Nightmares

[Norrms]

Hi, in my blog recently i have been talking about the horrific nightmares i have been having ( they are what caused my fall) and i firmly believe that it is connected to AD as my father who died of AD also suffered from these. I have had comments on my blog and in my private messages telling me that there seems to be a common thread amongst AD sufferes regarding this.If anybody has expierience of this or has a relative/ client who suffers the same thing could you please let me know.
One of the strange things i have found out is that many of us who have AD often dream about being back at work or travelling to a far away place. One of my most recurring nightmares is being with my wife but unable to find her anywhere. i do have other but are to horrific to put into print. Any help on this would be most appreiciated, thank you all, Norrms

 

[Grannie G]

Hello Norms

Are you taking Aricept or Reminyl? My husband had horrific nightmares when he was trialing both drugs.
He still has quite dramatic dreams and often wakes believing he has overslept and will be late for work, so I think he must dream about work too.

 

[Norrms]

I did take Exelon but on Drs advice had to stop as really didnt agree with me so now i`m justliving in ope of a cure, Norrms xx

 

[hazytron]

Hello Norrms
My Mum has dreadful nightmares, she often confuses them with real life which can cause insolvable problems! I believe Simvastatin may be to blame, do you use this? She is also on Galantamine for her AD.
Regards
Hazel

 

[gigi]

Morning Norrms!

Sorry to hear you're having nightmares...they sound very disturbing.

Eric will often tell me he thinks he's had a nightmare..but he can't remember the detail.

He does take Galantamine..but since he's been on it for 3 years now I don't think that's the cause.

Love xx

 

[Norrms]

Sorry but no i dont use any of these drugs but the nightmares keep coming, i have often wondered if it a PRE-Waning for Al;zheimers as i have had these nightmares for the last ten years but diagnosed only recently ?

 

[Helen33]

Hello Norrms

I am really sorry to hear that you are having such distressing and horrific nightmares. My first reaction is that it is hardly surprising since it is the brain that is becoming diseased. It is good though that this does not occur during the waking hours even though it might take some time to wear off. I would imagine that it makes you worried to go to sleep

One of my most recurring nightmares is being with my wife but unable to find her anywhere.

This recurring nightmare seems quite understandable in that Elaine is such security for you that losing that security would be a nightmare.

I was wondering whether you might want to speak to a psychiatrist about the dreams because there may be a medication that could help relieve you of this? The psychiatrist would be more likely to have up-to-date information on applicable medications (if any).

Love and best wishes and please say "hello" to Elaine from me

 

[Chrissyan]

Norrms: My Dad used to complain about vivid unsettling dreams. About three years ago he used to dream of my mother & being with her, but I got the impression they weren't nice ones. She had died seven years earlier. The ones he mentioned more recently were of him being about 13 years old & being with his Dad, (who was killed in 1940) these vivid dreams were taking him back some 70 years.

He hasn't mentioned them lately, but I suspect that is because I don't see him until 4pm most days, after I finish work & I suspect he would have forgotten any dreams by then.


He takes no dementia medication & has VAD.

 

[Norrms]

hi

Thank you Helen, i might just try seeing one as they seem to be getting worse, i have never fallen out of bed before. Yes i can kind of Rationalise the one about Elaine ( she shouts a big HI ) but the others are too numerous to mention. Ive got a bee in my bonnet about this now and i am going to try and research this further, as long as i can, as i`m sort of sure it has something to do with AD. Thank you for your advice, your input is so valuable, Norrms and family

 

[Norrms]

Hi

Chrissyanne, thank you so much for your input, all this leads me to believe that there must be some connection somewhere, i will do my best to try and find out, best wishes, Norrms and family

 

[Helen33]

Hi Norrms

I've just posted a similar thing on your blog. I have only just realised that you had a fall!!

I will look forward to seeing whether you find something to relieve these night terrors.

