References and Resources
DISCLAIMER: This site is NOT a professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment resource. Use it at your own risk. If you have symptoms of sundowner please consult your doctors first.
Sundown Treatments
Besides medications, there are a few treatments that can be tried for Sundowner’s Syndrome. Music has been used in nursing homes for many years to help calm agitated behavior. Other sounds that sometimes help are recordings of ocean waves or singing birds.
In studies where soothing touch was used to calm a person with Sundowner’s, it only seemed to work with those who were not angry or violent. You can try hand holding, hand massage, or affectionate touch if your loved one isn’t in an angry state.
Some people have even tried aromatherapy treamtents to calm agitation, and more and more nursing homes bring animals into the facility to interact with the patients. The results have been very positive. Reminiscing with your loved one may also be helpful as long as it evokes positive memories from the past.
Herbs such as Ginkgo Biloba and St. John’s Wort have been used to assist patients with dementia and Sundowning Syndrome, as well as Vitamin E, but these may or may not offer some subtle decrease in symptoms. Again, the treatment depends very much upon the individual.
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Light therapy can be especially helpful for people with Sundowning Syndrome, although again, it may or may not diminish symptoms, depending upon the individual. Lightboxes are available that mimic sunlight. The person with Sundowners must sit close to the light for a period of time, although they can do so while watching television, reading, eating, etc. The lightbox is probably best used in the morning hours and can make a big difference if the Sundown patient also suffers from depression.
When You Need Help
No matter how much you want to care for your loved one with Sundowner’s Syndrome, it may eventually become too difficult for you to do so. If that is the case, there are numerous wonderful facilities that will serve as a permanent home for your loved one. These facilities are well-trained to deal with dementia symptoms. In fact, there are special units for the care of Alzheimer’s patients. They are specifically designed to maintain safety and prevent agitation as much as possible.
The social interaction available in nursing facilities is often very beneficial to patients with dementia and Sundowning. Wandering becomes much less dangerous in institutional settings where doors are locked and staff is always available.
If your loved one has lost control of bodily functions, this is one of the hardest things to manage at home. If a person isn’t washed immediately after urinating or defecating, skin infections can develop quickly. There is also an enormous risk of life-threatening bed sores if a patient gets to the point where they are bedridden. In such cases, patients may need to be turned on an hourly basis to prevent bed sores.
If you need help but don’t want to place your loved one in a nursing home, you may be able to locate a home health aide for when you’re at work or even an adult daycare center, which are beginning to sprout up all over the country.
If money is an issue, check into government programs which might help you. Medicaid can often pay for assistance, even in the home.
Whatever you do, make sure you have a support system. Dealing with a person with dementia and/or Sundowning Syndrome is extremely stressful, and in order to take care of your loved one, you must also take care of yourself.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
This is new for me my mom broke her ankle and had to go into a rehab center and I brought her to live with me after that now I feel she has some signs of sundowners I DON,T KNOW WHAT TO DO i HAVE TO WORK AND i HAVE NO REALATIVES IN
My mother has dementia and I have her living in a assisted living apartments in Phoenix, I live in tucson,Her sundowning has gotten worse since she has been up there. The doctor prescribed klonopin for sleep , has been taking it for 3 weeks off and on, (mainly on) also lexpro in the am . I think it is too much she is more depressed and confused and she said she wants to die, and she wants to come back to tucson and live with me or she wants to get her own apartment again but I know that will not work.
She can not live with me as I have to work and she is unable to stay at my house by herself. She is on goverment assistants. I do not know what to do with her. I love her so much but she does not understand about everything.
any suggestions PLEASE
to sburrough,
dont wait until its to late !! godbless your home
Sharon:
Can you get your mother into a home closer to you? Please try not to feel guilty, you can’t bring her home, it is too much. We have my mom home because that is what we promised our dad before he passed. It is just too much. You can’t be everything to everyone. I know that you love your Mom and that it is very hard for you. Maybe if you could get her closer where you could visit more often and watch her care carefully, you would feel better.
Best of luck to you and your mother. My thoughts and prayers are with you, I know how difficult it is for you.
We just had to place my mother in a nursing home. My dad and my mother have been married for more than 40 years, but now they have to be separated because of this awful disease. I feel horrible because I know that when you marry someone it should be until death do you part, and now they are apart and she is aware of it, but she cannot go back home, its too much for dad. She won’t take her medicine and she won’t listen to anyone when they tell her that she is not remembering important things so that makes her dangerous to herself and everyone in the senior apartment complex.
