Sleep/nightmares
 

For the past couple of years if my husband (dx 3 yrs) got any sleep at all it was a celebration. Lately he has awakened from "sudden day sleep" in a pretty severe fog that takes awhile to clear. Last night, though, was scary... he awoke screaming from a bad nightmare, a kind a dream he said he has never had before. It was more of a night terror situation than a traditional nightmare. Again, it took a few minutes for him to be aware that I was beside him and he was out of the dream.

Have any of you experienced this? Do you think this is PD related, or just a freakish occurrance?

hello dear leah
 

it's a supossedly a side-effect from L-dopa -
if you will read the insert from the pharmacy -it will be listed.
or call the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist adverse reactions / side effects:
it may also be listed on mirapex - requip etc, however I have had night terrors for many many years before being dxd with PD...

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...d.php?p=286445

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Nightmares, Sleepwalking, and Night Terrors Haunt Many

No one knows the true purpose of dreaming. Most researchers think that when we dream, we process what we've learned during the day, store some of it, and throw the rest out. Another theory is that dreaming helps us deal with emotions that we might have been putting aside during the day. But nightmares, night terrors, and sleepwalking are not a normal part of our dreaming sleep.

Rose Franco, MD, Fellowship Director of the Medical College of Wisconsin's Sleep Medicine Program, says that children and adults have nightmares for mainly the same reasons. "Something disturbing becomes distorted in your dream and it becomes scary," she explains.

There are some cultural differences in dreaming, whereby people in a particular culture have nightmares about similar subjects, but there are several subjects that are common across all cultures. "Everybody has the nightmare about falling and the dream about running too slow," notes Dr. Franco.

When nightmares, night terrors, and sleepwalking are recurrent, they are called parasomnias - which means "arising from sleep." Dr. Franco says that while dreaming is normal, recurrent nightmares, night terrors, and sleepwalking are considered disorders and often indicate more serious sleep health issues.

Nightmares
"Sometimes nightmares occur because of disturbing things that happen during the day, as in the case of someone who's going through a depression or an anxious period in their lives, or because of social or work-related situations," says Dr. Franco. Very vivid recurring nightmares can also be an indication of post-traumatic stress disorder.

http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002732.html

answers.com
 

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The Nightmare, by Henry Fuseli (1781) is thought to be one of the classic depictions of sleep paralysis perceived as a demonic visitation.Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis).[1]

Physiologically, it is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the bodily paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations.

More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be no more than a dream.[citation needed] This explains many dream recountings which describe the person lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision.





Possible causes
Sleep paralysis occurs during REM sleep, thus preventing the body from manifesting movements made in the subject's dreams. Very little is known about the physiology of sleep paralysis. However, some have suggested that it may be linked to post-synaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the pons region of the brain. In particular, low levels of melatonin may stop the depolarization current in the nerves, which prevents the stimulation of the muscles, to prevent the body from enacting the dreamt activity (e.g. preventing a sleeper from flailing his legs when dreaming about running).

Many people who commonly enter sleep paralysis also suffer from narcolepsy. Especially in African-Americans panic disorder often co-occurs with sleep paralysis[2]. However, various studies suggest that many or most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once or twice in their lives.

Some reports read that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include: [3]

Sleeping in an upwards supine position
Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
Increased stress
Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode. Also conscious induction of sleep paralysis is a common technique to enter a state of lucid dreams, also known as WILD[1] .
Artificial sleeping aids, ADD medications and/or antihistamines
Recent use of hallucinogenic drugs

Treatment
During paralysis episodes, patients may be advised to try moving the facial muscles and moving eyes from one side to the other. This may hasten the termination of the attack.

Clonazepam is highly effective in the treatment of sleep paralysis.[4] The initial dose is 0.5 mg at bedtime, while an increase to 1 mg per night might be necessary to maintain potency. Anecdotal reports indicate SSRIs such as fluoxetine markedly decrease the incidence of sleep paralysis. Several people who have been both on and off SSRIs have reported corresponding decreases and increases in sleep paralysis episodes. Others report no effects at all.

http://www.answers.com/topic/sleep-paralysis?cat=health

hello -
curently on low doses of zoloft and clonazepam - however they still happen - I am frightened, my heart is beating very fast - I may be crying, but I wake up and then read
usually the bible, or something peaceful, and force myself to realize - I am safe.
hope this helps -

It is not that uncommon. Is your hubby on an agonist, Mirapex in particular?

I got 1-3 hours of sleep until I started taking Sinemet CR And that got me to 4-5 hours. My wife used to remark she should get combat pay for sleeping with me!!
So unless he can get off his meds, I am afraid that it pretty much "is what it is". There are some drug therapies that can help with vivid dreams. Talk it over with your MDS. Be sure to tell them his exact symptoms.