Love

 

[KenC]

Hi Norrms

As someone who has had these for about four years, I agree that they can be horrific and unpleasant.
My exelon was stepped up by my Consultant and they eased off which was brilliant. I still get them, but not as much as I used to, so it is easier to cope with. But they are so graphic that I can still remember them clearly when I am up out of bed.

I have even woken up during one, and then got out of bed to get away from it, at this point I have gone for a cup of tea before returning to bed, but sadly the thing started all over again and they seem to drag on for hours.
I don't think there is an answer to it but we live in hope, because they are worse than anything Alfred Hitchcock could ever dream up, and I dare say some of these would worry him.

I was told that the answer to all this is to have the exelon stepped up when these get worse but that is down to the Consultant. That was the answer mine gave me and it worked, but for how long I really do not know.

These vivid dreams or nightmares always happened at a certain time of night with me, so I used to stay up and go on the computer till I was past that time, but that's not always possible

I now have a new consultant who does not beleive in Exelon, she gives Aricept to everyone, but I am not coming off Exelon unless I am forced to, because it would mean starting all over again and there is a chance that the other drug may not work for me anyway.

Ken

 

[TinaT]

Well Norms and Ken, you have surprised me. Ken has just had his Excelon stepped up but not because of his nightmares. His meds taken in pill form have too many 'highs and lows' to keep him stable so he has now gone onto a patch which has had to be of a stronger dose of Excelon.


He has had nightmares for many years. I think he had one recently, and came downstairs at his Care Home to find no one around (they were all in bed and the care workers were busy). When the care workers came to him, he thought they had murdered everyone and were going to murder him. He was terrified and I had to come out to the Care Home to settle him down. I was the only one he trusted that night and I think it was because of his dreams.

xxTinaT

 

[Sandy]

Hi Norms,

i have often wondered if it a PRE-Waning for Al;zheimers as i have had these nightmares for the last ten years but diagnosed only recently ?

You could well be right as this article on the BBC News site recently indicated a link between certain sleep disorders and dementia:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7795368.stm

The article mentions Lewy Body dementia specifically. Is this what you have been diagnosed as having?

Take care,

Sandy

 

[Margarita]

If anybody has expierience of this or has a relative/ client who suffers the same thing could you please let me know.

my mother use to have very vivid dreams , every morning she would ask me why she dreaming so much , tell me what she was dreaming about ask me what it all meant . She want to look up in her dream book what it meant.

The dreams where always about people , family from her past.

Then mum started to get them during the day, when she took a nap, would have those dream that she thought she was awake but was really sleeping. So when she woke up she asks me something that was related to the dream, I had to tell mum she was dreaming .

 

[TinaT]

Sandy you are a miracle in the way you keep coming up with such interesting and inmportant links!

My husband Ken has Lewy Body Disease, and just as the study in the link says, he had vivd and frightening dreams long before he developed severe symptoms. I only hope that the following quote from the article comes true one day

"This important finding could boost our understanding of how Lewy body dementia develops and help us detect it early. With further research we may be able to stop this devastating disease in its tracks."

xxTinaT

 

[Norrms]

Sandy you are an absolute star!! The article only confirms ( for me anyway) what i have been thinking for a while now. Thank you so much, i might even sleep a bit better now !! LOL

 

[Norrms]

Hiya

Hya Tina, hope you are all well. yes it probably was because of his nightmares, ive had them for years and they are so realistic i can really understand what Ken is going through nightmare wise, hoipe this finds you both well, Norrms

 

[Sandy]

Hi Norms,

I'm glad you found that link useful.

Different people react differently to information - some want more, some want less.

I'm like you, if a piece of information confims my own experience it can actually be quite a relief.

Have you mentioned these nightmares to your GP or consultant? It would be a really good idea to do that as soon as possible as it may affect what types of medication they give you, or even your diagnosis.

Take care,

Sandy

 

[KenC]

if that is correct, I can say that I feel a lot happier now as well as Norrms. We do hear so many stories these days and we never know which to believe.

Ken