Phone
(800) 973-1540

Are my mother's sleep problems connected to her Parkinson's?

A fellow caregiver asked...

My mother says she's wide awake all night, and then she's really sleepy during the day. Could this be connected to her Parkinson's? Is there anything we can do to help?

Expert Answer

Graham A. Glass, MD, is the co-founder of PEAK Neurology and Sleep Medicine, LLC with multiple locations across Alaska. Previously, he was deputy director of the San Francisco Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Care Center PADRECC and assistant clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Glass received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at the San Antonio School of Medicine and completed his neurology residency at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He subsequently completed a fellowship in movement disorders at the Mayo Clinic.

Yes, this can be related to her Parkinson's disease, as patients with PD can have a number of sleep problems including acting out dreams at night, difficult with sleep maintenance (fall asleep okay but then only sleep for an hour or two), restless legs, and potentially a higher risk of sleep apnea.
In this case, I would reccomend that you make every effort to help align your mothers circadian cycle (day-night) which can sometimes get off. To do this, you should try to keep her from napping during the day, make sure she gets lots of morning sunlight and daytime exercise. This will make her more tired at night and more likely to get good quality sleep at night. Sometimes melotonin and/or other sleep aids (Ambien/Lunesta) can help begin this process.