Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 My husband Sam has bouts of sudden sleepiness, general extreme weakness and shortness of breath in increasingly frequent intervals. He literally cannot keep his eyes open. Most of these bouts happen in the morning at the breakfast table and it takes both of us and a cart to get him to bed. There he sleeps for 3 solid hours without moving a muscle and is then good the rest of the day. His night time sleep is the same as always. Lunchtimes seem to be relatively free of the bouts, and he has had them at suppertime, but breakfast is the worst--about 4 or 5 times a week now. I wonder if his medicine is doing it, but there are times he doesn't take his a.m. medicine and still has the attack of sleepiness. He had just one session at the breakfast table when his arms and hands trembled uncontrollably for about 5 minutes and that passed. He has no tremor. I need to contact the doctor about all this, but thought I would go to the ever-helpful and understanding group for some ideas. I never know whether all this is just natural progression of the disease. Thanks to all. Lou R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 Lou and others, If you rule out sleep apnea and other medications as a cause of sudden daytime sleepiness, I would suggest asking your doctor about trying ProVigil. It is used for narcolepsy. Rob has been taking it for about a year and it seems to be helping not only with sleepiness but with alertness. The only drawback is that it is very expensive. Carol & Rob > My husband Sam has bouts of sudden sleepiness, general extreme weakness and > shortness of breath in increasingly frequent intervals. He literally > cannot keep his eyes open. > Most of these bouts happen in the morning at the breakfast table and it > takes both of us and a cart to get him to bed. There he sleeps for 3 solid > hours without moving a muscle and is then good the rest of the day. His > night time sleep is the same as always. Lunchtimes seem to be relatively > free of the bouts, and he has had them at suppertime, but breakfast is the > worst--about 4 or 5 times a week now. I wonder if his medicine is doing > it, but there are times he doesn't take his a.m. medicine and still has the > attack of sleepiness. He had just one session at the breakfast table when > his arms and hands trembled uncontrollably for about 5 minutes and that > passed. He has no tremor. I need to contact the doctor about all this, > but thought I would go to the ever-helpful and understanding group for some > ideas. I never know whether all this is just natural progression of the > disease. Thanks to all. Lou R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 Lou and others, If you rule out sleep apnea and other medications as a cause of sudden daytime sleepiness, I would suggest asking your doctor about trying ProVigil. It is used for narcolepsy. Rob has been taking it for about a year and it seems to be helping not only with sleepiness but with alertness. The only drawback is that it is very expensive. Carol & Rob > My husband Sam has bouts of sudden sleepiness, general extreme weakness and > shortness of breath in increasingly frequent intervals. He literally > cannot keep his eyes open. > Most of these bouts happen in the morning at the breakfast table and it > takes both of us and a cart to get him to bed. There he sleeps for 3 solid > hours without moving a muscle and is then good the rest of the day. His > night time sleep is the same as always. Lunchtimes seem to be relatively > free of the bouts, and he has had them at suppertime, but breakfast is the > worst--about 4 or 5 times a week now. I wonder if his medicine is doing > it, but there are times he doesn't take his a.m. medicine and still has the > attack of sleepiness. He had just one session at the breakfast table when > his arms and hands trembled uncontrollably for about 5 minutes and that > passed. He has no tremor. I need to contact the doctor about all this, > but thought I would go to the ever-helpful and understanding group for some > ideas. I never know whether all this is just natural progression of the > disease. Thanks to all. Lou R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 Lou and others, If you rule out sleep apnea and other medications as a cause of sudden daytime sleepiness, I would suggest asking your doctor about trying ProVigil. It is used for narcolepsy. Rob has been taking it for about a year and it seems to be helping not only with sleepiness but with alertness. The only drawback is that it is very expensive. Carol & Rob > My husband Sam has bouts of sudden sleepiness, general extreme weakness and > shortness of breath in increasingly frequent intervals. He literally > cannot keep his eyes open. > Most of these bouts happen in the morning at the breakfast table and it > takes both of us and a cart to get him to bed. There he sleeps for 3 solid > hours without moving a muscle and is then good the rest of the day. His > night time sleep is the same as always. Lunchtimes seem to be relatively > free of the bouts, and he has had them at suppertime, but breakfast is the > worst--about 4 or 5 times a week now. I wonder if his medicine is doing > it, but there are times he doesn't take his a.m. medicine and still has the > attack of sleepiness. He had just one session at the breakfast table when > his arms and hands trembled uncontrollably for about 5 minutes and that > passed. He has no tremor. I need to contact the doctor about all this, > but thought I would go to the ever-helpful and understanding group for some > ideas. I never know whether all this is just natural progression of the > disease. Thanks to all. Lou R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 lou, This could be many things. Has he had a sleep study as it could be sleep apnea. Is he taking dopamine agonists such as Mirapex or Requip, they MAY cause it. Talk to your neurologist about it. Take care, Bill Werre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 lou, This could be many things. Has he had a sleep study as it could be sleep apnea. Is he taking dopamine agonists such as Mirapex or Requip, they MAY cause it. Talk to your neurologist about it. Take care, Bill Werre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 lou, This could be many things. Has he had a sleep study as it could be sleep apnea. Is he taking dopamine agonists such as Mirapex or Requip, they MAY cause it. Talk to your neurologist about it. Take care, Bill Werre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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