Disturbances of sleep perception in a group of multiple sclerosis patients: A case report

Abstract

Sleep misperception, whether severe enough to qualify as paradoxical insomnia or not, is common in a number of neurological and psychiatric conditions. The objective was to assess sleep perception in a group of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. As part of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved trial designed to assess the efficacy of eszopiclone versus placebo in improving MS patients’ sleep continuity, we observed a pattern of both paradoxical and reverse paradoxical insomnia in a small number of participants. Eight participants (26.7%) had some degree of misperception at some point during the study. Six (20%) had reverse paradoxical insomnia and two (6.7%) had paradoxical insomnia. This is a preliminary observation that we hope will increase awareness of the condition of misperception of sleep in subjects with MS. (Clin. Exp. Neuroimmunol. doi: 10.1111/j.1759‐1961.2010.00012.x, 2010)

Sleep disturbances in patients with multiple sclerosis

“…Waking up too early has been described as a common problem of the MS patient [2, 13]. Although Attarian et al [23] observed misperception of sleep in MS patients, their subjective complaints of problems with falling asleep and awakenings during the night were confirmed by the results of the Multiple Sleep Latency Test [5], polysomnography [24] and actigraphy [11]. …”