanted to "warn" you about the Mirapex...especially if you have not already started it. If this is the case, then, it seems quite possible..even probable...that taking the Mirapex might only enhance the problem.

Take care, Rosebud...
Therese

Hi Rosebud,
I believe what your experiencing is a side effect of Mirapex. Back when I first was dx'ed I was started on Requip. All I wanted to do was sleep. We changed to Mirapex and had the same results except now I kept falling asleep at work. Not good. As soon as I quit these two drugs the sleepiness problems went away. This was my reason for starting on Sinemet.

GregD

Thanks guys
 

Ive been on Mirapex for the last 4-5 years, but at a lower dose. WE are upping it to see if we can avoid increasing my sinemet, and to make up for the benefits of going off Remeron when it started to show it's dark side My OC behaviour seems to be in the buying of shoes! I recently bought a pair of shoes I liked in three colors Pink, green and Natural. I wanted the blue pair too, but I knew that was over the top. :(

Definitely the Mirapex. I would nod off while playing euchre on Playsite. My partner and opponents would patiently wait until I came to. Made for some pretty long games I tell ya.

mirapex
 

Paula

Sorry.......I think it is the Mirapex as well. I do okay after I take it if I am very busy and active, but if I am just working on the computer or doing paperwork.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. :Zzzz: :Zzzz:

Mary

What do you do about it?
 

Today i took 2 nap breaks and that helped. Sort of like putting some knobs on the control buttons. Does anyone take Mirapex at bedtime or in the middle of the night?

dearest rosebud
 

dear rosebud,
you may have low blood pressure -eat (sea salt) on your food
I do have some what low blood pressure - but it was worse while I was on mirapex...horrid drug
sorry about the post - but I was a pharmacy tech...
peace to your heart

Mirapex and sleep attacks
 

When I first started using Requip in 1998 with a maximum dose of 15mg/day I had similiar slep attacks which were quite disturbing to say the least. After about 3 years they disappeared. Following a proposal from my Neuro I am now gradually swithcing over to Mirapex hoping that it will be more effective against tremor. When I had those sleep attacks I tried to fight them by taking frequent naps during the day or by listening to radio playing loudly or when possible by singing loudly and being as dynamic as possible during periods when I wanted to avoid these attacks. These are practical measures which worked for me. I hope they may help you. Please keep us posted. Since you have been on Mirapex for a long time may I ask you what is your daily dose and have you had any eye problems or nausea as side effects of Mirapex. Thanks.

You could ask your doctor about a med called Provogil? (I think that's what it's called.) It's supposed to counter the sleep issues of the agonists. Maybe worth looking in to?

falling assleeeeppppppzzzzzz
 

It's not exactly an attack, I just slowly drop off to sleep...like when your in a room without enough oxygen. I have been on .5, 3-4 X daily just increased to 6 and now to 8 in the next three months. I get to play with it a bit to see what works. Also I've been sleep deprived since giving up Remeron (Mirtazipine) which were causing the really bad tremor and hyperthermic melt downs out of nowhere. I now have a sleeping pill, a med I used to take so I think I know what to expect there. Anyway, I'm going to sleep tonight and should be able to think tomorrow. Yes I did have vision issues with the Mirapex, I get double vision if I'm too tired or dyskinetic. Doesn't happen often. I did notice a bit of upset stomach the first few days after I increased but that has eased up now. I will do the old log and diary thing for the next while and that will be things I will note. THis drug business is a pain in the butt. But the alternative is worse. Yes my tremor has improved since I upped my Mirapex. Hard to say how much of it was a Mirtazapine problem. I'll report in tomorrow.

Todd mentioned Provigil
 

Not too long ago an excellent psychiatrist who knows that I have a PD Dx mentioned Provigil as a way for PWP to deal with the "napping" tendencies also experienced by many of us not on DA agonists. Someone may have already mentioned that it is recommended for treating narcolepsy, a separate neurological disorder causing severe sleep attacks.

Add another drug?:(

Robert

If you look at your situation long enough
 

you can always add another drug. I am looking around and think I would rather go the other direction -nutrition and supplements.It makes sense to me that if we give the body the nutrients it was intended to have in as natural an enviornment as we can provide we should run a little smoother. Just theory of course.

Yet another favorite topic
 

Yes, have had these attacks for some time. They started while I was on Requip and Amantadine, but have continued unabated after changing both of those. I don't drive any distance now, and when I do it is with someone that can tell me to pull over if I start to get that eyes-glazed-over look. You would think that a healthy sense of self-preservation would do the same thing, but I think it goes to sleep before the rest of me does.

I get quite a kick out of looking at something I wrote the day before and see a long line of vzcx,.dfdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd in the middle of the page. A couple of emails got out that way without my noticing it until later. I just hope my correspondents believe that it is the internet doing something weird, which I think we are all willing to believe, anyway.

I do every once in a while drop off while talking with an employee - quite literally, while I am talking. They claim not to have noticed anything, but I can tell when I've been asleep because the thread of my statements has been hauled out the window and let fly on the breeze.

I'm taking Ambien now, and it works well, except that I tend to fall asleep sitting bolt upright on the sofa, and don't move a muscle until 6:00 AM or so.

Kris,
Have you been checked for Narcolepsy? "I do every once in a while drop off while talking with an employee". This is one of the classic indications of Narcolepsy.

Also check out this thread. http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=21440

GregD

Kris:
 

Yes the name of sudden drop offs is narcolepsy and you sure sound like a candidate. Of course the side line issue here is that all this sleep disorder stuff is a sign of aging, not just PD. We tend to view everything through the prism of PD and it's true that everything is connected and if you get a hangnail on your big toe someone, somewhere can connect it to your brain, particularly your lack of dopamine or your defunct dendrites or whatever.

I just had an idea for a fun thread ...mental exercise...:D

Oh my oh my....shoes.
 

SHOES...
I've kept telling myself that I need shoes, lots of shoes, because my toes hurt. I was so sure that I had no obsessive behavior at all from Requip, but when you mentioned shoes, Rosebud, I realised that i'm addicted to shopping for shoes - just the right ones - lots of just the right ones. Fortunately for my budget I don't buy all the shoes I'd like to have, and fortunately shoes can be returned.
But I am hooked, I loooove shoes.

I also have sleep blips - with half second vivid dreams, so I wake up and have to stop myself from saying strange out-of-context things that have to do with the dreams. It's sometimes very funny.

a note about shoes...
 

Birte...you are not alone. And you don't have to be on drugs to be shoe obsessive. I have been to some degree all my life, and the men in our lives all think it's just their wives etc that are shoe obsessed. I used to work for a company that sold closet organizer systems and I'd go to peoples homes and if the husband was there he'd always say "my wife has a thing for shoes"...and I'd have to tell him that on an average, most women had between 35 - 70 pairs of shoes. Men do not wear colored shoes, and do not need different heel heights etc. Then of course there are those special shoes that "go" with a certain outfit. I attribute my fixation with shoes to having to wear OXFORDS the first 12 years of my life! My choices were brown or black! I've been making up for it for the last 45 years. I leave them all over the house too which is inconsistant with how I do things otherwise. I'm generally pretty tidy.

You took the words right out of my mouth!
 

Birte-

Your mention of having to pause and get your bearings before speaking after one of these sleep blips ("slips"?) is exactly how I describe my own situation.

If it happens when I am trying to answer a question by a junior engineer, I'll end up muttering something like "Yes, I think that is the correct solution; go ahead and work with that," to hide the fact that I only half-remember what we were talking about. Not a good habit for an engineer!

Narcolepsy! Seems obvious, dunno why it didn't occur to me. Thanks.