Do these crazy little things add up?

Dear Dr,

I have a couple of questions:

On the sleep study questionaire is asks about waking up an hour after falling asleep screaming (or something of the sort). I, often, wake about that time because of a nightmare by calling for help or for my husband.  What significance does that have?

This question may not have an answer, but... I am falling apart it seems. I am 40+ female and  I exercise (except these 5 wks rheum. put a stop to it). I have so many conditions that have been diagnosed in the past few years and I was wondering if there is any connection. Here is my lovely list:  
Mitral Valve Prolapse, Mitral Regurgitation, Tricuspid Regurg., Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia, Neurocardiogenic Syncope (near fainting), Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Raynaud

[CCF Neuro[P]-M.D.-RPS]

Dear Jan:

Sorry that your having such problems.  One of the first things I can suggest is getting your sleep in order.  That has a big effect on your other body sysytems.  Since you have alpha intrustion into sleep, likely your sleep stinks and you might need Bipap.  Was that suggestion of the sleep study?  In a few select patients, autonomic dysfunction is realted to mitochondrdial disorders.  A few simple labs might help:lactic acid, pyruvate, serum amino acids, and uring organic acids.  There are some autoimmune disorders associated with autonomic dysfunction, such as diabetes.  I imagine these have already been looked at.  Was your deep breathing testing also abnormal?  I am sorry that i am not much help.  I would try the mitochondrial angle but for sure work on your sleep problem.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[jenna]

this has nothing to do really with this question.  Does anyone out there know what encephalopathy is?

[jan]

I thought bipaps were used for sleep apnea because of the breathing problem. Do they actually use them for my type of sleep disorder? If so, how does it help it? The recommendation on my sleep study was elavil, which gave me terrible nightmares. Now I take ambien, but I can only take it occasionally because my short term memory became almost nonexistent when I took it daily.

Thank you so much for your recommendations! After it taking 3 sleep studies to get this info. my neuro has dropped the ball. I am going to get a new neuro. and go forward with this.

[jan]

You just asked for a definition and I happened to reading something that contained it: ENCEPHALOPATHY: Any disease of the brain

[Pained to Karen]

Jan --

I have had similar symptoms and was hoping to exchange e-mails. Thanks. ***@****