Are any of you having trouble with your spouse not sleeping at ALL!!! Mine will try catnapping a little but come nightime he is up and down ALL night!! Recently we have had signs that were very Parkinsons like- that the home helath and therapist say is due to the Risperdol he was on. He had gotten with it where he walked almost like the pictures you see of an ape in the evolution pictures! Shoulders slumped forward and a little to one side, and his hands in front when walking cupped. Friday he had some sort of spell, and told me he needed to go to the hospital ! After less than 4 hours sleep, we were both exhausted. He told me he was going to lie down . When I headed in a minute later, he was laying in the floor crumpled up and when I tried to help him get up, he told me he didn't know if he had the energy to get up. I got him into the bed and he got back up telling me something was not right, he didn't want to go to the hospital but he needed to. So I called and got him into the dr. They took him off the Risperdol telling me that MAY be the cause but might not be all of it. IF it is , that he will be better by Monday. Changed him to Ambieon. He slept one night like a baby! I thought we had found a wonderful little pill. but last night was back to his up and down all night! I am crying immensily and dont know how much more I can take doing this ALL night after ALL day!! He thinks I have lost it! What could be possibly wrong with me?! I tell him I cant go day and night with NO sleep!! But boy HE can!!!!! Less than 3 hours sleep last night and here I sit! HOW am I to function?!?!?
decblu - I can relate to some of your post. I recommend you call your neuro or Dr. and keep calling until you get something to calm him down to sleep. New prescriptions, I have found, are best to have the Pharmacy give me enough for 3 days only until I find out if they work. Some of the other meds caregivers on this site would be the first things I would ask for.
My dh has Parkenism with both AD and VD and Spinal Stenosis. He also walks like you describe your dh. He is bent from the waist like 2 o'clock or more and looks at the floor near his feet when walking. His Dr. says the stenosis is making him bend this way and I think it is a combination stenosis and Parkenson. He really doesn't take Parkenson Meds because in the past they caused bad side effects.
He is on Aricept, Namenda, Flexeril, Neurotin and Tramadol and celexa. Xanax at night to help sleep and I am thinking of cutting the Xanax back 1/2 and see if he still sleeps ok and maybe then eliminate it because he sleeps most of the day also. He is also extremely tired and has slumped to the floor (buy a gait belt to help him up). I have not had him to ER yet and hope to avoid it unless he breaks something.
If you are not already on a anti-depressent I suggest you have your Dr. prescribe immediately. Most of the caregivers here are on one. I take Celexa and also xanax as needed. They will help you tremendously and later when you no longer need them just wean yourself off of them slowly. It is very important for you to keep alert and healthy. You can't do it if you get sick too.
If you can get a few hours respite a week and go out for lunch, just drive or whatever will be good for your soul. Good Luck and keep posting to let us know how things are going. There are a lot of caring people on this site.
Decblu, I seem to be where you are. I just went back on antidepressant after being off it after a few months. I was not sleeping much at all. At times I went 2 or 3 days with one or two hours of sleep. I get really depressed when I don't sleep. So I figured I'd just go back on it. My dh used to never sleep, but after about 6 mos he just started to relax and let himself sleep. I hated to give in and start the antidepressant again, but I was really not well enough to do what I needed to when I wasn't on it. It seemed like taking it was a hassle but after a couple days with no sleep and depression I was happy to start it again.
Thanks for your support here, it always helps to know you are not alone even though you hate that anyone else is going through this!!! I have a call into the drs office. He is to go to a new neurologist on Monday if we can just survive till then! I was wrong , it is Adivan they changed him to. This morning though he is just wandering and talking out of his head. If I say ANYTHING to him , he gets agitated! So I dont think this is going to be the solution for him either! I have debated on the ER but hate to pay a $600. copay, plus then still have the 24/7 to be there with him or have someone else be, so I just as soon stay home if I can. I am on Celexa and do pretty well UNTIL I get sleep deprieved then I just want to squall of fatigue mostly! I dont think I would make it without an antidepressant right now!! I just had to have a pacemaker in Jan for heart block which makes you feel you could just sleep into a trance. I still have some of those feelings so jumping up doesnt help there either! Oh shadow, I dont see how you can go like that!! I've told him I have to sleep or I will be grumpy! Of course, that doesnt change anything. It is just like he is going to be up 24/7 at this rate!!
