January 1, 2025
Welcome to The Climb, your weekly journey with Lifecycle Sherpa, where we explore Parkinson’s Disease, its symptoms, treatments, tips, techniques, and build a supportive and knowledgeable community.
This week’s trail leads us to… Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep Behavior Disorder.
Question: What is it, how is it experienced and why does it happen?
Answer: Acting out dreams. This includes talking and even screaming in your sleep, limb jerking and other movements. It can result in falling out of bed and/or injuring your bed partner. Interestingly, dreams can also become more violent in nature.
This occurs as a result of degeneration of the brainstem, which results in lack of muscle atonia during sleep, or inability to stop sending information to the muscles during sleep.
Tips to address Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep Behavior Disorder:
- Bed partner may have to move to another bed
- Remove sharp objects from around the bed area
- Install a bed rail or put pillows around the edge of the bed to decrease risk of falling out Put a crash pad on the floor in case they fall out
We always encourage feedback, as it helps us enhance our community. Feel free to reach out regarding future topics you want to learn about, or how we can improve your experience.
See you next week!