Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-c75p9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-28T09:03:55.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thirty Years' War: A Battle with Insomnia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. R. Newton ,
C. Shapiro  and
A. Stewart
J. R. Newton*
Affiliation:
Royal Edinburgh Hospital
C. Shapiro
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
A. Stewart
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Hospital, Craigleith Road, Edinburgh
*
∗ Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A 72-year-old man with a 30-year complaint of intractable insomnia had a positive family history of depression. He first came to psychiatric attention in 1958, after attacking his wife. He was prescribed barbiturates, and later was given meprobamate and nitrazepam, but with no effect on his complaint. The patient tended to increase the dosage of any drug given, of his own accord. EEG sleep recording confirmed the diagnosis of nocturnal myoclonus. It was hoped that at the case conference further treatment stratagems would be suggested.

Information

Type
Case Conference
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 154 , Issue 5 , May 1989 , pp. 691 - 696
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Billiard, M., Besset, A. & Passouont, P. (1978) Treatment of chronic insomnia: long term follow-up. Sleep Research, 7, 210.Google Scholar
Kales, A., Bixler, E. O., Soldatos, C. R. et al (1982) The role of sleep apnea and nocturnal myoclonus in insomnia. Psychosomatics, 23, 589–595.Google Scholar
Lipinski, J. F., Zubenko, G. S., Barriera, P., et al (1983) Propranolol in the treatment of neuroleptic induced akathisia. Lancet, ii, 685.Google Scholar
Oshtory, M. & Vijayan, M. (1980) Clonazepam treatment of insomnia due to sleep myoclonus. Archives Neurology, 37, 119–129.Google Scholar
Oswald, I. (1981) Assessment of insomnia. British Medical Journal, 283, 844–875.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parkes, J. D. (1985) Sleep and its disorders. New York: W. Saunders.Google Scholar
Telstad, W., Sorenson, O., Larsen, S. et al (1984) Treatment of restless legs syndrome with carbamazepine: a double blind study. British Medical Journal, 288, 444–446.Google Scholar
Trzepacz, P. T., Violette, E. J. & Sateia, M. J. (1984) Response to opioids in three patients with restless legs syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 993–995.Google Scholar
Weschler, L. R., Stakes, J. W., Shahani, O. T., et al (1986) Periodic leg movements of sleep (nocturnal myoclonus): an electrophysiological study. Annals of Neurology, 19, 168–173.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.