Melotonin for stopping hand tremors

[gerald-mccarty]

I don’t take melatonin (yet) but I can take my last dose of C/L at 4pm and don’t take my next dose until 6am the ext morning.  I can’t go that long during the day.  My usual time between doses is 5 hours.  I may need to try melatonin.

[George Sharp]

I am very pleased to hear this i shall watch out for that type of reaction, my Doctor has prescribed  Artane take one 3 times a day they seem to work well  George

[smitty7]

What Parkinson medication are you taking? How much and how often? I’m taking CL once every 8 hours. I’m finding about two and a half hours after taking the medication my Tremor seems to get worse I get a little bit of lip quivering sometimes shoulder shrug, and sometimes gate is a little affected. That can occur in various degrees of frequency and intensity. Doesn’t happen all the time. I’m taking the instant release form. Some days I have very little tremors I’m not sure whether I need to take that last dose and an 8-hour interval or if I should take it more frequently during the day and not at night. What’s your experience? Thanks for help

[Susan Schlager]

I don’t know about hand tremors, but it sure helped my husband’s vivid physical dreams.  He was always so tired in the morning and had such physical, vivid dreams that I suggest he take 1 mg of melatonin.  It worked!  When he went to the neurologist, he said it would work because it effected REM portion sleep cycle.  ( I believe I got that correct.)  He eventually had to increase it to 3mg.  We found that 3 mg SR got him through the night without wild dreams.  The regular 3 mg helped but he still had mild sleep disturbances about 4AM.   He now wakes up ready to get up .  Not tired and dragging.  I also get a good nights sleep.  A win win situation.

 

[rm-t]

Susan- Do you find that your husband suffers from any side effects from taking melatonin? My husband also has vivid dreams that disrupt my sleep, and that discussion is on tap for our next doctor visit.

[alan-tobey]

Just as another possibility to throw in here, the good Dr. Gregor of nutrition facts.org discovered that the food densest In melatonin is the pistachio nut,  which seems like worth exploring. I’ve taken 6-1o of the brand  called Wonderful , common in California supermarkets, both at bedtime and occasionally when wide awake at night, and both seem to stimulate the same calming response.

Two reasons that I’m curious about further exploring: 1) The commercial tablets are so inexpensive that they provide no incentive to maintain  adequate quality control . 2. As with some other biological sources of supplements, the “pure” form of the extracted substance can provide a trademark.  But as with other combos such as curcumin  and turmeric, the natural form contains numerous other components  that may offer additional benefits without showing any downside.

if you’re curious, 10 nuts is not an excessive “dose”.  I’m tempted to see if mixing that into a small bowl of vanilla ice cream adds any further benefits . . .

[reuben-altman]

Reading through this thread and thought to add that the sugar in the ice cream would likely counter the melatonin effect.

[gerald-mccarty]

I like the idea of getting melatonin from food rather than taking another tablet.  I will try the pistachios with a bit of “no sugar added” ice cream.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[nikki]

Great tip!  Will have my husband try this, the hand tremors are extreme at times.

[mike-p]

I don’t take PD meds. I’ve noticed too that tremors stop as I approach sleep. My chiropractor said that the part of the brain from where tremors come shuts down during sleep. Haven’t discussed this with my neurologist. Don’t know what role, good or bad, melatonin plays in this.

[david-jacobson]

I take 6mg. (half of a 12mg.pill) nightly. I get good sleep BUT I still get left hand tremors. They stop immediately when I grab my wrist.

[terence]

