Tapentadol and Sleepwalking: A Case Report.

OBJECTIVE: This is a case report of a patient with sleepwalking likely caused by tapentadol ER secondary to higher than the recommended dose for the treatment of pain. METHODS: This report presents the relevant patient history, laboratory data and literature review on possible causes of this patient's sleepwalking. RESULTS: A 39-year-old female reported sleepwalking as the dose of tapentadol increased above the recommended maximum provided in the package insert. The mechanism of action of tapentadol involving norepinephrine reuptake inhibition affecting the central nervous system, higher dosage and drug interactions with other home medications likely contributed to her sleepwalking. CONCLUSION: This case highlights the importance of adhering to the recommended dosage of a medication and if it is clinically warranted to exceed the maximum recommended dose, the importance of diligent monitoring for any adverse effects.

A safety signal of somnambulism with the use of antipsychotics and lithium: A pharmacovigilance disproportionality analysis.

AIMS: Antipsychotics and lithium are widely used in psychiatry, particularly in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Recently, some cases of somnambulism or sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) have been reported in patients treated with these drugs. This study investigated the risk of reporting somnambulism or SRED associated with the use of antipsychotics and lithium. METHODS: The World Health Organization pharmacovigilance database (VigiBase), comprising >18 million adverse events, was queried. All somnambulism or SRED reports related to antipsychotics or lithium were identified. The association between antipsychotics or lithium and somnambulism or SRED was computed using the proportional reporting ratio (PRR) and information component. RESULTS: Among the 5784 cases reporting somnambulism or SRED, 508 suspected at least 1 antipsychotic or lithium. Most patients were aged 18-64 years (62.0%), and 37.0% were men. In most cases (77.6%), antipsychotic or lithium were the only drug class involved, and 53.3% of cases suspected quetiapine. Somnambulism was reported in 88.6% of cases and SRED in 18.1%. A significant association was found for second-generation antipsychotics (PRR 3.44, 95% confidence interval 3.13) and lithium (PRR 2.03, [1.22; 3.37]), but not for first-generation antipsychotics (PRR 0.99, [0.68; 1.44]). CONCLUSIONS: We found a significant signal of somnambulism or SRED related to second-generation antipsychotics and lithium. While case reports mentioned mostly quetiapine and olanzapine, almost all second-generation antipsychotics were associated with somnambulism or SRED.

Successful Treatment of Somnambulism With OROS-Methylphenidate.

None: Somnambulism is a non-rapid eye movement sleep parasomnia with potential for significant injury as well as functional nighttime and daytime impairment. Clonazepam is frequently used as first line pharmacotherapy. However, the optimal treatment of somnambulism has not been established. In this article, we present the cases of two patients with severe somnambulism who showed a significant therapeutic response to osmotic release oral system methylphenidate (OROS-MPH). In addition to its practical therapeutic implications, this first report of the successful treatment of somnambulism with OROS-MPH may provide additional insight into the neurobiological underpinnings of this medical condition.

Trauma associated sleep disorder: a proposed parasomnia encompassing disruptive nocturnal behaviors, nightmares, and REM without atonia in trauma survivors.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To characterize the clinical, polysomnographic and treatment responses of patients with disruptive nocturnal behaviors (DNB) and nightmares following traumatic experiences. METHODS: A case series of four young male, active duty U.S. Army Soldiers who presented with DNB and trauma related nightmares. Patients underwent a clinical evaluation in a sleep medicine clinic, attended overnight polysomnogram (PSG) and received treatment. We report pertinent clinical and PSG findings from our patients and review prior literature on sleep disturbances in trauma survivors. RESULTS: DNB ranged from vocalizations, somnambulism to combative behaviors that injured bed partners. Nightmares were replays of the patient's traumatic experiences. All patients had REM without atonia during polysomnography; one patient had DNB and a nightmare captured during REM sleep. Prazosin improved DNB and nightmares in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: We propose Trauma associated Sleep Disorder (TSD) as a unique sleep disorder encompassing the clinical features, PSG findings, and treatment responses of patients with DNB, nightmares, and REM without atonia after trauma.

Biperiden for treatment of somnambulism in adolescents and adults with or without epilepsy: clinical observations.

