Sleeping all the time.

[JAN9571]

Hello fellow carers,
I am wondering if anyone else has the same worry as me. My mum sleeps a great deal. I know some of you wish that your caree would sleep but I do worry that my mum sleeps too much. One day when I popped out while she was sleeping I got unavoidedly delayed, through no fault of my own, I was frantic with worry and as I had no one to check on her I feared anything could have happened to her. Nope, there she was still fast asleep curled up like a little child. She had slept for 15 hours.

When I woke her up, you have to wake her up now she never wakes on her own now, she was grumpy and obviously didn't want to get up. I did get her up but worried about the amount of time she had slept, because less than 6 hours later she was back in bed fast asleep again. Is it normal to sleep as much, it is really deep sleeping too, when you wake her she looks like a startled rabbit.

I suppose I am lucky, mum is very compliant, I have no problems with violence etc, she is just happy to sit looking at TV (I don't think she knows what is going on in the programs) or going out for a ride in the car and a cup of coffee; she no longer reads or does puzzles anymore and I miss that. She seems to be very "vacant" is about the best way of describing her, she has no memories at all left, not even from her childhood, my childhood or her life with dad, how very sad I am for that. Thankfully mum doesn't know that she doesn't have any memories. She can not do anything for herself, her whole day is a series of instructions, even prompting her to eat during mealtimes. I cry for my lost mum, how evil is this mixed dementia that has taken her from me. Sorry all, just having a teary moment there.

 

[littlegem]

Hello Jan,

It seems to be common this sleeping all the time. My hubby sleeps 4 hours through the day as well as his 12 hours at night.
The rest of your post is almost identical, he needs instructions to do anything and is content just to sit. I have tried to get him to do things but he's just not interested/capable.
We go out everyday in the car and he sits with his eyes shut!!!!!
Strangely, his memory is not bad at all, in fact I have to get him to remind me about things, but, as they say, everyone is different in their symptoms.
Hubby is like your Mum, he is easy going and does what I ask him.
As long as he is happy I am not overly concerned about the sleeping, in fact he gets ratty if he does not get the sleep he seems to need.

Hope this puts your mind at rest a bit
Take care

 

[grove]

Hello Jan , Sorry no Advise to offer on the Sleeping ( Dad has Moderate Dementia still early Days for him & us )

However am going to offer Love , Support & Prayers to you & your Mum , your Crying as you wrote the Thread you do not need to say sorry ! Have cried for Dad once or twice & for Mum as well . She is not going to find it easy as time goes on & she will be 81 this Summer ! ( Mum is the Carerer & i help / Support as much as i can ) We live near each other


Take Care & Best Wishes to both of you

Love & Hugs Love Grove x x

 

[bulmer]

My mum also sleeps a lot. She lives on her own but a couple of days ago the carer gave her her breakfast in bed at 9am then the evening carer woke her up at 8pm for tea.

 

[germain]

Hello,
My Mum slept an awful lot too and even when seemingly awake, kept her eyes tight shut.

The consultant tried her best to explain/find out why, ranging from eye problems (she had cataracts & glaucoma) to response to pain (pain killers prescribed ) but in the end said it just came down to progression of her Alzheimers & Vascular Dementia.
We thought it could also be to do with "fear" - even in the earlier days whenever there was a situation which could be seen as challenging for her she would feign sleep to avoid it. Later on she actually seemed to be properly asleep and could spend 24/24 sleeping , even falling asleep over a meal.

Sorry to be of no help but be assured that your Mum is "normal" - if there is any such thing with this horrid disease.
Regards
Germain

 

[Adnkt]

My mum sleeps for days at a time. An earthquake wouldn't rouse her. I give her fluid with a syringe because she can swallow in her sleep.Then she'll wake up bright as a button and complain that I'm starving her. I just accept that she'll sleep when she needs to and wake when she needs to and next week there'll be something else new and strange to deal with.

 

[Pacucho]

My mum, who suffered from severe vascular dementia, used to sleep a lot. Sometimes I suspect that she just had her eyes shut and did not want to get up. I learnt to just go with the flow and do the best I could.
Regards

paco

 

[JAN9571]

Thank you all so much for your input, I will rest a little easier now I know that this sleeping seems to be part of the Vascular Dementia/Alzheimers road she is travelling.

 

[Farmergirl]

Im so glad someone posted this!

I was really concerned that mum will sleep late (wakes at 10am) then go to sleep during the day (a couple of times for an hour or so) and then to bed at 10.30 (we decided this was a cut off time).
Why do they sleep so much? I was concerned that she wouldnt sleep at night (but the quetiapine has stopped this).

 

[littlegem]

Hi Farmergirl,
I think it's brain overload that makes my hubby sleep a lot.
A couple of hours watching TV or listening to music and you can see his eyes starting to de-focus then he's asleep.
He's the same if we get visitors (once in a blur moon!!!!), he starts off listening then just blanks out. Too much information that needs processing I guess.
Take care

 

[JAN9571]

Hi All, I wish my mum would wake up on her own whatever the time was. My sister and I truly believe that if mam was left to wake up on her own, she would never wake up. Not even when she needs the loo does she wake (thank goodness for inco pants) I have to physically wake her and then she is so deeply asleep that she is startled. She doesn't sleep during the day but when she gets put to bed at night which is the same time as we go she goes straight to sleep again.

I hope it doesn't sound awful but I try to get all my errands run in the morning before I have to get her up then I can spend my time with her not doing other things.

Jan xx

 

[Jess26]

Mum too has a diagnosis of VD. She gets up about 8a.m. has breakfast and is asleep again by 10a.m. She wakes when the carer comes in about 1p.m. and sleeps again in the afternoon

I guess she sleeps for about 9hrs a night and about 8hrs a day

 

[Canadian Joanne]

You should check medications just in case. My mother went through a few sleepy phases - some related to meds but some just related to the disease. I think my mother slept a lot earlier on to avoid the world and her condition. She refused to be told she had Alzheimer's and I feel sleep was her way of avoiding things.

 

[Double trouble]

sleeping explanation?

My Mum went to hospital for a 48 hour eeg- electrodes stuck to her head measuring the electrical activity in her brain. She had been having seizure type activities. They video-ed one of her "episodes" when she seemed to suddenly go unconcious and it transpired that she was falling into "parasomnia"- such a sudden deep sleep that she was unrousable. She can then sleep for hours at a time. We were told this is comman in end stage dementia, although they have kept her on an anti-fit medication just in case.

hope this helps with some people's questions

 

[JAN9571]

Hi All again,

I had not heard of Parasomnia, but I am going to "google" it (other search engines available, ) and see if it relates to mum. Thanks for that.