I was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s at the age of 46, and I have been living with the symptoms of young onset Parkinson’s for 4.5 years. I’m not very satisfied with the amount of sleep I’m getting but you get used to it somehow. I am averaging 3-4 hours of sleep at night and no sleep during the day. My sleep patterns have changed since having young onset Parkinson’s, and I wake even earlier in the night and have more trouble getting back to sleep – if at all. My sleep patterns are somewhat affecting my partner. I try not to disturb him, so he usually doesn’t notice how long I have been awake and goes back to sleep. The strategies that have been useful or could be useful to improve my sleep patterns include avoiding stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine and nicotine before bed and adjustments to my medication as determined by my health professional.

I usually do not have trouble falling asleep, but wake after 2-4 hours and then cannot get back to sleep, no matter how comfortable I am in bed or what I try of the above strategies. Most days I can somehow still function very well at work, but occasionally it all hits at once and I struggle through the day and with driving. I feel like my core body temperature has changed since PD, whether through the PD itself or the meds, and sometimes wonder if my waking might be something to do with this. I used to hate the cold, but notice the heat more since my PD. When tired, I feel the cold more so go to sleep rugged up, then sometimes wake up too warm as my meds wear off. I have never been a great sleeper (though not this bad), so don’t really know if it the PD is causing the sleep problems or not. I tried melatonin but that hasn’t done anything, My GP has suggested trying HRT next so not sure how that will interact with my PD and/or meds either. Would like to know more about menopause & PD, and work & PD too.

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