alzheimers news-napping article caught my attention

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-NAPPING ARTICLE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION

i started taking a noon nap about 12 years ago after i was started on aricept or donepezil for my diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease
normally aricept or donepezil is given at bedtime since it has side effects that can be masked while one is sleeping

those side effects are blurred vision vertigo dizziness abdominal pain diarrhea leg cramps muscle fasciculations fatigue alertness vivid dreams
i still have only leg cramps and muscle fasciculations and alertness and vivid dreams but now i act them out some and but have none of the others
my mother my younger brother and my older brother all took it at night and had no problems with their sleep
i guess i am wired differently 

when i took the aricept or donepezil at night i had no problems going to sleep but about 3-4 hours later i was wide awake unable to go back to sleep

by taking it in the morning i sleep 5 hours at night
i have learned to deal with this side effect by taking a 1-2 hour nap each day
so when you add up the number of hours i sleep each day its usually 7-8 hours 
without that nap i would be zombied out from fatigue

add that to the fact that i cant tolerate caffeine anymore since it drives up my blood pressure
even at lower consumption of coffee
so
its either drink a cup of java each am and take a blood pressure pill 
or
drink dcaff and not take any blood pressure pill and have a normal blood pressure
i chose the latter

so i deal with all this by using napping to catch up on lost sleep
yes i have stopped aricept or donepezil and i slept more at night
however the aricept or donepezil may be one of the reason i havent declined in my memory since i started it so early in my diagnosis
the earlier you start the aricept or donepezil the better and longer it works to slow down symptoms
it does not slow down the disease process though that goes on in the brain

so i have chosen to stay on aricept or donepezil

hopefully the aduhelm or aducanumab infusions i am receiving at ucla does that

naps have been shown to help with mental alertness mood and job performance
but
there is probably a sweet spot where if you nap too much you lose those nap benefits
i have noticed if i dont dream then i seem to reach that sweet spot

this article linked here found that excessive napping may be an early sign of alzheimers disease and maybe could be a contributor to the developing the disease

too late i thought
i am already there

the development of excessive napping led to worsening memory a year later
a decrease in memory also led to excessive napping a year later

its the chicken and egg thing i guess

for me
i know that i function much better each day if i take a nap
without that nap i can tell the drop off i feel later in the day

eg
i only slept 5 hours last night
today i will try to nap at least 2 hours to compensate
trying not to over sleep
i sometimes set my alarm to prevent that
if i dream then i know i overslept

maybe this study doesnt apply to me

the organicgreen doctor