BACKGROUND: Sleepwalking in adolescents and adults may lead to serious injuries and require treatment. Anecdotal treatment recommendations include benzodiazepines (which also work in focal seizures of the frontal lobe that are an important differential diagnosis), imipramine and amitriptyline. METHODS: We assessed in a follow-up study of 4 years (medium, range: 2-7 years) the usefulness of the antiparkinsonian drug biperiden (Akineton©), an acetylcholine antagonist with high affinity for muscarinic M1-type receptors, in four consecutive cases of arousal disorder with sleepwalking and confusional behavior in adolescents and adults with or without epilepsy who did not respond to diazepam, clonazepam or amitriptyline. FINDINGS: The adjunctive use of biperiden was associated with reduction or remission of sleepwalking episodes in four consecutive treatment-refractory cases of arousal disorder with sleepwalking and confusional behavior. In contrast, biperiden showed no effect in a patient with REM behavioral disorder. INTERPRETATION: Although our observations do not and cannot establish the efficacy or safety of biperiden, it may be useful to consider biperiden for treatment of sleepwalking, if needed. A putative cholinergic mechanism of arousal disorders, including sleepwalking, provides a reasonable hypothesis why the anticholinergic agent biperiden might work. Evidence for efficacy and safety from randomized controlled trials is needed to confirm our preliminary observations.

Low dose quetiapine in the treatment of an adolescent with somnambulism: a case report.

Somnambulism or sleepwalking is a sleep disorder of arousal. Compared to in adults, pediatric and adolescent sleep disorders is still under-researched and poorly described. We report the successful use of low dose quietiapine, an atypical antipsychotic, in the treatment of a 15-year-old Indian male who presented with significant somnambulism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the use of quetiapine for the treatment of somnambulism in the literature. The presence of high voltage delta waves in sleepwalkers has been offered as a possible explanation for the patho-physiology of sleepwalking Quetiapine has been reported to decrease brain delta activity, and we postulate that this may be the mechanism on how it was beneficial for our patient.

Sleepwalking, a possible side effect of antipsychotic medication.

Two case examples and a review of the sleep literature illustrate the potential of antipsychotic medication to trigger sleepwalking episodes in the context of schizophrenia. Causative hypotheses are briefly reviewed, as well as risk factors, differential diagnosis, and management. Sleepwalking may contribute to delusions, aggression, and accidental suicide. It is important to investigate sleep disorders in schizophrenia. They are not rare and may contribute to behavior that increases the stigma and isolation of individuals with schizophrenia.

Melatonin and sleep-related problems in children with intractable epilepsy.

Children with epilepsy have high rates of sleep problems. Melatonin has been advocated in treatment of sleep disorders, and its beneficial effect has been confirmed in insomnia. The aim of this study was to assess melatonin levels in children with intractable epilepsy and its relation to pattern of sleep and characteristics of seizure disorder, as well as the effect of melatonin therapy on those parameters. The study was conducted on 23 children with intractable epilepsy and 14 children with controlled seizures. Patients were evaluated by psychometric sleep assessment and assay of diurnal and nocturnal melatonin levels. Children with intractable epilepsy received oral melatonin before bedtime. They were reassessed after 3 months. Children with intractable epilepsy had higher scores for each category of sleep walking, forcible teeth grinding, and sleep apnea. At the end of therapeutic trial, patients with intractable epilepsy exhibited significant improvement in bedtime resistance, sleep duration, sleep latency, frequent nocturnal arousals, sleep walking, excessive daytime sleepiness, nocturnal enuresis, forcible teeth grinding, sleep apnea, and Epworth sleepiness scores. There was also significant reduction in seizure severity. Thus, use of melatonin in patients with intractable seizures was associated with improvement of both many sleep-related phenomena and the severity of seizures.

Sleepwalking in patients with Parkinson disease.

OBJECTIVE: To report the occurrence of adult-onset (de novo) sleepwalking in a series of 6 patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD). DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Outpatient clinic for movement disorders. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of 165 consecutive patients with PD seen for 2 years, 6 patients with adult-onset sleepwalking were identified. These patients underwent a systematic clinical assessment of their extrapyramidal and sleep problems, which included standard questionnaires, clinical examination, and estimation of PD severity (motor score of the Unified PD Rating Scale and Hoehn and Yahr stage). Five of 6 patients had a video-polysomnography recording that was scored according to international criteria. RESULTS: Patients included 3 women and 3 men with a mean (+/-SD) age of 66 +/- 12 years (range, 46-78 years). The mean (+/-SD) Unified PD Rating Scale score was 25 +/- 9 (range, 10-35) and the mean (+/-SD) Hoehn and Yahr stage was 2.5 +/- 1.0 (range, 1.0-4.0). Medications in these patients included levodopa (n = 6), dopamine agonists (n = 4), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (n = 3), and hypnotics (n = 3). All patients had at least 1 concomitant sleep-wake disorder, including rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (n = 4) and insomnia (n = 4). In 2 of 6 patients, the latency between onset of PD and appearance of sleepwalking was more than 4 years. CONCLUSION: Neurodegenerative changes associated with PD at the brainstem level can affect the "ascending" control of state transition (leading to dissociated arousals from non-rapid eye movement and/or rapid eye movement sleep) and the "descending" control of locomotion and muscle tone, together giving rise to various sleep-associated behavioral disturbances including sleepwalking, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, and overlap parasomnia.

[Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder that responds to topiramate]. / Sindrome de ingesta nocturna relacionada con el sueno con respuesta al topiramato.

INTRODUCTION: Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder is a non-REM sleep parasomnia that is associated to other sleep disorders, especially sleepwalking. It becomes chronic, is not remitting and consists in episodes of compulsive eating during the night, which are then partially or completely forgotten by the patient. This condition must be differentiated from night-eating syndrome, which is far more common and is linked to endocrinological and psychiatric disorders, as well as to other disorders involving eating behaviour during sleeping hours. CASE REPORT: A 28-year-old male who had suffered from the clinical picture every day for 10 years; this condition consisted in nocturnal episodes of binge eating in a state of semi-sleepiness, with no remembrance of what had happened the next morning. The patient had no history of psychiatric pathologies or any other eating disorder, but he did not rest adequately at night, was overweight and had a family and personal history of other sleep disorders. Since he did not respond to other treatments, we decided to try therapy with topiramate; as a result, the episodes disappeared, tolerance was excellent and effectiveness was maintained throughout the two years' follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In this paper we review eating disorders that occur during sleep, nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder and its therapeutic possibilities, while highlighting the usefulness of topiramate to treat this condition.

Síndrome de ingesta nocturna relacionada con el sueño con respuesta al topiramato / Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder that responds to topiramite

El síndrome de ingesta nocturna relacionada con el sueño es una parasomnia de sueño no REM, asociadaa otros trastornos del sueño, en especial al sonambulismo, crónica, no remitente y que consiste en episodios de ingesta compulsiva de alimento durante la noche con amnesia parcial o completa del episodio. Este cuadro debe ser diferenciado del síndrome de la cena durante el sueño, que es mucho más frecuente y se asocia a trastornos endocrinos y psiquiátricos, y deotros trastornos de la conducta alimentaria durante el sueño. Caso clínico. Varón de 28 años, con un cuadro diario de, al menos, 10 años de duración, consistente en episodios nocturnos de ingesta compulsiva en un estado de semisomnolencia, con amnesia del suceso a la mañana siguiente. El paciente no tenía historia de patología psiquiátrica o de otro trastorno de la alimentación,pero sí un descanso nocturno pobre, sobrepeso y antecedentes familiares y personales de otros trastornos del sueño.No respondió a otros tratamientos, por lo que se probó el topiramato con casi total desaparición de los episodios, excelente tolerancia y mantenimiento de la eficacia durante dos años de seguimiento. Conclusiones. Revisamos en este artículo lostrastornos de la conducta alimentaria durante el sueño, el síndrome de ingesta nocturna relacionada con el sueño y sus posibilidades terapéuticas, señalando la utilidad del topiramato en este cuadro

Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder is a non-REM sleep parasomnia that is associated to othersleep disorders, especially sleepwalking. It becomes chronic, is not remitting and consists in episodes of compulsive eating during the night, which are then partially or completely forgotten by the patient. This condition must be differentiated fromnight-eating syndrome, which is far more common and is linked to endocrinological and psychiatric disorders, as well as to other disorders involving eating behaviour during sleeping hours. Case report. A 28-year-old male who had suffered from the clinical picture every day for 10 years; this condition consisted in nocturnal episodes of binge eating in a state of semisleepiness,with no remembrance of what had happened the next morning. The patient had no history of psychiatric pathologies or any other eating disorder, but he did not rest adequately at night, was overweight and had a family and personal history of other sleep disorders. Since he did not respond to other treatments, we decided to try therapy with topiramate; as a result, the episodes disappeared, tolerance was excellent and effectiveness was maintained throughout the two years’ follow-up.Conclusions. In this paper we review eating disorders that occur during sleep, nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder and its therapeutic possibilities, while highlighting the usefulness of topiramate to treat this condition

Coexistence of epileptic nocturnal wanderings and an arachnoid cyst.

