Question:
something I've learned has a name - Rhythmic
Movement Disorder - but for sure not a newcomer to THAT - I've
had it since my date of birth!
For my whole life I've been yelled at - punished, kicked out of beds,
etc. I've even been pulled out of a tent during a Boy Scout camping
trip and placed by the fire in a million blankets because they thought
I had hypothermia! :-) I've had a dog bite me too - a dog that was
not amused by my nighttime rocking, didn't understand it, and bit me,
I've even had a friend's brother assume I was "freaking out on drugs
in my bed" :-)
Because it's been a part of my sleep my whole life - I've been wary
to assume it's something that can be even be fixed. It doesn't effect
ME at all - only those around me - it would be sort of NICE to be
able to sleep in the same bed as my wife - so yesterday I went to
a sleep theropist and we talked. He listened to all of my conerns and
in the end put me on a drug - Klonopin - I've seen that name mentioned
here a few times in this NG browsing.
How many of you have RMD? Is there anyone here with it?
I took the Klonopin last night - .5 mg for the first week and if that
doesn't stop it I'm to move to 1 mg at night until I again see the
sleep doctor. So far I rocked away the first night on it - my wife
kicked me out of bed of course, and when she woke me this
morning (in my "computer room" bed) - I was rocking away....
Answer:
Does your RMD include "head banging"? I can't remember what it is called at
the moment...jacinto capi something or another.
I have a niece who is has this...head banging...since childhood. She is now 27
and still does this. Since I have sleep disorders she asked me to help her.
Have not been able to get her to go to a doctor yet :((((
There seems to be very little information on the internet about this. From
what I have read, it occurs in childhood and usually goes away in the teen
years.
Will tell her to get to a doc and ask about the Klonopin.
I've never looked to see if this was a specific diagnosis, but I
suspect it's what I've had all my life. I always rocked myself to and
during sleep, and especially in the lighter stages of sleep. My mother
was not thrilled by my hair in morning when I was a child, and I'm
sure that's why I had very short hair when i was younger. I have grown
out of it a bit, especially since marriage, but since then I've
developed sleep apnea! I found that sleeping in a waterbed made
rocking much harder ( but much more disturbing to my husband when I
did!)
That's an idea! The other option I've considered is putting two single
beds together so my rocking doesn't effect my wife so much - but that's
quite a bit to go through of course. :-)
My rocking calmed down a bit too - but has picked back up again in
recent years. :-(
Very nice to meet you and thanks for sharing this info! Has your RMD
ever caused trouble for your spouse?
I have another bed I can go to - so many nights I'll start out in her bed and
she'll
simply kick me out the first time I wake her with my RMD - I'll go on down to
the spare bed and sleep away.
I can also of course know where your husband is coming from - it's no fun being
the person that causes so many sleepless nights for others either. :-(
Hang in there Katie! If you'd like I can let you know if these prescribed meds do
the trick to stop the rocking and perhaps your hubby can get on them too if he's
interested.
