Brian Collins wrote:
>
> It is evident from the volume of postings that Sleep, or lack of it, is
> something that affects a lot of Parkies. I have a few suggestions which
> may help, but first - a few comments.
>
> I resent every hour that I spend asleep. It is just one more unconscious
> step to the end of my life, and there are so many things I want to do. I
> have always thought that way; it's not to do with Parkinsons Disease,
> although that does emphasise the facts.
>
> It is an unfortunate fact of life that we must sleep at least a few hours
> every night, although as far as I know, there are no hard rules about how
> long we must sleep. Some people appear to feel positively guilty if they
> don't get their 8 hours of sleep. WAKE UP folks (Sorry,did I wake you up)
> nobody is going to smack you for being naughty and not getting your
> prescribed amount of sleep.
>
> Of course, there is no point stumbling around like a zombie through lack of
> of sleep - that represents the other extreme point of view. I suspect
> that those people actually cheat a little by taking an hour dozing in
> front of the TV after a large meal. And why not: There is no rule that
> prohibits sleeping  in shifts if that is what you want. I also believe
> that as we get older, we need less sleep anyway.
>
> My hours have changed since I discovered the internet: I tend to stay up
> until 2:00am - 2:30am (The internet really frees up about then), then
> sleep to about 7:00 am. If this is not enough, I find myself occasionally
> dozing off in mid-afternoon for up to an hour. I get much better use of
> my waking hours than if I was wasting them lying in bed fully conscious.
>
> There is one thing connected with PD which can make much of what I have
> written so far seem trivial, and that is Pain. Physical discomfort can
> spoil anyone's sleep patterns and PD can cause discomfort by the rigid
> muscles and tremor that are so typical. I have found that if I take a
> Madopar CR capsule (That is 25/100 Controlled Release Levadopa), which
> represents about 70% of my daytime consumption, I can get off to sleep
> quite easily ( A full dose tends to leave my mind buzzing with thoughts
> and makes it difficult to sleep.)
>
> The final point concerns how I lie in bed. It is a strange thing that for
> a disease that causes unwanted movement, when I go to sleep, I don't
> move a single muscle for the entire 5,6 hours that I am asleep (Except
> those required to keep me alive of course). That may sound like a good
> thing, but it is in fact a curse. I wake up aching and stiff: if I have
> had the misfortune to lie on a pressure point various points of my body
> may be numb, and I have to endure the pain of returning circulation. to
> avoid this, I go tthrough a mental check list as i lie in bed, to make
> sure I am properly relaxed. It is good for sleep as well.
>
> I hope that may help of you out there; I'm just going for a short nap!
> Regards,
> --
> Brian Collins  <[log in to unmask]>
brian, I know what you mean about wanting to fill every minute with
something worthwhile, unfortunately we live in a tiny little house and
my husband can hear my every move at 2, 3, 4 am  so I try to read to get
sleepy, it feels good to have so much energy. before i was diagnosed
with pd and got the drug thing going, I was exhausted all the time, my
muscles were always engaged, even while at rest, it was very tiring.
now i can get up at 5am  work all day at one of my 6 different jobs,
come hme at nite, do some artwork, read watch tv and finally crash
around 10 or 11.  then i usually wake up around 1:00 for an hour or so.

I dont know I hardly ever feel tired.  but i think the lack of rest
affects my symptoms, ( they ge worse when my body is tired..) oh well


thanks for all the info
lisa in paradise

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