Dad has Parkinson's Disease. Why can't he sleep at night?

My earlier post covered the main points- quality of sleep is so important. Person with PD can't get comfortable or help themselves and wake up the caregiver to help- often up to ten times a night. Often a huge weight mismatch- imagine a 110# wife getting up that often every night to roll 300# of dead weight around- they are ready to crash! Actually PD bed problems are the most common calls we get- always glad to offer suggestions to help.

I have a lot of trouble sleeping, until around 8 months ago my neurologist adjusted my medication, now I have 2 Sinemet tablets when I go to bed, and as the Sinemet is a slow release - (that's 2 × 200/5 Sinemet tabs), I also have half a Madopar 125 (round) tablet. I generally retire to bed between 11 pm and midnight, - I should also mention that I have been sleeping on a "Wondersheet", which my wife bought online - it's satin in the middle of the sheet, and cotton at the top & bottom, which makes it much easier to turn in bed, also easier to move if you don't wear pyjama bottoms. I've been sleeping much better since the changes, retired to bed at 11 pm last night, and was up at 10 to 7 this morning, not bad for an old pensioner, I am a 68 years old male, and was diagnosed with Parkinson's 4 years ago, but with hindsight I was a Parky person well before that,and was sleeping poorly on diagnosis until recently.
Hope things improve. Robin Brown, Sydney, Australia.

Call your local Area Agency on Aging. He may qualify for the Assisted Living Waiver Program. It is a program that can help pay or pay for all of the care there and not have to impoverish your Mom at the same time.

Oops- meant bedside commode above- had bedsores on my mind.

Your situation matches the info from our typical Parkinsons callers. Their coordination issues make getting in/out of bed difficult or impossible. Self- repositioning in bed is often equally as bad of a problem. Without repositioning they are not getting a comfortable night's sleep and puts them at risk of bedsores (always a bad thing). UTIs are common with Parkinsons which makes their bed transfer problems worse because the frequency increases. This puts tremendous strain to the caregiver spouse as often they are being woke from a dead sleep up to 10 times a night to roll a heavy spouse over or otherwise help them- who can do that 7 nights a week forever? Some people resort to a urinal- and a spill then causes bedding to be changed in the middle of the night- making even more work. A bedsore commode saves some travel but if a person can't independently get out of bed caregiver help is still needed. The net result is that the caregiver is under severe strain and ready to crash- and once the caregiver (usually the elderly spouse who is slightly better than the PD person) is injured it can be "game over" for both. Fortunately there are products that can help- always glad to offer advice.

My dad has Parkinson disease for 8 years now and we are exactly going through the same situation. Can you share what helped in case of your father?

My 78 year old father wears a Texas Condom when he retires to bed. He also wears an adult diaper just in case it comes off. My Mom gets her supplies from Liberty Medical and they are payed for by Medicare. He keeps her up at night sometimes just calling her name to make sure she is there, but at least she doesn't have to get up.
I, myself, take Trazadone because I have had some insomnia due to stress and probably menopause. Trazadone is an old fashioned anti-depressant that no one uses any more for depression, but it works wonders for sleep and is not addictive.

My 86 year old Mother has been diagnosed with PD or Parkinsonism they are not sure which it is. She definitely has tremors. We are also doing an MRI for NPH (Normal Pressue Hydrocephalus) She has ALL but two of those symptoms. With her doctor's permission I have been giving her ZZZquil (over the counter) every night and it is non habit forming. The results have been incredible. She has slept thru quite a few nights and when she doesn't she only gets up at the very most 2 times. Before she was up 6-7 times urinating. Make sure it's ZZZquil and not Nightquil. It's made by the same company. Just a thought don't give anything to them without a doctors knowledge and permission. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I know exactly what you are talking about. My 88 year old dad with PD does just that - he wakes my mom every half an hour starting 4am. We hired a help, but he does not want the help - he wants my mom. I don't know what to do either. We have tries different sleeping pills [as prescribed by his doctor] and they do work for a few days and then... here we go again. My mom had developed high blood pressure and we had to take her to ER several times in this year. She is 88 and she just can't not sleep at night.... I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO.....

...yes, sorry about the shorthand. ALF = Assisted Living Facilities....

ARLINE:

If you Google "Parkinson's and sleeplessness" you'll come across, among others, the following reasons:

(1) Medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease may cause insomnia due to difficulty in falling asleep or by causing vivid dreams or night terrors; (2) Periodic limb movements; (3) Nocturia (waking frequently to pass urine); (4) Inability to turn in bed; (5) Sleep-related breathing disorders; (6) Pain (generalized aches and pains associated with Parkinson’s disease); (7) Co-existing depression and dementia; (8) Increased daytime sleep either due to medications or due to dopamine deficiency in Parkinson’s disease; (9) Nightmares (patients with Parkinson’s disease often suffer from nightmares which prevent them from going back to sleep; (10) Hallucinations; and (11) Age of the patient (Parkinson’s disease occurs in the older age group who, in normal circumstances, often suffer from insomnia).

Let me know how else I can be of assistance.

-- ED

when mentioning ALF's, are you mentioning Adult Living Facilities? Please excuse my ignorance.
thanks!

When it comes to sleep issues I prefer to start with the simplest solutions then work your way up to medications (so many have side effects, are addicitive, or lose their usefulness.)
Keeping your dad as active as possible and not allowing him to sleep a lot during the day will help. Is he able to joing a senior group or do adult day care? That would give your Mom a break.
I have my Mom drink warm milk or hot choc. before bedtime. This really helps her. I give her an excedrin if she seems more agitated. Her PD symptoms have not changed much over the years, so everyone is different. My MIL had PD too and did not die from it.

Are you in a town that has a community college or other colleges that offer medical programs? You may find a male student who would take on the "evening duty" in exchange for room and board. Contact the person who oversees the medical training programs and ask if this is possible.
Your parents will just have to get over the thing about having help come into there home. Really...your mom desperately needs help.
Your Mom's promise to not place dad in a "home" may be unrealistic. I think our parents have a rather negative view of these facilities based on how they were run decades ago. Perhaps you could take your Mom to an ALF. The ones I have been looking at are so nice and have wonderful opportunities for social interaction. In other words, all the tough stuff your Mom is doing, will be done for your dad so they can get back to enjoying each other again.
It is obvious that what has been done in the past is no longer working and your Mom is jeopardizing her health. If your Mom won't look into ALFs maybe you could do it for her. Overcoming fear is sometimes the biggest obstacle.
good luck.

Sleep disorders are very common. You need to speak to his doctor and see about getting something like Trazodone.