Does anyone have sleep prpblems that they attribute to MS?
I have had sleep problems on and off for as long as I can remember but more recently they are pretty constant. Firstly I have no problem getting to sleep but staying asleep is another thing entirely! I can wake up the first time as soon as 30 mins after I have gone to bed! My main problem though is what I call ‘waking dreams!’ Numerous times throughout the night I ‘wake up’ but am obviously still in a dream state. I look around the bedroom trying to make sense of ‘something that has changed’-ie the colour of the wardrobe looks different or the shape of the mirror-(last week I opened all the wardrobe doors as I was convinced they had ‘changed’) Sometimes I look for ‘the control panel for the air conditioning’ (there is no such thing-we don’t have air conditioning!) I have even searched the bedside table drawers for the tablets that I have forgotten to take for weeks (no they don’t exist) Last night I was expecting someone to come and replace the flooring in my bedroom so kept having to feel the floor to see if they had been yet!!!
Every time I feel like I am awake (I think my eyes are open becuase what I can see plays such a big part) and I am desperately trying to dredge my mind for the information that I need but of course the information doesn’t exist. It is driving me potty, Does anyone have anything similar? Has it been attributed to MS and have you found anything to stop it happening or help?
hi belle
this heatwave has put paid to sleep for me.
those waking dreams sound very freaky!
see your GP because “sleep hygiene” seems to be a new buzz word, he or she may be able to offer something to help.
don’t dismantle the room because you will only have to reassemble it later!
1 Like
It doesn’t sound like it is due to MS. But I think it is an anxiety dream so if you are anxious about your MS diagnosis, then it is. By the way, thinking things have changed from what they used to be is sometimes a symptom of depression. This is all supposition on my part. I am not a qualified doctor or anything, but I used to be a Enrolled Nurse(Mental) years ago.
Hello Belle
That sounds very unsettling and scary.
I’d agree with Carole and suggest you see your GP. But you perhaps need to be quite clear with your GP about exactly what’s been occurring, just as coherently as you have to us. You don’t want to end up being prescribed something that could make it worse. For example, I take Zopiclone to help with sleep, but as it’s possible for it to be a bit hallucinogenic, it could cause more problems than it solves.
A drug that is more sedating might help. Even if it’s just for a couple of weeks to help you get back into a better sleep pattern and then taper it off, just to see if it makes things better. (Like Diazepam perhaps.)
Sue
Thank you ladies I think I will try and see the GP. I will write it down though because you are quite right I do not want anything that is going to make it worse and I am totally rubbish at explaining my symptoms-I think it’s a symptom in itself as whenever I try I find it incredibly difficult to even think about it-let alone explain it in a coherent way!
Belle
Print out what you wrote in your initial post (or even the whole thread), it made total sense and you can offer that as an explanation to the GP.
Sue
2 Likes
Hi Belle, I once had terrible insomnia. but after a couple of years on Diazepam and then onto Zopiclone which I found helped in fact for a while they were a life saver. I have slowly cut out both these now . I now take Melatonin which you cannot buy in the UK Pharmacy’s my daughter who goes back and fourth from the USA buys them in heath food shops or pharmacy’s over there. I don’t know what the reason you cannot get them here. So I have Serotonin by day and Melatonin by night. Good luck to whatever you try. A good nights sleep is so important. Best wishes Kielyn
Melatonin is easily available on-line from mainland Europe. Not that it did much for me, I must say. For people who (sensibly) prefer to know for sure what they’re getting, however, I understand that there is a prescribable melatonin med available from the GP and that I have heard good things about.
Alison
Mmm that is an interesting way to look at it. I hadn’t really thought about it that way but yes I suppose I am anxious in all of my ‘waking dreams’ regardless of what the dream is about! In all of them I am searching either physically or mentally for something that really does not exist at all! You have definitely given me food for thought! Thank you.
I went to see the GP yesterday (I was stunned I rang at 9am and he saw me at 10am!) He thinks it could be a form of sleepwalking that has been brought on by anxiety which in turn is a symptom of my MS as I personally am not worried or anxious about anything. He was really nice and has initially asked me to take beta blockers to see if that has any impact.I will go back and see him in two weeks and he has said that if they don;t work there are lot of other options.