hyperalertness

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edelman2
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 1:30 am

hyperalertness

Post by edelman2 »

I went from sleeping 3-4 hours to 1-3 hours over a period of a week and am not functioning at all. I tried to read hyper alertness posts
and did not find anywhere such a small amount of sleep mentioned anywhere (at least the posts I read). Can anyone comment, since the
lack of sleep is killing me.

ViewsAskew
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Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: hyperalertness

Post by ViewsAskew »

Are you taking any medications?
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Polar Bear
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Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: hyperalertness

Post by Polar Bear »

My sleep varies.... somewhere between dire and desperate.

Two nights ago I slept from 1.30 am until 3am.
Sometimes I get 2 hours, up and about for a couple of hours, and then get another couple of hours.
On occasion I have gone 36+ without sleep - ( and that was while working a 9 - 5 desk job )
I never sleep during the day.

I do know that my medications will most likely be contributing to my wakefulness, quite apart from the general hyperalertness that accompanies RLS/WED.
My medications for RLS are ropinerole/cocodamol/maxitram and zopiclone for sleeping, Without the zopiclone there is no sleep whatsoever.

It was so bad when I was fully employed to not have slept, see the clock at 4.30am, and know the alarm would ring at 7am.

This afternoon when visiting relatives we were all sitting around the table having coffee and .... wow... I (metaphorically) hit the wall, felt removed from the company, conversation voices had a slightly distant echo-ish sound, my eyes started to water and I felt like crawling under the table to sleep but kept on like an automaton. This lasted for about a half hour and then I was through it. Back to normal.

My saving grace is that I am now retired from full time employment.

I fully empathise with your lack of sleep and wonder if you have a change in your dosage of medication or a change in the timing of your medication.
Also I'm sure you've considered the caffeine aspect etc.

Can you nap during the day?
Sleep hygienists are inclined to say not to sleep during the day but others of us with RLS/WED often decide to take sleep when or wherever we can get it.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

edelman2
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 1:30 am

Re: hyperalertness

Post by edelman2 »

ViewsAskew I do take Horizant for rls and and klonapin and topomax for sleep. The sleep med stopped working and now the sleep doctor told me
that he is out of options because things like ambien,zolpidam,trazadone,lunesta,sonata, etc. do not work for me. Polar Bear do you live with someone
who helps out with errands and chores because I find that I can not function and do stuff that I usually did before.

ViewsAskew
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Posts: 16571
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: hyperalertness

Post by ViewsAskew »

I don't know why he would be out of options. Even if a sleep med doesn't work, you can try other RLS meds and see what happens. If it were me, right now I'd want to stop everything (per doctors instructions) and just see what happens. It could be that the combination you're taking is simply not right for you. Sometimes medications simply do not work the way they should - and stopping them can improve our function. It also could be that part of the reason you can't function is because of sides effects from the drugs you are taking. Even when I was getting 1-2 hours of sleep a night, I never felt as bad as it sounds you are feeling. Maybe it's more than the lack of sleep.

Once I had a baseline again, then I'd want to try other RLS drugs, as needed, and see what happened. Could be that a dopamine agonist would help you sleep. Or maybe a dopamine agonist with gabapentin. At least you would have tried!
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Polar Bear
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Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: hyperalertness

Post by Polar Bear »

I do live with my husband and although he does bits and pieces around the house, i.e. he always makes breakfast, and he does all the diy, putting out bins etc, I do the main running of the home and household chores.
I've had 2 hours sleep tonight, it's now 7am. I shall go back to bed and try for another couple of hours.
However, today there will be 8 of us for Sunday roast dinner and .... sleep or not..... I'll be preparing and cooking. My DH will peel potatoes.

Do you have any other conditions that you are dealing with.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

Rustsmith
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Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:31 pm
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Re: hyperalertness

Post by Rustsmith »

edelman2, I am like you in that the sleep meds are completely ineffective. I was recently having problems similar to yours in that I could not sleep at night, but had issues during the day. I recently tried to drive myself to the doctor and it got rather scary when I was almost falling asleep on the freeway with no way to get off to let my wife take over. My doctor made a rather simple change in my medications and I have gone from 1 to 3 hrs/night to five or six hrs.

You also said that you are taking both Horizant and topomax. These medications are both classified as anticonvulsants and could be having an additive effect on you. Topomax is usually used to treat migraines, but there is some research describing its use for RLS.

So, like Views has said, there are still lots of options with a combination of a dopamine agonist combined with Horizant being one of the most obvious.
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

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