Sorry if this sounds ridiculous

[sarahsea]

I've had a hell of a day with husband (early stage Alzheimer's) and my dog (very young.) Everything seems to have gone wrong and they've both been "out of sorts", argumentative, won't settle to anything, not eating properly and I seem to have been running round after both of them all day. We had a walk on the beach earlier today in the wind and drizzle, husband wandering off to talk to complete strangers, dog desperate to be off the lead and pulling my arm off.

Then it occured to me - the weather here in the west country has been wet and extremely windy and I remember years ago my mother telling me that children were very badly behaved and over excited on windy days (she worked as a classroom assistant.) Although she said it was an "old wives tale". I also worked with children for years, running after-school clubs and again thought that windy weather affected their behaviour.

Has anyone else noticed a change in behaviour in the person they care for when the weather changes? It's probably just nonsense, but I'm hoping for a calmer day tomorrow!

 

[PJ]

Hi @sarahsea I also worked in a school for many years & we always found the weather (especially windy) made the children hyper! Some teachers said the full moon did too not sure how much truth there is in that.
I’m not a carer but it would be interesting to see what others say.
I do hope you all have a better day tomorrow!

 

[nae sporran]

Sorry you had such a stressful day, Sarahsea. I have not heard that one personally, but a couple of teachers and former teachers have said a full moon can affect children.
Just as a wee aside, have you checked your husband for a UTI as those can also play havoc with dementia?

 

[Izzy]

I was a headteacher for 28 years and totally agree about windy weather and the full moon!

With my husband I think I noticed more the changes in daylight having an impact on him. He was better in the light nights than in the dark winter nights.

 

[LynneMcV]

Some years ago my work led me to visit schools and talk to head teachers on a regular basis, and the view that children became hyper on windy days was something I heard many times. One head teacher added that windy Fridays were especially bad!

Nobody ever mentioned the effect of the moon on the children,but with my husband I did notice that he became more restless during a full moon.

 

[Rosebush]

Yes my OH was much better over the summer but over the last few days he has become very unsettled always pacing can't sit still and wanting to go out all the time and spends a lot of time looking out of the window, he also sighs a lot. Just hope the weather is better tomorrow.

 

[Izzy]

Windy days were a nightmare in school - whether Mondays or Fridays. The full moon was often referred to in relation to ‘challenging’ behaviour! A full moon during a windy spell was joy!

 

[Kevinl]

I think the wind just disorientates people with AZ, the noise, your clothes flapping around you, trees moving and the feeling of something strange on your skin as the wind blows on your face and skin and even when you're inside on a windy day it still somehow feels "different" to a normal day.
There us a word for people who are affected by the lunar cycle, the word is lunatic and my wife has AZ not lunacy. Since she went into care I've had the chance to see about 30 people each day throughout about 30 lunar cycles and I've never seen any connection between the phase of the moon and the way the residents behave, there are good days and there are bad days, yesterday it was particularly bad, people kicking off all over the place but it isn't a full moon, it just happens that way some days.
It's just some old wives tale that belongs in the sixteenth century and should stay there. Anyway I have to go as it's getting a bit cold so I'm off to throw a few more witches on the fire, if it gets really cold, it's 2018, get real.
K

 

[sarahsea]

I think the wind just disorientates people with AZ, the noise, your clothes flapping around you, trees moving and the feeling of something strange on your skin as the wind blows on your face and skin and even when you're inside on a windy day it still somehow feels "different" to a normal day.
There us a word for people who are affected by the lunar cycle, the word is lunatic and my wife has AZ not lunacy. Since she went into care I've had the chance to see about 30 people each day throughout about 30 lunar cycles and I've never seen any connection between the phase of the moon and the way the residents behave, there are good days and there are bad days, yesterday it was particularly bad, people kicking off all over the place but it isn't a full moon, it just happens that way some days.
It's just some old wives tale that belongs in the sixteenth century and should stay there. Anyway I have to go as it's getting a bit cold so I'm off to throw a few more witches on the fire, if it gets really cold, it's 2018, get real.
K

Thank you for your comments Kevini and I'm sure you're right. I hope the the fire keeps you warm! I've had lots of opportunities to "get real" since my husband's diagnosis, but real or not, I can see changes / different behaviours when the weather changes. I suppose the dementia journey is different for all of us. Best wishes, S.