Now she says she wants to come and live with me and my husband, but I know she can’t stay with us either. This is such a horrible feeling, and such a horrible disease. Does anyone else feel like the government knows the root of this disease and why it is affecting so many people? I feel betrayed just like the thousands of people who died from the Tuskegee experiment and other experiments the government secretly led. I feel like my mother is an innocent victim of some secretive experiment or something we have been consuming unknowingly. I’m angry and frustrated…I want my parents to be together until death do them part, I don’t think a nursing home should be the viable solution for our precious loved ones. Lord help us all…the number of people with this disease is said to increase dramatically by 2030. Integrity is in confession and it seems to me that someone needs to confess.
Sharon,
Sharon
Yes you will feel guilty about doing what is best for your mother. There were times shr felt the same about you. Yes you do want what is best for her and she wants what is best for you always. Yes you do Love her enough to protect her even from herself , I work in this field there should be an agency in your area that can help find a place closer to you.Check under Seinors or aging . Just getting her closer to you could help her out greatly , a cell phone with her will help also so she can call you when she is really scared, tell her in front of nursing staff she can call you anytime, let her know what days you will be there to visit her.Have staff mark off her calender days for her. You really are a special person if every parent had a child like you or even a friend like you it really would be a better world.
My husband had endovascular surgery for an AAA 8 days ago. 24 hours after
after surgery, without any prior problems, he went suddenly into
sundowners. It is so stressful now. Up 24 hours period at a time.
I, my daughter and son, along with their spouses are helping. Is
there any medication to help them sleep through night?
We have been dealing with my mother’s Alzheimer’s Disease for almost
seven years. We finally had to switch her Dr. after the first two
years because her physician didn’t diagnose it. I am suffering
with my own health problems and so I can live in with my parents.
Recently my health became too much and now my son and his fiance had
to move in to pick up the slack. My mother’s sundown syndrome has
been an issue for the last four years. It seems like no matter what
we try, we just can’t avoid her agitation in the evening hours. She
is convinced that she is not at home and constantly irritates my
father with her urgency to leave.
This is a terrible disease and I want to cry every time I see my
mother in so much anguish. She was a highly intelligent woman and
you would never guess it to see her now.
I recently was able to make some connections with some of my old friends
from high school and I found it alarming how many of them are struggling
with the same problems. It does make you wonder what could be
causing this disease to be so prevalent in our society.
My mother is in the final stages of small cell cancer – it has entered her spinal canal and we believe it’s moving into the brain as well. She experienced numerous falls at home and wound up in the hospital as a result of a head injury…she has developed sun downing syndrome. We are bringing her home tomorrow, as we feel that this may help alleviate the symptons – it may or may not; we’ll see.
I watch her during “busy time”…eyes closed, doing “something” with her hands – possibly making dinner…not sure. She knows who we are; and to be honest, as sad as I am for her in her state, I am also very fascinated by what I am hearing and witnessing…she talks about things that are very real; just not current, in her life. I am learning a lot about my mom that I never before knew or probably would never have known were this syndrome not present. She is recalling events from her childhood and early 20′s…these memories are real, though not current. It’s a snapshot into her past and I am oddly grateful to be experiencing this with her. She has maybe a couple months left in this world and I’m still learning new things about her. She’s not scared; as a matter of fact, I caught her smiling with her eyes closed and hands feverishly working away (looked like she was getting things out of an imaginary cabinet)…she’s utterly adorable.
