Waking and dressing in early hours

[hondaracer]

Hi, I'm a new member so please excuse if I get the system wrong.
My wife has Alzheimer's Late Onset and I care for her obviously because I love her. Recently I awoke to find my wife fully dressed and sitting on edge of the bed at 2.30 am ish. It is hard for me to work out why and if I ask the wife she gets cross because she has no idea it is early morning.
Has anyone else had the same situation and how do I cope with it?
Hondaracer

 

[Grannie G]

Hello @hondaracer. Welcome to Talking Point.

Has anyone else had the same situation and how do I cope with it?

Many of us have been in the same situation. It`s because of the lost concept of time which is common in people with dementia. Some are not even able to be guided by it being daylight or dark.

It`s why so many people with dementia who live alone phone their family or friends in the early hours. They have no idea they are causing a disturbance.

My husband used to get up at all times of the night and I got so used to it I had to leave him be. It was very worrying but there was little else I could do.

I hope you continue to post on the forum and share your concerns. There will be a lot of support here for you.

 

[marionq]

Hi, I'm a new member so please excuse if I get the system wrong.
My wife has Alzheimer's Late Onset and I care for her obviously because I love her. Recently I awoke to find my wife fully dressed and sitting on edge of the bed at 2.30 am ish. It is hard for me to work out why and if I ask the wife she gets cross because she has no idea it is early morning.
Has anyone else had the same situation and how do I cope with it?
Hondaracer

Very very common. In the first few years this was a nightly occurrence with my husband who would get up and make a packed lunch and set off for work. At that stage he wouldn't get far as he didn't know where work was. He had been a house builder so moved around rather than having a fixed place to remember. For the carer it is torture trying to find a way to convince them - it can't be done. I eventually went to our GP who didn't hesitate to prescribe Zopiclone 7.5 mg sleeping tablets. They stop working after a while but the aim is that by that stage the new sleeping pattern is set.

 

[hondaracer]

Hello @hondaracer. Welcome to Talking Point.



Many of us have been in the same situation. It`s because of the lost concept of time which is common in people with dementia. Some are not even able to be guided by it being daylight or dark.

It`s why so many people with dementia who live alone phone their family or friends in the early hours. They have no idea they are causing a disturbance.

My husband used to get up at all times of the night and I got so used to it I had to leave him be. It was very worrying but there was little else I could do.

I hope you continue to post on the forum and share your concerns. There will be a lot of support here for you.

Hi Grannie G. Thanks to you and others for such prompt replies to my post. I take in your replies and thought I was alone experiencing this situation. My wife is yet to receive meds but I hope when they are prescribed it will help her overnight. I need my sleep because I have Lymphoma and tire easily, therefore I used to have 9 hrs sleep but not any more!!

 

[hondaracer]

Very very common. In the first few years this was a nightly occurrence with my husband who would get up and make a packed lunch and set off for work. At that stage he wouldn't get far as he didn't know where work was. He had been a house builder so moved around rather than having a fixed place to remember. For the carer it is torture trying to find a way to convince them - it can't be done. I eventually went to our GP who didn't hesitate to prescribe Zopiclone 7.5 mg sleeping tablets. They stop working after a while but the aim is that by that stage the new sleeping pattern is set.

Thanks Marionq I guess I am not alone then. Brilliant forum it has eased my worries today.

 

[rhubarbtree]

Hi Hondaracer,

My OH did this in the first few years of Alzheimer's. My explanation (to myself) was that all his working life was dominated by the alarm going off and remembering that fear when he had forgotten to set the damn thing. On waking he would fly out of bed and start dressing. This did stop for OH and now I have trouble getting him up in the mornings.

Welcome to the site. It is a strange sort of comfort to find others are experiencing the same problems as yourself.

 

[hondaracer]

Hi Hondaracer,

My OH did this in the first few years of Alzheimer's. My explanation (to myself) was that all his working life was dominated by the alarm going off and remembering that fear when he had forgotten to set the damn thing. On waking he would fly out of bed and start dressing. This did stop for OH and now I have trouble getting him up in the mornings.

Welcome to the site. It is a strange sort of comfort to find others are experiencing the same problems as yourself.

Thanks rhubarbtree, thankfully we had a better night last night although me being on tenterhooks woke at 2.30am and my wife was fast asleep and I realised I woke her when I got up to go to the bathroom. I made a cuppa and she settled down again and she had a good night really compared to other nights.
Hope it continues.

 

[HilaryS47]

Hi everyone!
I am very new to this so please forgive errors. My husband has mixed dementia, Alzheimer’s and vascular. He has similar problems, not being able to tell the time, going in the shower as soon as he is awake. Also he hates me to be asleep if he is awake and will deliberately bang doors to wake me up. If I nod off on the sofa he wakes me to make a cup of tea. I am exhausted!

 

[Beagler]

Hi,
Have looked in once or twice before.
My 74 year old wife now has what I guess is advanced Dementia. Better now she is not on Memantine. I think that caused more problems than help. A cup of Ovaltine and she sleeps all night. She get very low sometimes not speaking for 2 or 3 days almost Zombie like then comes round brighter than before. She sometimes says she going home to parents who died years ago. Lately I’m struggling to keep her clean after toileting. She seems to have lost inhibition and all sense of embarrassment. Like Hilary am getting exhausted having to do everything what is so hurtful is there is no prospect of improvement and only degeneration before my eyes and losing her bit by painful bit.

 

[marionq]

@Beagler, Latterly with my husband I kept a bag of large sized moisturising tissues near the toilet. I also kept some plastic disposable bags. When he had used the toilet and cleaned in a half hearted way I would give him the tissues to “wash”. Himself down and then throw in the disposal bag. Occasionally I had to do the final clean so you want to have some gloves handy if this is necessary. The first time I did this John was aghast but I just stayed very matter of fact about it and he quickly accepted it as the new norm.

 

[Beagler]

@Beagler, Latterly with my husband I kept a bag of large sized moisturising tissues near the toilet. I also kept some plastic disposable bags. When he had used the toilet and cleaned in a half hearted way I would give him the tissues to “wash”. Himself down and then throw in the disposal bag. Occasionally I had to do the final clean so you want to have some gloves handy if this is necessary. The first time I did this John was aghast but I just stayed very matter of fact about it and he quickly accepted it as the new norm.

Thank you for your helpful reply.
I don't use wet wipes as they would bung up the slow sewer we have when she flushed them down the loo. I think I may supervise their use and get some doggy bags to dispose.

 

[marionq]

That’s why I said a kept a disposable bag for them. I wouldn’t flush them either.

 

[Beagler]

Thanks again. Things are better in that regard.