Comments on: Sleep Disorders

By: tiease

tiease — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:23:10 +0000

Hi I am so tired. my grandma is 77 years old and does not sleep. She can not walk and maybe that’s a good thing because it would be worse. so right now she has sundowners I know that it is getting worse I do 4 night my aunt does 2 and my uncle does 1 plus i am her caretaker. She does not sleep I am at my end

By: Diane Perkins

Diane Perkins — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:02:05 +0000

My 95 year old mom turns 96 in seven days. As a child she had night terrors. She is very small and her adult weight has not varied since she was a young adult. 4’11″ and 104 lbs. About three years ago she was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Her last emergency run to a hospital in late Feb of this year gave her a diagnosis of end stage congestive heart disease. We made a follow up appointment with the pulmonary specialist which had been called in as a consultant. He suggested in home hospice care and looked me right in the eye and said this woman more than qualifes. So in home hospice was started. She no longer wanted to dress to go to a doctor as it was so exhausting. She has a history of not sleeping well and doesn’t like being alone and has compulsive obsessive personality disorder. I kept her in my home for 5 years. I also have health issues, heart attack, severe sleep apnea, arthritis and artificial knees. In early Sept. she fell and didn’t tell me but I noticed the deep scratch on the underside of her forearm. Within 3 weeks she had a very bad fall in her bathroom during the early morning hours. She looked as if she had gone 30 rounds with Joe Louis. She landed with her head, shoulders right smack in the middle between the door sides on a stone floor. She was bleeding from her nose and a cut on the left outer eyebrow ridge. I had to step over her on the bloody floor taking a chance of slipping myself with my artificial knees in order to get into a position to get her up. The hospice people were called and it was a five hour ordeal. It was apparent that I could no longer keep her safely in my home. THANK YOU GOD FOR THE DOCTOR WHO SUGGESTED IN HOME HOSPICE CARE. The hospice people we used told us because she had a terminal diagnosis that Mom would qualify for a HIC placement. These facilities are regular home residences that can only take two patients. They are a step up from assisted living but a step below skilled nursing home. Medicare continues to pay for all services and meds dictated by her terminal diagnosis but does not cover anything else. Upshot is her insurance has to pay for her thyroid meds, her AREDS supplement and eye drops. SHE IS VERY SEVERELY HEARING IMPAIRED AND HAS SEVERE MACULAR DEGENERATION. I had her placed in a HIC facility by mid Sept. but from the time of the fall she developed a rapid onset dementia and really severe sundowners. So far nothing has worked for more than one or two nights before she goes back to square one. She is very weak but has excellent care. I pray nightly for God to give her peace. My point to all of you is that if you have a diagnosis of long term chronic life threatening disease or terminal disease check out the availability of HIC facilities in your area and see about a doctor’s referral for in home hospice care or HIC placement. It is cheaper than a nursing home. And for all of us who have loved ones whose quality of life has fled, it can be a God send. Since this is medicare paid for I think HIC facilities while not well known should be available in all states albeit maybe not close to where you live. I am fortunate that ours is only 20 minutes away. Our case nurse has forty plus years experience in home hospice care and she and the geriatric nurse practitioner have both ruled out the use of hadol as being unsuitable and dangerous for the elderly. At this stage of the game it is all about providing comfort and support not prolonging life. God Bless all caretakers for ours is a special calling!

By: VillaPriscilla

VillaPriscilla — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:58:35 +0000

I am a caregiver of the elderly for over 30 years. What I see on this board is typical…..no real consistent solution. This has been my experience, too. If there were a drug of choice we would all know about it and use it. I recommend trial and error under a Dr.’s supervision. The solution can be very individual with different results for different folks. God bless all the caregivers.

By: Nan

Nan — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:11:48 +0000

Thanks so much for this. I am now experiencing this with my 95 year old grandma. I didn’t even think about hospice. I am going to speak with her doctor about this! This would be great help.

By: donna

donna — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:19:30 +0000

Your dads symptoms are very much like mine. Hallucinations and talking to people, we have managed to convince him that he is dreaming most times, and he will tell people that he is dreaming. He thinks hes been in bed for days, but we were able to get nursing staff 5 mornings a week to get him up and my sister and I do the other two which medicare pays for. He is a WWII vet and was entitled to 6 hours a week from one of their agencies also to put him to bed 3 nights.. you should be able to get this also if he was a vet. I am doing the family provider option through our state agency so I care for him during the day and get paid for part of the hours I put in otherwise he would have to go to a home.

