Those of you with Parkinson's and/or your caregivers, have probably had some experience with disrupted sleep patterns. That could mean anything from shortened periods of sleep to talking or yelling, waving your arms, or moving your legs around while you're supposed to be sleeping.If you live by yourself you may not know you are active in your sleep, other than the symptom of being tired or fatigued upon waking up. But chances are good, the tiredness you feel is due to your nighttime sleep activity.
Jamey has not only brief sleep periods (often four hours max), but he also has elaborate talks in his sleep, along with body movement. The worst part for me is the yelling or calling out. Since I sleep with one ear open anyway (in case he needs help during the night), it is unnerving to be aroused by a yell, often associated with some kind of sport. For example, "Pitch it!" or "Run, run run!" are common raised-voice mantras for him in sleep mode. Being jarred awake is not my choice of a wake-up call. I am immediately up and ready to help when I find he is sleeping soundly and completely unaware of having wakened me. Often though, the yelling and talking is blabber--no coherent words.
His body is constantly moving. Even though he doesn't have a severe tremor in his awake state, he makes up for daytime lack of movement in his sleep. His legs constantly shift back and forth and he repositions frequently. If he's not moving around, he's talking, mumbling, or yelling. It's a wonder he gets any sleep at all!
I must share with you a strange thing Jamey did in his sleep a few weeks ago. As I said, I am used to the talking; I don't get a lot of sleep while he's doing it, but I'm accustomed to it. The conversation he had on the night in question was highly unusual. He was actually having a two-person conversation, and he was doing both parts. To top it off, one of the voices was a woman! Listening to him do a woman's voice and switch back and forth between two people, made me think of a schizophrenic serial killer; it was that creepy! He carried on this conversation, doing both the woman's and the man's voices, for sometime. Unfortunately, I could only make out a word here and there as most of it was nonsensical blabber. It's what I would imagine someone speaking in tongues would sound like. Unnerving.
I have been assured sleep talking is common with Parkinson's and apparently, the only thing that helps alleviate some of the talking is Clonazepam. Well, Jamey is already taking the highest dose of Clonazepam he can, so I cannot imagine how much talking he might do if he wasn't already taking it. Yikes!
One of the down sides to talking in his sleep is that he has to take little naps off and on throughout the day because he's not getting REMs at night. I'm told waking him during the daytime won't help him sleep any better at night, and without his daytime naps the deprivation could get worse. So letting him sleep when he can is important.Sleep deprivation can cause numerous other issues, including depression. Since depression is often another by-product of Parkinson's, we need to keep careful watch for symptoms and head off the depression quickly if we can. There are many exercises and/or safe medications the doctor can prescribe to help with depression. Other things to assist in identifying sleep deprivation, are high blood pressure, memory loss, trouble concentrating, increased obesity, mood changes, poor balance, weakened immunity, and clumsiness. (Uh-oh! I have ALL of these!)
Dealing with disrupted sleep is a difficult thing, but being watchful for symptoms of sleep deprivation and depression can help keep it under control somewhat. Sleep when you can and don't go to bed until you're ready to sleep. These are good guidelines for the caregiver as well.
And by the way, don't let your wife take video of you talking and moving around in your sleep. She might post it on a blog! (So bummed I couldn't upload the video because of its size, but trust me...it's a hoot)!
