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To add to the discussion about PD and lessening of ability to concentrate and how that is effected by more or less sleep (for what it's worth) <smile>: I had been functioning (more or less) on 2 to 3 hours of interrupted sleep each nite for the last 5 years. In addition, there was usually a couple of nites each week when I got no sleep at all. To say I've been chronically sleep deprived is an understatement! I fought using sleeping pills getting sleeping pills to get a better nite's sleep as tho that type of drug was poison. FINALLY, in desperation I asked my MD for sleeping pills and was prescribed the generic of Restoral. The directions for this drug said "DO NOT TAKE MORE THAN 4 NIGHTS OUT OF 7! For 4 nites a week I slept like a baby (tho still found my sleep interrupted by constant trips to the bathroom) <sigh> and three nites a week I was sleepless. I DID overall feel noticeably better and was able to concentrate somewhat better with the added sleep. I began to become frustrated and apprehensive about the 3 sleepless nights, which were NOT 3 consecutive nites. I found I was unable to take the Restoral even two nites in a row without getting a headache, so alternated one nite ON and the next nite OFF the drug to prevent that pain. The trouble with this was that it was too erratic and I found myself having to PLAN for the post-sleeping-pill days and the no-sleep-days because of sheer exhaustion. And on the days AFTER I hadn't slept, even tho I DID take the Restoral the night before, there was a residual physical/mental fatigue (in addition to the miserable daily "PD fatigue") carried over from the previous sleepless nite. OH WOE! What to do, WHAT to DO?! <grin> I was already taking the lowest dosage of the drug, so couldn't order it in a less potent form. So, since it was in a capsule, I emptied 1/2 half the contents of a capsule, said a little prayer it'd work, and ended up having 4 to 5 hours sleep (with somewhat fewer trips to the bathroom). The next nite I emptied out even more of the capsule's contents, and STILL had a good nite's sleep - with NO HEADACHE when I awoke. The upshot of this all is that for the past 2 months I've taken 1/3 of a capsule of the lowest dose of Restoral nearly every nite (I try to not take it at least 2 nites a week) and DO sleep, and DO feel physically/mentally better overall regularly. My daytime hours are more predictable as to how I'm going to feel because of the fairly consistent nightly sleep. The conclusion I've drawn from all this is that a decent nite's sleep IS very important to function as best as one's able, and even more important if one's living with a disease such as PD that in itself has built-in pitfalls that prevent optimum sleep each nite. (By the way.. this DID start out to be a brief message... but...) <smile> Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange On Behalf Of Brian Collins Sent: Thursday, June 19, 1997 7:11 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Re: Reply to Kerry by Dale Severance On Thu 19 Jun, Dale Severance join list wrote: > > > I also find it extremely difficult to see a task thru to completion, this was never a problem prior to PD. After having spent my working years making a living with my brain it is disconcerting to begin to lose control of it. This old saying comes to mind: Cheer up things could be worse so I cheered up and shore enough things became worse. [log in to unmask] Dale Severance (56/10) Syracuse, NY. Hello Dale, I know what you mean about seeing a task through to completion. I have just spent two weeks modifying a program which I wrote some 4 years ago. The job took me at least twice as long as it would have in the good old days. Programming is a good test of brain fade, demanding the same sort of concentration that is required to play chess, and it is the inability to concentrate for long periods which I think is the main problem. On a more positive note, I have come to the conclusion that the key to the problem is sleep. I rarely achieve more than five hours of sleep, and I can function reasonably on this much, BUT, don't ask me to do any thinking. A couple of times during the last 2 weeks, I got lucky and slept an extra hour - the difference was apparent to me as soon as I started programming. have you noticed anything similar? Regards, -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>