Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Neurology (Expert Forum)
Sleeping from Parkinson's Medications
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury.
Sleeping from Parkinson's Medications
by JL__0, Jul 03, 1998 12:00AM
My father has had Parkinson's Disease for over 20 years. Over the last
few years he has gotten to where he sleeps about 22 hours a day. He
wakes up only to eat, and then goes back to sleep. He sleeps so much that
he cannot walk alone any longer and to walk he needs assistance from two
people. He has had many different tests and everything is fine. If he
does not take his medication, he stays awake, but he needs the medication
for movement. He was taking Sinemet, but it quit working, so now he
is taking 3 mg of Requip, three times daily and 10 mg of Aricept at
bedtime. We cannot get physical therapy for him to learn to walk
again, since he sleeps constantly. We have had him to several doctors,
but no one seems to know what to do, so he can stay awake and still
function. Do you have any suggestions?
=
Drowsiness is an uncommon, but important, side effect of Sinemet. However, it is usually not so simple as that. Many patients who have significant sleep/wake cycle disturbance (too much or too little or reversed cycle) often have some degree of cognitive impairment to go along with their motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Your father clearly has advanced parkinsonism, and is quite complex. There may or may not be anything which can be done. We routinely "tune up" motor function in patients with advanced parkinsonism by using dopamine agonists such as Requip and Mirapex, and the new Sinemet extender (COMT inhibitor) Tasmar. However, these all have cognitive side effects, and if your dad is taking Aricept I would bet he already has some cognitive impairment, putting him at risk for hallucinations, etc.
Nevertheless, it is possible that making various changes to his medications could help. If you are not already in the care of a Parkinson's disease specialist, you may wish to arrange for a consultation at Cleveland Clinic. Call 800 223-2273 and ask for neurology appointments (4-5559).
Good luck. CCF MD mdf.