 

[sarahsea]

Sorry you had such a stressful day, Sarahsea. I have not heard that one personally, but a couple of teachers and former teachers have said a full moon can affect children.
Just as a wee aside, have you checked your husband for a UTI as those can also play havoc with dementia?

Thank you for the suggestion about checking for a UTI. I tend to forget about that sort of thing. He's fine now, but earlier was convinced he was having a heart attack! He was a hypochondriac before dementia joined us, so I often doubt his "symptoms". An ice cream and an episode of The Chase provided a cure this evening!

 

[Izzy]

@sarahsea I do hope your husband has a calmer day tomorrow andI hope you have a peaceful night.

 

[Kevinl]

Thank you for your comments Kevini and I'm sure you're right. I hope the the fire keeps you warm! I've had lots of opportunities to "get real" since my husband's diagnosis, but real or not, I can see changes / different behaviours when the weather changes. I suppose the dementia journey is different for all of us. Best wishes, S.

Sorry but I agreed about the wind thing and gave explanations as to why it might be, you seem to be reading it differently, sorry if I've got that wrong but I did say that I can see why it does have an effect, my wife hated windy weather.
My issue is with the moon, I've had a lot of time daily to observe a lot of people with AZ and I've never seen any connection with behaviour and the moon.
The big one that does seem to set people off is sundowning or even like yesterday when it clouded over during the day and the reducing light levels seems to set people off.
K

 

[Jean1234]

Strong winds can make a so called ‘normal ‘ person nervous. It certainly did me last night on the long drive back from the hospital with bits of trees pinging of the car and swaying alarmingly as I drove past. I’m sure the noise and seeing things blown about and trees swaying would definitely unsettled the PWD as they perhaps can’t reason why this is happening. Thankfully the wind has eased tonight.

 

[sarahsea]

Sorry but I agreed about the wind thing and gave explanations as to why it might be, you seem to be reading it differently, sorry if I've got that wrong but I did say that I can see why it does have an effect, my wife hated windy weather.
My issue is with the moon, I've had a lot of time daily to observe a lot of people with AZ and I've never seen any connection with behaviour and the moon.
The big one that does seem to set people off is sundowning or even like yesterday when it clouded over during the day and the reducing light levels seems to set people off.
K

Yes, I understand your comments about the moon, although I have a friend with epilepsy who insists she has more seizures when the moon's full. I don't have any experience of the effects of the moon myself.
I'm new to dementia and still trying to make sense of what's happening to my husband and I suppose that as I have no previous experience of this horrible disease I am clutching at straws, using the experience I do have to try and make sense of it all. Hence my query about the high winds - and your comments about why this might be alarming for someone with dementia make perfect sense.
My husband has been banned from Sainsbury's as they found his behaviour too difficult to deal with (even if I go with him, it's difficult) and I found myself wondering if the atmosphere in supermarkets contributes to his behaviour. Again, thinking of past experience working with children and young people on the autistic spectrum, I can see that supermarkets provide a kind of sensory overload - bright lights, noise, shiny floors, that wretched beeping as their profits rise every few seconds and lots of people of all different ages. This is a very exciting environment for my husband and that's reflected in his behaviour and he hates the fact that he can't go in there anymore. If I'm honest, I find the environment really unpleasant, but we're all different and (as far as I know) my brain is functioning normally. I can see that it could have a very different impact on a brain affected by dementia.
There are so many ways in which dementia changes our lives and so little real support, When we were given my husband's diagnosis, the young and, (I think overwhelmed), GP only gave us one piece of advice and that was to change all the clocks in the house to digital as the disease is progressive and my husband would eventually struggle to read an analogue clock. She meant well, but we don't have any clocks in the house, so that wasn't terribly helpful. Then we were left to get on with it alone for a few months before the consultant and CPNs got involved, but their contact is minimal. TP has been my only source of real, valuable information, from people who know what they're talking about - I believe you commented Kevini on one of my earlier posts about PiP, many thanks for that. The application is now meandering its way around the system and they say I might have a decision by Christmas!