To all of you. My family and I have been living with Alzeheimers and are learning more about Sundoweners everyday. We still don’t understand it. My mother lives next door to me, we are in our 3rd year of knowing she has Alzeheimer’s. My oldest daughter is back home living with me due to a military family her being here has helped so much. I work full time and my sister who lives locally also works all the time as well. I have an intercom on lock down similar to baby monitors and I have one in my house so I can hear everything that goes on there all the time. The last several weeks I have been noticing several changes in my mom but I haven’t shared those things as I didn’t want to feel like I condemned her. I too promised my dad shortly before he died, even though he had been and still was in a como, that we would take care of her. He’s been gone for 17 years! The other night I must have died when I went to bed and was scared awake hearing my mother’s voice coming over the intercom saying mine and my daughter’s name and that she needed help up there and we needed to bring a key. Last night I heard her over the intercom repeating two numbers over and over and I realized they were the last 2 numbers of my phone number. I called her and she was trying to remember my phone number, my other daughter has her other phone programmed so all she has to do is push one button. I talked to a nurse that comes once a week and checks her out, she told me today that if I was asking her if we needed to put her in a home. She ended in saying that she’s not going to be able to live there through the end of the year. We had a family conference my sister, myself, and one brother. There is another brother and he has his own medical problems and has been back here a total of 3X since 1965, what do you do? We all have to stay strong and we all have to live, some days I which I could just visit my mother instead of having to do all the other things, but yet the thought of letting go and doing what’s right and safest for them is another thing to consider. She hasn’t forgotten who I am, and I assume that day will come and I’m sure I will be devestated. I know I have to work and no matter how you look at it, there’s a cost to care but there’s what’s right for the person as a human being as well.
I found out what true patience now that my mom has been hospitalized in the last 5 months. She is exhibiting signs of Sundowners but I am in the medical field and able to live with her. I care for her during the day but I work at night and family cares for her at night. I am already at odds with myself because I would only do the best for her but her whole condition is horrible to understand. Not only that I live in a small town with limited medical experts. Although she is treated i a large city there are no further answers. I say to all of you to trust in God. He has been here the last six months. I recall who true friends are and realize that a daughter and a mothers bond is priceless.
I am just learning of sundowners.It has come upon my mother very repidly.At the present time she is in Behavioral Center,but it unsure exactly how good the care is there.I am ready to bring her home,but unsure if I am able to take on the care alone.I am an only child,with no other family to help out.I am unsure what is the best care for her.
Does anyone know of medications that will help with the agitation other than Ativan?
Cheryl, My grandfather was on Ativan & Risperadol & they had a horrible adverse effect on him. The only med that gave him some help, not alot but some, was Haldol. The only problem with it is if you are looking at it for an elderly person is if that person is in a nursing home the nursing homes don’t allow them to have it! Sorry, Good Luck!
My dad(who is 86) recently had 70 percent of his bladder removed due to cancer. He was perfectly in his right mind before the surgery, but now, 9 days later, the doctor says he has sundown syndrome. I just cannot understand how this could happen so quickly and I can’t stand the thought of my father not ever being back in his right mind and possible even dying in this state. We have tried the ativan but it does not work…..has anyone had any luck with anything else?
Cathy,
I feel for you. I am going thru the samething with my mother after a hospital stay. She is also 86 and it seems to be the age most of our parents go through this thing. I’ve gone thru some difficult times since she developed sundowner’s. The http://www.caring.com site had some good ideas to try although like they say, they don’t know a great deal about this condition. I have increased her water intake, am in the process of trying the full spectrum lighting. Singing with her helps but that’s one tip I know can’t be helpful to everyone. She always sung in church and remembers songs. But the http://www.caring.com site does have things to try. I’m hanging in there for my mom and know what you have to be going through. It’s so very tough!!
My mom has just been diagnosed with sundowners. She has been in the hospital three times since July. She had a fall four weeks ago and has suddenly started exhibiting sundowner’s. She is very agitated and violent in the evenings. She does not know who I am in the evenings but knows me during the day. She has become so violent that she has attacked me and my siblings, not to mention the nurses who take most of the abuse. It is so hard to think of your own mother saying that you have ruined my life and if she had a hatchet she would kill you. She has tried to choke me and the nurses.
I believe the many years of taking cholesterol and blood pressure medicine have done this to her. Her first hospital stay was due to low sodium and pottasium levels which were caused by a blood pressure medicine that she had taken for over ten years. Her doctor failed to check her liver every few months. She is now under a neurologist care. He is trying to find a balance of medications that will help her agitation.
My siblings think that we should take her home to see if she would improve. However, I am frightened! It is so sad to be afraid of your own mother. She has always been such a loving and caring woman.
This is not who she is. This is the illness. Do not attach meaning to it.
The real mother loves you.
