It's not a problem that I've experienced but logically doing it once or more wouldn't set up an expectation - to have an expectation you have to remember, and I imagine that's the thing your Mother can't do.
JMHO
Jennifer
JMHO
Jennifer
'Sundowning'
- Thread starter Michael E
- Start date
Hi,
I've been absent for awhile and just trying to catch up with everyone. Seems my Mom isn't sundowning in the nursing home the way she did at home. She will occasionally stay up all night but has gotten in a good routine there and is sleeping through most nights now. Looking back it lasted a good 2 years before she went into a care facility. She seemed to level of cognitively in the NH also. She is failing as she continues to loose weight and is very childlike, but miraculously she still knows us. I think if it weren't for that, she would last a long time in the NH but hospice doesn't give us much hope it will go on a long time at the rate she is declining. Still, you never know.
Debbie
I've been absent for awhile and just trying to catch up with everyone. Seems my Mom isn't sundowning in the nursing home the way she did at home. She will occasionally stay up all night but has gotten in a good routine there and is sleeping through most nights now. Looking back it lasted a good 2 years before she went into a care facility. She seemed to level of cognitively in the NH also. She is failing as she continues to loose weight and is very childlike, but miraculously she still knows us. I think if it weren't for that, she would last a long time in the NH but hospice doesn't give us much hope it will go on a long time at the rate she is declining. Still, you never know.
Debbie
Thank you Donna,
I am dealing less with Alzheimers these days and more with my Mom declining and her ultimate demise. Hospice calls it failure to thrive and we feel she will be gone within a few months at the rate she is loosing weight. She does eat pretty well but her little body isn't processing the nutrition. We are very blessed that she does recognize us and is content as possible.
I will try to check in more often and hope you are all doing well.
Much love,
Debbie
I am dealing less with Alzheimers these days and more with my Mom declining and her ultimate demise. Hospice calls it failure to thrive and we feel she will be gone within a few months at the rate she is loosing weight. She does eat pretty well but her little body isn't processing the nutrition. We are very blessed that she does recognize us and is content as possible.
I will try to check in more often and hope you are all doing well.
Much love,
Debbie
Sundowning bad over the weekend...
Has anyone experienced this?
Husband wants to sit IN TOTAL DARKNESS and watch the TV.
(not that he follows much any more)....
Not even a chink of light from the hall... NOTHING.
At first it was ...
Pull the curtains, as the light was shining on the TV..
Then WE WERE ALLOWED to have the small lamps on....
Then it was... turn one lamp off ..... then both..
Were are left in pitch black darkness, except for TV.....
This is new to me.
We've had the light / sun on the TV .... for ages...
But, the needing for it to be dark is a new phase for us.
Has anyone had to deal with this or similar?
Take Care
DaisyG
Has anyone experienced this?
Husband wants to sit IN TOTAL DARKNESS and watch the TV.
(not that he follows much any more)....
Not even a chink of light from the hall... NOTHING.
At first it was ...
Pull the curtains, as the light was shining on the TV..
Then WE WERE ALLOWED to have the small lamps on....
Then it was... turn one lamp off ..... then both..
Were are left in pitch black darkness, except for TV.....
This is new to me.
We've had the light / sun on the TV .... for ages...
But, the needing for it to be dark is a new phase for us.
Has anyone had to deal with this or similar?
Take Care
DaisyG
Hi Daisy,
I've NO idea if this explanation is the right one . . .
my husband has vision problems which are made worse by reflected light. In a recent test by the opthamologist, he was given "pin prick" glasses to try. These cut out all peripheral light and allow the eyes to focus directly on the subject being watched. (Of course, they cannot be used in every day situations because we need our peripheral vision for judging distances, avoiding objects, etc.)
However, my husband reported that they markedly improved his vision - without his glasses!! I'm wondering if your husband finds it easier to see the TV when in total darkness . . . ???
Cheers,
Nell
I've NO idea if this explanation is the right one . . .
my husband has vision problems which are made worse by reflected light. In a recent test by the opthamologist, he was given "pin prick" glasses to try. These cut out all peripheral light and allow the eyes to focus directly on the subject being watched. (Of course, they cannot be used in every day situations because we need our peripheral vision for judging distances, avoiding objects, etc.)
However, my husband reported that they markedly improved his vision - without his glasses!! I'm wondering if your husband finds it easier to see the TV when in total darkness . . . ???
Cheers,
Nell
Hello Daisy
Nell's suggestion is an interesting one. All I can add from my own experience with my mother is that she has developed ways of screening additional forms of sensory input other than the ones she is trying to focus on or can cope with. Mum stopped having the sound on the tv or listening to the spoken word on CD or radio about 9 months ago. We think this is because the pace of the words became too fast for her to follow. For a while -maybe a month or so - she looked at the images in silence, then the tv was turned off permanently.
