Have no trouble getting to sleep, but wake at silly o’clock and can’t get back to sleep.
Hi there and welcome to the sleepless club…
There are no easy answers to this one unfortunately. I typically go to bed at 9:30 and, like you, am out like a light, but then wake up at 1 or 2am for an hour or two, before dozing restlessly until 6. I work in the week but have the luxury of a 20 minute afternoon power nap after lunch at weekends, which helps.
You can try all the sleep hygeine stuff (no reading in bed etc.) and maybe the occasional sleeping tablet (I find Melatonin helps, but only once every week or two to avoid becoming dependent on it). These things have made some differnce for me, but largely I’ve learned to live with the difficult nights.
How long have you had PD? I find the sleep problems are not as bad now as when I was first medicsted.
JF
Hi. Sleeplessness has been an increasing problem for me over the last couple of years.
My primary medication is levodopa (Co-careldopa) which is fine to get me through the day but that leaves an eight hour gap at night. My routine is lights out at 10.00pm, I fall asleep almost immediately but have to use the bathroom around 1.00am and find it difficult to settle back to sleep as the PD symptoms kick in.
After seeing my consultant we agreed on an extra (smaller) dose of Co-careldopa to be taken during the night. I am trying to not have the drugs increased if I can avoid it but that extra dose buys me another 4-5 hours sleep which is the difference between being functional and exhausted the next day.
I no longer work as PD caused too much fatigue to hold down a job so I also take naps during the day. It isn’t ideal but I get enough sleep to manage.
J