I have had a Parkinsons tremor in my left arm and hand for about six or seven years. My wife says she knows when I am asleep because the tremor completely stops. I too can feel it go as I drift off to sleep. I have yet to find a full explanation for this. The intensity of the tremor gradually increased but stabilized about a year ago. I often wonder what chemical changes occur in the brain when sleeping which may affect Parkinsons symptoms.
I also have severe lower back pain problems and all drugs fail to reduce the pain. I am told that none of my back pain is Parkinson related, as PD does not cause back pain.
I have a problem turning in bed and it is very difficult finding a comfortable position to sleep. I would normally wake at least once an hour, and often would not sleep at all, either lying on the floor or sitting on a sofa most of the night. About a year ago my consultant prescribed Melatonin every night. Here in the UK Melatonin can normally only be used for a few days to overcome jet lag, but for those with Parkinsons it can be prescribed more long term. At present I can only sleep on my left side with my left shoulder half flat on the bed and my legs straight, but I do sleep for longer using Melatonin.
My consultant says he can do little to help with tremors, but may be my tremor stabilized when I started taking Melatonin. I don’t know, but I do not want to stop taking it to find out.
It would be interesting to hear wider views on:
• Why does my tremor stop when I am asleep?
• What other symptoms change when you sleep (eg. drooling)?
• What sleeping chemicals / hormones might help when you are awake?
• Any Melatonin effects on tremor?
• Turning and getting comfortable in bed
• Choosing the best mattress.
• Can Parkinsons cause lower back pain?
• Are any of these issues related?
• Any really useful links?

[mark-caldwell]

I have found that my pain threshold is a lot lower since I have developed PD. I know that my back pain is caused by 1) arthritis and 2) really tight hamstrings. I am not as diligent in my stretching as I used to be, and that has increased my sleeping pattern difficulty. I don’t think that PD has a definite causal relationship to back pain, but the lower pain threshold makes it more difficult to live with.

[david-jacobson]

Responses to Terence-

My tremors DON’T stop when I sleep. They wake me up and that’s when I grab my wrist or forearm to stop them.

I do drool some.

Turning/respositioning in bed is horrible. I go from left side-to back-to right side every 20-30 minutes, it seems. (Some of the reason is a bad left shoulder.)

[laurie]

Hi Ron, thanks for mentioning Taopatch. I never heard of it and looked it up. Wow, really pricey. What level are you using? Anyone else have any experience with it?

As for melatonin, I used it for years after having breast cancer and it is supposed to be good for cancer prevention. I haven’t had a recurrence and it did help with sleep, but I often had a hangover from it. You are only supposed to use the lowest dose (1 – 3 mg for best results). But when I started getting PD symptoms (last Fall) it made my tremors worse as does any caffeine. But that’s just me and everyone is different. A doctor said I probably became allergic to it because I used it for so long. So I stopped using it and use Clonazepam for sleep and that works great for me.

[laurie]

Ron and all,
Addendum….My hand tremors calm down when I deeply rest, even with slow breathing/meditating and at night in bed when I sleep. Other times I’m tremoring, and I just got on Rytary last week so I hope it will help. So far not much for tremors but I do have a little more energy and better mood.

I would be interested in others’ experience with Rytary and how long it took to get into your system and help the symptoms, keeping in mind we are all different. Gerald, it sounds like you are on it because the dose you take is 5 hours part, like what I have to do.

[abdullah-sirajuddin]

Responses to Terence
Seven years ago I made a sleeping test in sleeping clinic in hospital. I was suffering from frequent waking up during my sleep. I am diagnosed with Sleep Apnea problem. In which my brain wake up more than 40 time in hour due to physical closer of air pass way in my throat during my sleep. This cause the brain to wake up and send signal to the muscle to move all or part of the body making me turn right and left in my sleep. I been using CPAP machine since then (off and on). it is air pumping machine with a face mask to pump air through the throat so the air pass way never closed.

When I don’t use the machine I don’t sleep well & no deep sleep, and I wake up tired and have muscle straining all day. Continues back and shoulder pain.

There was a time when I did not used the machine for more than a year. I do believe this problem caused PD for me, no proof for that.

I still have problem of turning left and right through out me sleep with back and shoulder pain.

[beth-t-browne]

I was taking Melatonin, 3mg every day for years and it did nothing to help sleep.

My tremors do not bother me when sleeping. Just during the day. This week I started taking my Magnesium Glycinate120mg 30 min before sleep. I take it and Melatonin IR/X immediate and extended Release same time. I have sleep long when I do this. I take Pure brand of mag, as I was told it was the best. But it is expensive. If it works, I don’t mind paying.

[mike-p]

My PD brought sleep disturbances along with other symptoms. I take Melatonin before bed and I think it helps me sleep. My chiropractor told me that the part of the brain where tremors originate goes completely off when we sleep and that’s why the tremors stop. I’ve never discussed this specific topic with my neurologist.