Advice

Is it typical for people with dementia to sleep a lot during the day?

I have a identical twin sister that is in late stage dementia. Should I expect this will happen to me also? We are 82 years old.

My husband has had dementia for about 6 years. He’s very easy going and can do a few things himself. But he sure sleeps a lot and some nights he punches and yells. I have to wake him up cause he hits me.I wanted to bring help in. But he doesn’t want me to. I don’t get a lot of sleep because he has to be squeezed up against me at all times.

First stages of dementia doctors wanted to put her in hospice but I wanted to take care of her as well as three other siblings now my mom got her way back I got her to start eating and interacting she's playing with the computer now but my sister means her time to watch her she tells you to go down and go lay down tell her to go lay down throughout the day then when I go over I have her get up just stop laying down what should I do

Has anyone found a person with dementia standing up sleeping? Hanging on to a towel rack in bathroom or hanging on to tall dresser - just standing - maybe stiff - not sure. She got mad when i tried to move her.

Hello my mother is 94 she has gone on dementia medication a week ago and mum tends now to sleep all day and night she is refusing her food but having ensure drinks this is worrying me it’s been like 3 days now not eating will it be her dementia or the new medication thanks

My 78 year old husband was diagnosed with Dementia in Alzheimer’s Atypical in February 2021. I find his symptoms very confusing. He eats very well but is steadily losing weight. His long term memory is amazing but he can’t dress himself, use a phone or operate the tv. The first few hours after waking up In the morning he is like a helpless child but later in the day he can hold a good conversation with me and still has a good sense of humour.. He is an avid tv watcher and watches the same few programs over and over. He recognises people but shows no interest in their conversation or lives. He has OCD and all his belongings and clothes etc have to be placed exactly in the same place everyday. He sleeps about 16 hours a day, getting up about 3 times to use the toilet at night without my help. He doesn’t like me to go out for more than an hour but doesn’t like going out himself and won’t have anyone in to sit with him. He is waiting for knee replacement surgery and is inconstant pain, which doesn’t help. I am so tired. I am not alone but am very lonely. I rarely see anyone other than my husband and would love to have some sort of social life. I feel guilty for feeling selfish and don’t know how I’m going to cope when my husband’s condition progresses.

My wife of 58 years has dementia since 2016. Both of us are 82. I am her sole care giver. I have her on an excellent routine and I am blessed that she still has her great disposition and we are both in fine physical condition. We live in a rather remote rural area in the Pocono Mountains of PA, USA, so my main concern is that I worry if anything drastic should happened to me. She can't use the phone and would be confused and helpless. How do I set up a contingency plan for emergencies?

My mum has vascular dementia, after a stroke, and has recently started to sleep a lot in the morning, even when the carers come in, and in the afternoon, so I can't go out, as I can't leave herself, she also talks in her sleep, and if I leave to go to the toilet, or kitchen, she wonders where I am, and thinks I'm somewhere else

So much here that rings a bell. Emotionally I've just sort of switched off in order to survive but I'm so tired. I go to bed exhausted I get up exhausted. None of what I do is hard. It's just unending.
Andy

My father-in-law can actually nod off in between eating his food Wether a cup of tea or hot meal.he does have dementia and acute deafness. 90 years old.looks like its got a hold of him unfortunately

My wife has been admitted to hospital, yesterday she was being discharged tomorrow or Friday 25th/3/2022. She looked like someone who had taken drugs of someone, I asked the nurse who was her named nurse, said no, I asked for a doctor a consultant came and said she was suffering delirium so we anithatised because she was lying over the arm of the chair, I asked if if anyone had called the Parkinson’s consultant. No was the answer, I am her consultant. He said she was suffering delirium so that’s why we did that, now is there abuse, neglect taking place here all they wanted to do is to keep her quiet as the nursing staff don’t have time to treat her properly.

My husband has VCI, and he falls asleep at around 3 or 4 every night. Gets up at 11 or 12:00. Is this due to his VCI diagnosis?

I'm sleeping more during the day but staying up later at night. My regular bed time is 12:30. But now I can stay up until around 2am. I'm a long term survivor living with HIV. 35yrs. now

Hello folks,
I totally connect with what you are all going through.
My mum was diagnosed with Fronto-Temporal Dementia in Sept 2019 at the age of 87 . However, she insisted on living alone and refused all help from family as well as home-help , etc.
It had become obvious to the family for a few years before her diagnosis that some of her daily actions were becoming atypical and irrational; but we could not get past her insistence that all was well .
She has now been in full-time residential dementia care since March 2020 . Up until that point I did everything ( as her eldest daughter) I could to help her , until I received a call one Sunday morning from paramedics to say they they received a 999 call from one of mum’s neighbours; because she was seen trying to climb over the balcony of her first-floor flat with a shopping trolley having lost her front door keys ( for the umpteenth time) and could not get out to go shopping . All the emergency services arrived and rescued her .
Apparently ( there are some amusing snippets) , she told one of the Firemen that she was always sports-keen at school and had ‘no fear of climbing’ !!!
Yes, there’s relief that that cascade of events propelled her (3 slow months later!) into dementia care , including the one subsequently when she tried to hit me with a book when I arrived at her flat with a cooked meal ( as I normally did 6 days a week) and the intention to help clean her bathroom (I had a copy of her door key) . On that day I had to call the local Emergency Adult Social Services number and was advised to call an ambulance ; the crew arrived having been pre-briefed by me ; they persuaded mum she needed a blood test , took her to A&E and I followed in my car.
She was seen by a consultant neurologist and was , from that day onwards kept in the Dementia ward at our local hospital for 5 weeks ( medicated well) until I found her a Care Home.
Safer and looked after thankfully .
My on-going work now is….wait for it - having the total burden of the Deputyship for her financial affairs from the Court of Protection.
Absolutely nothing was put in place by mum for her future plans . So , if any if you out there are caring for loved-ones with no ‘paperwork’ in place , do ensure you try to do all that’s required before any diagnosis comes ; as it is not accepted legally for the affected person to sign any official documentation where their cognitive ability is compromised.
Even if you suspect your loved-one is showing some unusual signs , tell someone ( GP, Social Services) you suspect things aren’t right.
Only when my mum eventually passes away will the weight of her illness and my totally immersive background work on her behalf be lifted.
Mum is 90 in May this year - she’s got a better social life than I have😊 !
I hope this communication will help anyone with a similar scenario and I totally support the stress that relatives/friends have to endure consistent with the parallel of Dementia care .
‘The heavier the storm, the brighter the rainbow’. Chin up !

My father had long had disturbed sleep at night , shouting , laughing, thrashing around, punching the wall or falling out of bed. I think it contributed to my mother's deteriorating health as she tried to continue sharing a bed but evenually had to give up . Years after her death I know that when I went on holiday with my father his nightly shouting etc from the next room would disturb my sleep. It is more difficult to support a person if one's own sleep is being regularly disturbed , so it is vital for any carer to find a way to get better sleep.
Despite my father having regular appointments with a Neurology department (as it was suspected he might have signs of Parkinson's disease) nobody seemed to spot or hint that this sleep pattern over many years could be linked to Lewy Body dementia . At every appointment we stressed how tired and unrefreshed he felt after a night's "sleep", and lacking in energy in the day. He was discharged from contact with Neurology and only much later , and when he started to have hallucinations, was a likely diagnosis of Lewy Body disease put forward.