I am a scientist that was diagnosed a few years ago with sleepwalking. I have a relatively mild version of it: I probably wouldn't know about it if it wasn't for my partner complaining about it!!
What can I do about sleepwalking?
At first I did the regular thing: went to see some sleep specialist and spent a night at a sleep clinic. But nothing came out of it: no one had an idea as to why I sleepwalk, what causes it and what would help/prevent it.
So I started what I do daily: researched the scientific/medical literature to gather what's known about sleepwalking. And realized there isn't that much. Some extreme cases are described, a variety of treatments are suggested and some brain activity data have been established. But there is nothing close to a "mechanism of action" or even a drug regulatory approved for sleepwalking (all the drugs prescribed are approved for ... insomnia!!).
Then I realized that I am a case study to try to further understand sleepwalking and what can be done about it.
Why this blog?
After spending some time studying my sleepwalking I want to share my findings and the specifics of my case. By doing so I am hoping to:
- provide a better picture of what a mild case of sleepwalking looks like.
- provide longitudinal data of my sleepwalking and different treatment/factors to contribute developing a database of sleepwalking: the best way to fully understand sleepwalking is by collecting as much data about it from as many sources as possible
- generate more interest toward sleepwalking, particularly from people affected by it. For example by putting sleepwalkers in contact and by developing approaches to further expand that database of sleepwalking
- contribute to the development of new technologies to identify sleepwalking and parasomnia in general.
What is in this blog?
A compilation of my own research data about sleepwalking. Not done in any GXP way and thus not a definitive answer for any of the subjects covered.
All data presented here are relevant to 1 patient: myself. Every patient is different and thus those data might not be translatable to another patient. But that's why sharing those data and trying to have more people do the same would only help better understand sleepwalking.
How is this blog structured?
See the latest update.
Please my friend don't stop this blog. I have the same problem as you and really want to understand more about it.
ReplyDeleteVery much. Thanks for reading it.
ReplyDeleteI am still actively compiling data but will post less frequently as I am now looking at much harder questions (treatments for example) needing a lot of time (and data).