sleeping tips

[HLon]

I wondered if anyone has any suggestions on how to improve my Mum's sleep?

There have been a number of nights when my dad or I have been up almost continually recently. She usually sleeps at first but then later in the night sleep gets disrupted eg last night I was up more than 7 times between 1.30 and 4am and then she kept getting up if less frequently til the morning. I'll help mum get into bed, soothe her, say good night, and then she'll be quiet and about 30 min or less later come out of her room calling for someone. I even tried lying beside her until she went to sleep - this helped her, but not me as she snores... and then she woke up again within an hour.

Part of the problem is that she gets constipated - we have the District Nurse coming to help with this periodically (tomorrow being the next apt)

I often take her to the loo to make sure she's not awake because she needs a wee.

I talk to her about it being night-time and sleeping.

She doesn't sleep much during the day

My dad sometimes reads poetry to her to soothe her at night.

She's not hallucinating or delusional (this used to be problem but she now has antipsychotics).

We take her for walks to try to tire her out.

She can't take sleeping medication as this would interact with antipsychotics she's on.

I suspect this may just be an inevitable part of the disease progression, and is one of many reasons why she is soon to move into a carehome, however if anyone has any suggestions we could try to get us through the next week I'd be really grateful.

Helen

 

[Dgirl]

We had the same problem with Mum until we discovered a small bit of wine for her supper helps her sleep. We discovered it accidentally after she had a glass of wine at Christmas. She doesn't normally drink so a table spoon of rose mixed with water seems to do the trick. She still takes half a sleeping tablet but now when she wakes in the night to go to the loo she goes back to bed and back to sleep.

 

[Mameeskye]

Have you tried chamomile tea at all? My father had cancer and towards the end of his life this was suggested to him to aid sleep. He said that it worked. I know with someone with dementia though it might be difficult to get them to drink depending upon if they liked the tea.

 

[Nell]

Valerian works for my Mum. You'd need to check out whether it was OK to use with her other medications, but it could be useful. It is not for use with sleeping tblets as it is a herbal sleeping tablet or relaxative. Good Luck!!