I haven’t heard speeches from him as when I am with him he is coherent for the most part, but he uses these long winded, big worded explanations for everything.. he calls his digital clock a hallogram?! sometimes we giggle just to keep our sanity, sometimes sit and cry for the loss of a great man,, he would hate both. I too leave snacks everywhere, and try to keep him on a steady food schedule or he gets upset about it. I too am in need of a vacation and am hoping hospice will be allowed to come for two weeks, the only other option is putting him in a nursing facility for two weeks and he would most likely be gone when we come back. Hoping the meletonin works for him as he has limited kidney function so other meds would make things worse.
ps. I just noticed the date of your post, it was my dads birthday last year. I hope you and your family are all well

By: donna

donna — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:05:33 +0000

So glad I found this info and message board. My 88 yr old father started getting out of bed a few weeks ago after 4 years of having assistance morning and night. We have tried bed rails and putting his wheelchair in the way but he seems to have super human strenghth and moves things when we are not there,, then can’t get off the toilet during the day. He has parkinson like symptoms, as does his sister, but when treated with those meds, she almost died.. so we are at a loss for that. He remembers getting up and says someone was calling him?? Hes not sleeping at all and almost refuses to drink fluids at times, yet says hes not ready to go.. He is not alone in the home, but my reletive can not stay up all night to watch him and neither can I.. the nurse has suggested the bed alarm, has anyone tried it? I started him on meletonin 3 mg last night, doctor said to increase dose tonight to see if it helps, up to 10 mg in a week. This is so scarey, but my sister and I can not lose our own sleep worrying, we just pray every night he is safe.

By: Triubled

Triubled — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:47:18 +0000

My father passed away 8 months ago and during the time he was in the hospital, our family Dr. put our mother (she has alzheimer’s) on zyprexa. It has been wonderful for my mother as far as her sleeping. Her sundowning starts around 4pm everyday and last until 6 or 7. She was much worse before the zyprexa.

By: Penny

Penny — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:50:59 +0000

Help my mother-in law is in a resential care fac. she has dementia and bad sundowners we need to find a sleeping aide to let her stayin bed at night or she has to leave. her dr is against adavan or lorazapan which workd for others. he only wand halodol she isnt eating only baby food etc any advice on what to give her.she is walking walking and up and down and up and donw all night
thanks

By: Joyce

Joyce — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 09:41:05 +0000

HI There

I read your comment on Melatonin when I ask our Doctor for this for my Mother who has Dementia he told us this would be of no use, can I as what dose you gave your Mother and did you buy this over the counter in a pharmacy, many thanks

By: Barb

Barb — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:28:58 +0000

Dad is 90 and has full blow sundowners. His neurologist prescribed 1mg of Haldol at bedtime as well as many more meds for Parkinsons, dementia and urinary frequency. The Haldol makes him sleepy for less than one hour but it does help with negativity and bathing issues which have been a real problem. We tried Valerian root and Melatonin to lengthen his sleep cycle. He was up every 2 to 40 minutes from 1030 pm to 630 am last night (this is typical)t.
He refuses short walks, any type of exercise or going outside (even in a wheel chair).
He has also suffered from intermittent visual and audible hallucinations. Often he will sing, talk and lecture night and day to his visual hallucination friends. The real clincher is that he has periods of stark clarity so its hard to tell who is in there (the real Dad or the confused one.)
He has had 3 visits to the hospital in 6 months. The last time he was talking with imaginary friends with his eyes closed. 2 orderlies came in and informed him they were going to take him to radiology. He didn’t respond to them so I bent down and repeated what they had said. Dad responded to me by saying, “I know he just told me that”.
My brother and his wife are on a month vacation away from this situation due to mental and physical stress. Sundowner’s alone causes family sleep deprivation and decreases coping skills. Its important to get out and do something “normal” on a regular basis.
Dad is fixated on food and since he also has dementia forgets he has eaten by the time he has left the room. We get frequent day and night requests for meals of which he usually only takes one or two bites. We supplement his diet with Ensure and make sure he drinks plenty of fluids. My brother also places a couple of bananas on his walker to he can have them during the night.
. One last tidbit. When Dad was hospitalized the last time his neurologist requested Hospice. It is a God Send! No money involved. They will bathe Dad twice a week, send a respite caregiver 4 hours a week and once a month for a 12 hour period. They also send a nurse once a week, plus if there is a problem they will send a nurse any time, day or night.They also have a doctor who comes to the house to monitor Dads condition and prescribe medications as needed.
Sorry I got carried away. I know there are many many families trying to cope with elderly loved ones with multiple diagnosis. Good luck to you all!
P.S. As I sit here at 1230pm Dad is in bed giving another speech
.