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Some people with PD are simply frightened of nights - feeling they will wake
up at 3 a.m. and be  too rigid  to get to the bathroom alone, or unable to
change position in bed, or feel chilly and can't manage putting on an extra
blanket.  Try cutting off drinking fluids a couple of hours before bedtime.
 Or keep a urinal or commode chair near the bed.  Sleep in slippery pyjamas,
or nude, between tight smooth linens.  Use an electric heating mattress pad
or electric blanket (and forget about electro magnetic fields - you have
enough worries already).  OR ask your doctor if it is O.K. for you to take a
Sinemet CR (controlled release levadopa/carbidopa) at bedtime to take care of
the PD symptoms and night panic.
 
If RLS (restless leg syndrome - or restlessness all over) causes your
insomnia, keep tuned as that's my problem and I'm working on it as we speak.
 When I come up with  a satisfactory solution I'll let you know - the usual
stuff doesn't work for me.  If you have found a solution other than walking
or exercising all night - speak up.
 
Yours for a good night's sleep,
Barbara Yacos, R.N.
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