 

[mumsgone]

Yes, I understand your comments about the moon, although I have a friend with epilepsy who insists she has more seizures when the moon's full. I don't have any experience of the effects of the moon myself.
I'm new to dementia and still trying to make sense of what's happening to my husband and I suppose that as I have no previous experience of this horrible disease I am clutching at straws, using the experience I do have to try and make sense of it all. Hence my query about the high winds - and your comments about why this might be alarming for someone with dementia make perfect sense.
My husband has been banned from Sainsbury's as they found his behaviour too difficult to deal with (even if I go with him, it's difficult) and I found myself wondering if the atmosphere in supermarkets contributes to his behaviour. Again, thinking of past experience working with children and young people on the autistic spectrum, I can see that supermarkets provide a kind of sensory overload - bright lights, noise, shiny floors, that wretched beeping as their profits rise every few seconds and lots of people of all different ages. This is a very exciting environment for my husband and that's reflected in his behaviour and he hates the fact that he can't go in there anymore. If I'm honest, I find the environment really unpleasant, but we're all different and (as far as I know) my brain is functioning normally. I can see that it could have a very different impact on a brain affected by dementia.
There are so many ways in which dementia changes our lives and so little real support, When we were given my husband's diagnosis, the young and, (I think overwhelmed), GP only gave us one piece of advice and that was to change all the clocks in the house to digital as the disease is progressive and my husband would eventually struggle to read an analogue clock. She meant well, but we don't have any clocks in the house, so that wasn't terribly helpful. Then we were left to get on with it alone for a few months before the consultant and CPNs got involved, but their contact is minimal. TP has been my only source of real, valuable information, from people who know what they're talking about - I believe you commented Kevini on one of my earlier posts about PiP, many thanks for that. The application is now meandering its way around the system and they say I might have a decision by Christmas!

Hi sarahsea,
with regards to sainsburys banning your husband that's pretty unfair. There are some supermarkets that do certain times when the lights are dimmed and music kept low or off and no announcements over the tannoy..Our local morrisons does this on a sat am between 9 and 10 this may be worth looking into. With regards to the weather yes obviously it affects mood and behaviour as you prob know yourself when you look out of the window on a grotty day it's not as appealing as a nice warm sunny day but we know it will pass but a person with az prob doesn't. I wonder if a blind with a nice calming picture would help. Oh and with regards to the dog mine is like a mad thing when it's windy and drags me down the street as is there's no tomorrow. we are all here for you xx

 

[mumsgone]

Hi sarahsea,
with regards to sainsburys banning your husband that's pretty unfair. There are some supermarkets that do certain times when the lights are dimmed and music kept low or off and no announcements over the tannoy..Our local morrisons does this on a sat am between 9 and 10 this may be worth looking into. With regards to the weather yes obviously it affects mood and behaviour as you prob know yourself when you look out of the window on a grotty day it's not as appealing as a nice warm sunny day but we know it will pass but a person with az prob doesn't. I wonder if a blind with a nice calming picture would help. Oh and with regards to the dog mine is like a mad thing when it's windy and drags me down the street as is there's no tomorrow. we are all here for you xx

 

[Izzy]

I think I mentioned earlier that my husband seemed to be affected by the changing seasons. I bought a light therapy lamp and I seem to recall that at the time other members had tried this as well. I can't say for sure that it made much difference but I was desperate for anything that might help.

https://www.independent.co.uk/extra...ive-disorder-lumie-how-to-treat-a6839106.html

 

[AliceA]

We bought a light lamp some years ago when we lived in a flat with restricted light for a while. I remember that it had to be used in the mornings to build up the right hormones to deal with the latter part of the day.
The advice was to sit in front of it but not stare at it. So reading or similar worked.
We became interested when we were spending time in Sweden. We noticed that dark winters made our friends very morose, the summers with just an hour or so almost dark made them hyper.
Light at the right time induces better sleep. There is quite a movement to reduce blue light e.g. electronics in the evenings. It is worth exploring, every one is different in many ways of course.
We turn TV etc. off at 9. And try to had a quiet run down before bed.

 

[B72]

When I took my PAT dog into schools, I noticed the children were alway hyper if it was windy.

I walk my dog regularly on a Heath, the professional dog walkers all say dogs are more disobedient and wild if it’s windy. So that’s why you had trouble with them both.

 

[LadyA]

I know that I am restless at night, and don't sleep well for two/three nights around the full moon, but I certainly wouldn't consider myself a "lunatic". And it's not the brightness, I have blackout blinds and blackout curtains on the window. It's like feeling uneasy in my skin! And I HATE windy days! They set me right on edge. I find myself feeling grumpy, snappy and very tense!