Wife sleeping a lot

[wimbledon7]

My 58 year old wife has had Lewy Body Alzheimer's for 7 and half years now and can no longer walk and cannot speak well. She is tending to sleep all day and night now so giving fluid drinks is difficult. Is this towards the end of life?

 

[nita]

Hallo, wimbledon7, sorry you're in this sad situation. My Mum has Alzheimer's and is much the same - sleeping practically the whole time and eating and drinking very little. I try to give her as much to drink as possible when she is awake but she often doesn't want to eat.

As you say, it is very difficult to get someone to drink when they are sleepy and not alert. At times, I can't make my mother realise she has to swallow (she can still do this but only if fully awake). I have been told she is at the end of life and I have a palliative care MacMillan nurse visiting.

It is complicated in my Mum's case as she has severe arthritis and is on a lot of painkilling drugs, adding to her drowsiness. It is horrible as you feel you want to keep them going and continue to feed them but it may be that the body is slowly shutting down. I think this stage can go on for some time.

Others with more experience will hopefully respond.

My 58 year old wife has had Lewy Body Alzheimer's for 7 and half years now and can no longer walk and cannot speak well. She is tending to sleep all day and night now so giving fluid drinks is difficult. Is this towards the end of life?

 

[Izzy]

I'm so sorry to read about your wife. Have you anyone to support you? Towards the end of my mother's life we had Marie Cure nurses doing overnight sits even though she didn't have cancer (she had vascular dementia). . They were very helpful and kind. They were sent to us through our GP and district nurse service.

Could you get your wife's GP to talk to you about the stage your wife is at and what you might expect?

 

[wimbledon7]

Hallo, wimbledon7, sorry you're in this sad situation. My Mum has Alzheimer's and is much the same - sleeping practically the whole time and eating and drinking very little. I try to give her as much to drink as possible when she is awake but she often doesn't want to eat.

As you say, it is very difficult to get someone to drink when they are sleepy and not alert. At times, I can't make my mother realise she has to swallow (she can still do this but only if fully awake). I have been told she is at the end of life and I have a palliative care MacMillan nurse visiting.

It is complicated in my Mum's case as she has severe arthritis and is on a lot of painkilling drugs, adding to her drowsiness. It is horrible as you feel you want to keep them going and continue to feed them but it may be that the body is slowly shutting down. I think this stage can go on for some time.

Others with more experience will hopefully respond.

Thanks for all your replies. I do have Carers and a relative that helps me. She is always drowsy. It suddenly dawned on me she is on borrowed time now..

 

[wimbledon7]

I'm so sorry to read about your wife. Have you anyone to support you? Towards the end of my mother's life we had Marie Cure nurses doing overnight sits even though she didn't have cancer (she had vascular dementia). . They were very helpful and kind. They were sent to us through our GP and district nurse service.

Could you get your wife's GP to talk to you about the stage your wife is at and what you might expect?

Yes. I will ask. They really don't seem to know much.