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Chapter 31 - Pharmacotherapy and parasomnias

from Section 6 - Therapy of parasomnias

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

By
Rafael Pelayo  and
Deepti Sinha
Edited by
Michael J. Thorpy  and
Giuseppe Plazzi
Michael J. Thorpy
Affiliation:
Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
Giuseppe Plazzi
Affiliation:
Università di Bologna
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Summary

This chapter reviews pharmacological options in the treatment of parasomnias in adults and children. It separately reviews the use of clonazepam, melatonin, tricyclic anti-depressants and other medications for arousal parasomnias, REM behavior disorder and bruxism. Clonidine is one of the most commonly prescribed medications for sleep in children despite the absence of any randomized control trials supporting its use. Clonazepam is the treatment of choice in adults with REM sleep behavior disorder. Sleep bruxism treatment options include dental splints, behavioral techniques, and medications. Due to the potential role of rise in sympathetic activity in the pathophysiology of sleep bruxism, sympatholytic medications have been investigated for their efficacy in treating sleep bruxism. L-Tryptophan has been studied for the sleep bruxism and isolated sleep paralysis. The anti-convulsant topiramate is reported to be effective for sleep-related eating disorder (SRED).

Keywords

drowsinessexploding head syndromehypnagogic hallucinationssensory deprivationpathophysiologynocturnal visual hallucinationshypnopompic hallucinationsmetabolic brain disease
Type
Chapter
Information
The Parasomnias and Other Sleep-Related Movement Disorders , pp. 301 - 311
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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