Mom also screens her face with her hands like wearing blinkers, when she wants to concentrate on what we are saying to her - or she shuts her eyes. Movement at or around the edges of her field of vision disturbs and alarms her as do any unexpected sounds - even ones we would recognise as everyday - the flushing of a loo or rattle of pots.
However Mom still gets some pleasure from 'soothing' music as long as nothing else is going on and she brought me to tears the other day by suddenly standing stock still in front of a small Christmas display and singing a fragment from the Messiah in a voice as true and unblemished as her choral days. Then she stopped as suddenly as she started and wandered on.
Maybe, Daisy, your husband is 'screening' to help his concentration though Nell's suggestion is a very interesting possibility.
Nell's suggestion is an interesting one. All I can add from my own experience with my mother is that she has developed ways of screening additional forms of sensory input other than the ones she is trying to focus on or can cope with. Mum stopped having the sound on the tv or listening to the spoken word on CD or radio about 9 months ago. We think this is because the pace of the words became too fast for her to follow. For a while -maybe a month or so - she looked at the images in silence, then the tv was turned off permanently.
Mom also screens her face with her hands like wearing blinkers, when she wants to concentrate on what we are saying to her - or she shuts her eyes. Movement at or around the edges of her field of vision disturbs and alarms her as do any unexpected sounds - even ones we would recognise as everyday - the flushing of a loo or rattle of pots.
However Mom still gets some pleasure from 'soothing' music as long as nothing else is going on and she brought me to tears the other day by suddenly standing stock still in front of a small Christmas display and singing a fragment from the Messiah in a voice as true and unblemished as her choral days. Then she stopped as suddenly as she started and wandered on.
Maybe, Daisy, your husband is 'screening' to help his concentration though Nell's suggestion is a very interesting possibility.
Thank you.
Husband is already partially sighted due to last stroke in occipital lobe.
(The vision part.. for those of you who don't know...).
He's missing a huge amount on his left side... and a little bit less on his right.
He's always startled and shocked if you approach him all of a sudden, as he cannot see you....
Yes, I agree about the 'blocking out' of other things, and needing to concentrate on things.
The sitting in the dark for TV is new... very strange.
In general, he does not follow a TV programme.
Not even football !!
Wants the Tv on all day... but follows nothing.
Attention span and memory recal is less than 20 minutes now.
Thanks for the replies.
Take Care
DaisyG
Husband is already partially sighted due to last stroke in occipital lobe.
(The vision part.. for those of you who don't know...).
He's missing a huge amount on his left side... and a little bit less on his right.
He's always startled and shocked if you approach him all of a sudden, as he cannot see you....
Yes, I agree about the 'blocking out' of other things, and needing to concentrate on things.
The sitting in the dark for TV is new... very strange.
In general, he does not follow a TV programme.
Not even football !!
Wants the Tv on all day... but follows nothing.
Attention span and memory recal is less than 20 minutes now.
Thanks for the replies.
Take Care
DaisyG
sundownig husband
My husband Yoshi would say i have to go how to Los angeles,i will pay you to take me to the airport.It was very distressing,because we lived in this house in Los angeles for24 yrs.He would want to go out ,in the black of night.I would put heavy kitchen chairs, waterbottles ,a big bird cage,and he would move everyone and set off the house alarm.We went through this 2 or three times,so i had to call the chidren to talk to him.He would carry a hand full of his things, and pile them on top of the car.This is the terrible recourse of dementia.I had to put him to a faucility.I could not handle it myself....He is on actvivan three times a day,and 350 mg. seroquel am and pm.I am grateful for this,because it has done wonders for his aggressive unhappiness.He is alert, as well.It takes 2 or 3 months to have the seroquel kick in.Everyone is different we tried a bit of xanax ,and he was zonked out .Good luck, and Godbless to all, dealing with it.
My husband Yoshi would say i have to go how to Los angeles,i will pay you to take me to the airport.It was very distressing,because we lived in this house in Los angeles for24 yrs.He would want to go out ,in the black of night.I would put heavy kitchen chairs, waterbottles ,a big bird cage,and he would move everyone and set off the house alarm.We went through this 2 or three times,so i had to call the chidren to talk to him.He would carry a hand full of his things, and pile them on top of the car.This is the terrible recourse of dementia.I had to put him to a faucility.I could not handle it myself....He is on actvivan three times a day,and 350 mg. seroquel am and pm.I am grateful for this,because it has done wonders for his aggressive unhappiness.He is alert, as well.It takes 2 or 3 months to have the seroquel kick in.Everyone is different we tried a bit of xanax ,and he was zonked out .Good luck, and Godbless to all, dealing with it.