I agree, Ativan caused my DH to absolutely act crazy, aggitated, paranoia. He was in the hospital at that time and they had to put restraints on him. Needless to say, he was never given that med again.
What is sleep?? Most of us don't have the vaguest idea... My guess is that sleep is a imaginary word...such as I would love to sleep with that woman.........
decblu -boy have I walked a lot of nights in your shoes. I KNOW the utter exhaustion and despair that comes from not getting enough sleep. My husband went for months being up and down all night. I too, begged, pleaded, cried and yelled at him that I had to have sleep. Doesn't work. They put him on Ambien, he didn't sleep, they put him on Resterall, he didn't sleep, they put him on Depakote, he didn't sleep. I gave him a Xanax, he slept. For a night or two. Now he is sleeping fairly well but I don't know if he was just in some sort of phase or if the disease has simply progressed (he still paces, paces, paces, all day long so maybe he is so exhausted he has to sleep). I don't question, I just sleep.
Jumpin' George I'm soooo empathetic to this no sleep debacle. Right now my husband is taking a little nap and I should be too, just like when you had a baby and they said sleep when they sleep. Because I know he will be up soon and we will head into the marathon of no sleep. Why can't we just tie them up or down and duct tape their mouths so we all could grab a few much needed winks. Just kidding, I would never duct tape his mouth.....again. Just kidding.
Oh my, I went through this when my DH was in the hospital. I begged the nurse to give him something to knock him out. After so long, you just can't take it anymore.
Yeah, it's so crazy when you're sleep deprived. My hubby is getting more and more like a child in that he can't seem to look at things through anyone elses perspective, so he doesn't care if I sleep or not, just as long as he gets what he wants when he wants it, and how he wants it. I try to look at it from his point of view but then I just don't care anymore, I just want SLEEP!
Oh, I feel so badly for you who are sleep deprived! I have never had to deal with that. My DH does not nap during the day AT ALL; goes to bed around 10 and sleeps the night through- getting up 1-2 times to go to the bathroom - but goes on his own. I keep a small light burning outside the bedroom and he can see his way to bath. I just don't see how you function during the day! Bless you all.
Also been where you guys are. no sleep or winks here/there during the nite while they are up at all hrs. my DH had about 6mos of the up all nite for bathroom visits before we found the prostate issues. even after the meds took a while to act so the up/down every hr on the hr was wreaking havoc on us both. i felt likek jetlag everyday after a no sleep nite and up all day. since we got him on neurontin for the jerks, its an anticonvulsant and i do believe works to diffuse his anxiety as well so now hes sleeping more during the day and mostly at nite except a couple of BRoom visits. i know how you feel. its just awful. melatonin may work to get them down for a few hrs? divvi
I do know that when I get little or no sleep, I get so I can't keep my eyes open by 6 pm. My husband was up every hour due to prostate and then I think he was so afraid of wetting himself that he continued to get up every couple of hours for over a yr. He didn't understand when I said I need some sleep. I was afraid to drive for fear of falling asleep at the wheel. I asked my Dr. for B12 shots which I think have helped me. By the end of the month, I can tell I need another one. For a couple of nights, my DH slept through till 5 am! I thought this was a turning point. Then he began having nightmares, talking in his sleep, and groaning. He is only on his prostate meds and a med. for fainting(1/2 tsp am/pm). I wake up each time and he seems to sleep through it. I do a lot of praying for strength and ability to get through the night and day. One day at a time or you go crazy and come unglued. I keep telling myself to eat plenty of protein and try to have a positive attitude. Sometimes I wonder if this is all there is and then remind myself it is not about me. Wish I had some magic potion to help us get our sleep but I don't think anyone has the answer. Good luck.
You can ask your doctor for a prescription for B-12 shots and give them to yourself. I did and was told to give myself on in my thigh every 12-14 days. Aside from a few bruises, I'm good at it. The needles are teensy tinsy..and you can't feel them at all.
decblue, my DH takes a small dose of Ativan at each meal and bedtime. It works wonders for his high anxiety. He also takes 50 mg of Seroquelat bedtime and 50 at breakfast, this helps immensely with anger and Paxil at breakfast for depression. Most nights he sleeps very well. It has taken us months to get the bedtime meds right. Hang in and don't be afraid to ask the dr to let you try adjusting one med at a time until YOU see the result that make your loved one most comfortable. Good Luck