Episodic nocturnal wanderings (ENWs) have rarely been associated with gross abnormalities of brain structures. We describe the case of a patient with ENWs in coexistence with an arachnoid cyst (AC). The patient was a 15-year-old boy who presented with nocturnal attacks characterized by complex motor behaviors. An MRI revealed a left temporal cyst and a SPECT Tc99 scan showed left temporal hypoperfusion and bilateral frontal hyperperfusion, more evident on the right side. During an all-night polysomnographic recording with audiovisual monitoring, dystonic posture followed by sleepwalking-like behavior was documented. The sleepwalking-like behavior was preceded by a spike discharge over the left frontocentral region with contralateral projection and secondary generalization during stage 2 sleep. Treatment with levetiracetam produced a striking remission of seizures. This supports a conservative management of an AC, considering that it may be an incidental finding. In epileptic patients, an AC may not necessarily be related to the location of the seizure focus.

Somnambulism (sleepwalking).

Somnambulism is an arousal parasomnia consisting of a series of complex behaviours that result in large movements in bed or walking during sleep. It occurs in 2-14% of children and 1.6-2.4% of adults. Occasional benign episodes are managed conservatively. However, recurrent sleepwalking with a risk of injury to self or others mandates immediate treatment with pharmacotherapy while awaiting work-up. The most commonly used medications are benzodiazepines, particularly clonazepam, with tricyclic antidepressants and serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors also administered. Treatment of underlying causes such as obstructive sleep apnoea, upper airway resistance syndrome, restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements, is currently the best approach and usually eliminates somnambulism in children and adults.

Risperidone is effective for wandering and disturbed sleep/wake patterns in Alzheimer's disease.

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), especially aggressiveness, wandering, and sleep disturbance, are a major burden for caregivers. Daily sleep/wake patterns and wandering of institutionalized patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were visually monitored, and 34 patients who manifested wandering were selected and randomly classified into 2 groups: the risperidone group and the nonrisperidone group. After an administration of low-dose risperidone for the risperidone group, the BPSD were reassessed. The binding potentials of dopamine D2 receptor for preadministration and postadministration of risperidone were assessed using positron emission tomography (PET) for 1 case. After the use of risperidone, aggressiveness and wandering were reduced and the nighttime sleeping hours were increased. The PET revealed that the binding potential of dopamine receptor was increased after administration of the drug, associated with improved sleep/wake patterns and behavioral abnormality. Possible serotonergic modulation of dopaminergic function might explain the neurobiological basis of the effect of risperidone.

Sexual behavior in sleep, sleepwalking and possible REM behavior disorder: a case report.

Seven cases of sexual behavior during sleep (SBS) have been recently reported. The subjects had histories of behavioral parasomnias as well as positive family histories of parasomnia. A 27 year-old man with a history of sexual behavior during sleep was reported. His sleep history disclosed sleepwalking (SW) since 9 years of age. He also developed episodes of highly disruptive and violent nocturnal behavior with dream enactment at age 20 years, which often resulted in physical injuries either to himself or his wife and infant. His wife also reported episodes of amnestic sexual behavior that began 4 years before referral. During the episodes, the patient typically procured his wife, achieving complete sexual intercourse with total amnesia. Physical and neurological diagnostic workups were unremarkable. Family history disclosed sleepwalking in his brother. He was put on 2mg/day of bedtime clonazepam with a remarkable clinical improvement. This case involves either the combination of violent and non-violent sleepwalking with SBS, or the superimposition of presumed REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) on top of preexisting SW in a man who also developed SBS in adulthood. Thus, this is a case report of probable parasomnia overlap syndrome.

Long-term, nightly benzodiazepine treatment of injurious parasomnias and other disorders of disrupted nocturnal sleep in 170 adults.

PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy, dose stability, safety, and abuse potential of long-term, nightly benzodiazepine treatment of chronic disorders of disrupted nocturnal sleep. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During a 12-year period, one author evaluated and treated 170 adult referrals for > or = 6 months with nightly benzodiazepine therapy for longstanding, sleep-disruptive disorders: injurious sleepwalking and sleep terrors (69); rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (52); chronic, severe insomnia (25); and restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder (24). RESULTS: Complete/substantial control of the sleep disorders was achieved by 146 patients (86%); 8% had adverse effects requiring medication changes; 2% had relapses of alcohol or chemical abuse requiring hospitalization; another 2% at times misused their medications. A total of 136 patients received clonazepam nightly for a mean 3.5 (+/- 2.4) years, with no significant difference in inital versus final mean dose: 0.77 mg (+/- 0.46) versus 1.10 mg (+/- 0.96). Similar results were obtained with chronic alprazolam treatment and with other benzodiazepine treatments. CONCLUSION: Long-term, nightly benzodiazepine treatment of injurious parasomnias and other disorders of disrupted nocturnal sleep resulted in sustained efficacy in most cases, with low risk of dosage tolerance, adverse effects, or abuse. Data from this study on the treatment of chronic, severe insomnia (a small subset of all insomnia) are not generalizable to the typical insomnia patient.