I was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s at the age 54, but had misdiagnosed Parkinson’s symptoms for at least 5 years prior to this. It’s been 8 years since being diagnosed and another 5 years of misdiagnosis, but a review of medical history suggests that minor symptoms were present for 10+ years even prior to that. I would prefer more sleep, but the amount I get doesn’t impact on daytime functions and work. I average 3 to 4 hours sleep at night and I don’t sleep during the day. My sleep patterns have changed since having young onset Parkinson’s, and I definitely have reduced sleeping hours. My sleeping patterns are not affecting my partner, because I just lay there trying to ensure the body at least gets rest. The factors impacting on my ability to sleep include night-time confusion, insomnia, frequent awakening, rigidity while in bed, pain and night-time hallucinations. I have not found any strategies to be useful in improving my sleep patterns. My sleep is disturbed, and I am lucky to sleep for an hour to 90 minutes at most before waking up, and spend an hour or more awake before going back to sleep. I have numbness in my feet/legs, arms and jaw during night and first thing in the morning. My body feels very heavy in bed, and most of the time at night is spent trying to get comfortable.

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