I am a grandaughter dealing with a grandpa who is old and tired of taking care of his wife….she took to the bed over 15 years ago–YEP—and now she has sundowners too…I have helped and helped and this is crazy stuff!! My dad (their only kid is far away and not much help)…I just wanted to vent. I didn’t have kids so I could avoid having to take care of anyone but myself–God had other plans!!! (: hahahahaha
Kim, if your grandparents could see what you are doing for them, with their faculties in place, they would be amazed and thankful for your loving actions and help towards them. No, you didn’t have children, but God, wise as He is, knows you have a nurturing heart, and worked that issue out for good. It is hard, especially in the midst of a seemingly non-ending difficult stage, but your grandparents are being blessed, and you will be through it all, too. You will come out being a more understanding, caring person with a wealth of information to pass on to others later on in your life. Get support from community services as much as you are able, or relief from a friend. Look after yourself, too, or you will have nothing left to give to others. It is good to vent – and I’m grateful to be here to “catch” and encourage you.
Needing any new inf. for my mom who has vascular dementia and now suffering from Sundowners which I need to learn up on. Also any help I can get with my Mom as many of you know care giving really takes a toll on one! Thanks
My mother is 81 years old. My husband and I are her only caregivers. We have been caring for her, for the last past 6 years. She has been diagnosed with alzhemeir. We have seen her go through many levels with this illness. Every evening she starts to pack many bags and purses. She then get very upsets with us, when she tells us to put all her packed items in the car, because she is going home. She has lived in the same house for the last 35 years. She demands then that we take her to the bus station, so that she can get a ticket to her home in Lubbock, which is where she already is. She gets very little sleep because we cannot redirect us. She ask questions over and over about deceased love ones and again get very upset when you dont tell her relatives just left the house. She is very agitiated in the evening. It breaks our heart to see her walking back and forth with these bags, upset that we are not helping her. She has become very depressed and cries a lot. She goes through old bills and papers over and over. She talks on going to pictures from magazines. She has developed friendship with different one from dress magazines. She tells the pictures her problems, and when she feels like the picture betrays her she will get very upset and tear the page up, with a speech why she cant trust them any more. My mother has no recent memories left nor can she receive any new information.
Before her illness she was very organized, was a mentor to many people, and such a people person.
My mother is 74 She. moved in with my kids and I this past fall. She was diagnosed with Sundowning. She does not understand it and is in denial. She was in a small apt alone for folks over 55. She thought her neibors were stealing stuff from her.. She would call the police repeatedly and even speak to them about this. It was nuts. We thought the best thing to do was move her in with us. The constant threats now.. She can remember anything from the best but at times can’t remember why she jut made me cry. We deal with the parnoia, and out bursts of behavior. I pray it does not rain or snow..
Any ideas?
My mother who is 99 broke her hip three mos. ago and now has sundowner’s. I did not understand this until I began reading more about it. I have tried every medication but nothing works and they all seem to have an adverse effect on her. I wish someone somewhere had the answer – I am alone and running out of energy to keep going night and day. God Bless all the caregivers here.
bless all of you who care for these people. ma is 81 and has sundowners. she stays at her apt (for people over 55) and with my husband and me sometimes. she smokes 2 cartons of cigs a week and is in a wheelchair. she is up all night long smoking and ramming her wheelchair into everything while she is here. my husband works first shift and i work third. i don’t know how she manages to get by on eatting and sleeping so little. i’ve never seen my mom cry in 50 years until now. it is so sad and i feel so helpless. she lies and makes up several ‘stories’ all the time. i spend several hours every day tending to her because she moves so slow. she can’t be trusted with her medicine or do any type of household activity. i want to keep her out of the nursing home, but i am running out of energy and am becoming increasingly frustrated, which makes me feel soooo guilty and sad.
Has anyone had experience with phenobarbital being prescribed for sundowning in the elderly? We have tried many other things for the dementia, (adavan, respirdol, now hallidol) all worked during the day especially the hallidol. But nothing. nor dosage of, (even tried Thorazine) seems to help at all after dark. There just does not seem to be any thing that will shutdown her mind and give her a quiet peaceful night. Tonight will be of first night with the phenobarbital. If you have any information or ideas please forward.
My parents were just moved from a nursing (rehab) home last week into a very very nice board in care in my city. They were 50 miles away. My mom has dementia but dad doesnt. Mom is fine during the day but wakes during the night very agitated. Sleeping meds dont help. Does anyone know of anything that can? The care givers there are all ok with her getting up, etc., but my dad is very impatient and cant handle it. May have to move him to another b/c, but they have been married 58 years and need to be together at least during the day. If I have to move one of them to another place it will be more exhausting than it is already – I am about to lose it! and more expensive. dont know what to do.
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