always asleep

[oldbones]

My husband has been diagnosed with mixed altziemers/dementia. It started slowly, but now seems to be going very quickly. He sleeps most of the day AND most of the night. Nothing seems to stimulate him any longer. I have been extremely lucky with my doctor who has supported me in my own health and his. I have had to take him to A&E a couple of times to prove I am not poisoning him. He has called the police re me poisoning him, & luckily the police understood his problem.
I am wondering if anyone can tell me why he sleeps all the time. Is it the meds, or is it a part of the illness. - I do have an admiral nurse who I can call on should I need help. Because I am coping tho' there is not much they can do. Help re the sleeping probs please. Anne PS I am lucky that he can go into day care 2 days a week, which gives me time to shop etc.

 

[Margaret79]

Hi Oldbones.

Welcome to TP, I hope you will feel as supported as I do now that you have joined the TP family, but sorry that you need to be here.

My MIL Has started to sleep a lot, seems like she can sleep for England! Last night she went to bed at 6.45, we have left an alarm clock set at 11 am which sometimes does wake her. Today we tried waking her from about 1pm, eventually managing to get her to come to about 2.30. I too was wondering last week what to do. I'm not sure there is anything that will help, MIL has times when she's up roaming all night but luckily because she lives in a detached annex she doesn't disturb us.

 

[stanleypj]

Hi Oldbones and welcome. As you suggest, medication could be making your husband sleepy. I would ask whoever prescribed it about this. Do you feel that the medication is having any positive effects? If not, you could try having a drug 'holiday' to see if he becomes less tired. Or it may be that he would be better on different medication.

On a different tack, what do you see as the problem of having him asleep most of the time? What is he like when he is awake? I only ask as it seems quite common for people with dementia to sleep a lot. Admittedly, this sounds like an extreme case but it may just be that his body, at this stage, needs a lot of sleep.

Take care

 

[MReader]

My husband sleeps up to 18 hours in 24. He also goes to daycare twice a week, which wears him out. He also has mixed dementia. He is 80.
His psychiatrist told me that as only about half his brain works properly, he gets exhausted just living so needs all this sleep.
I also used to worry about this but now look at it positively - it gives me time to myself to be able to get things done, which cannot be done when he is awake.
Also I understand a lot people with dementia hardly sleep at all - that must be dreadful for their other halves/carers
As long your husband is warm and comfortble, enjoy the peace!!!

 

[stanleypj]

My husband sleeps up to 18 hours in 24. He also goes to daycare twice a week, which wears him out. He also has mixed dementia. He is 80.
His psychiatrist told me that as only about half his brain works properly, he gets exhausted just living so needs all this sleep.
I also used to worry about this but now look at it positively - it gives me time to myself to be able to get things done, which cannot be done when he is awake.
Also I understand a lot people with dementia hardly sleep at all - that must be dreadful for their other halves/carers
As long your husband is warm and comfortble, enjoy the peace!!!

This seems to be a very positive way of viewing the situation,

 

[nita]

My mother also sleeps a lot - I would say about 22 hours out of 24 on some days. She is on painkilling medication but this didn't used to make her that tired. The doctor told me that the brain stops functioning so it shuts down. What worries me is that, when I can't rouse her she doesn't eat or drink. Also, giving her medication when she is sleepy is very difficult. I am just glad she doesn't seem to be in pain any longer from her severe arthritis. However, like oldbones, I do worry as it seems so unnatural.

 

[PHILLGD]

Hi Oldbones
My wife has dementia and is allways sleeping she want to go to bed allday long it seems to me that this is just part of their problem but she does talk in her sleep and every time she has her night time pills after 1/2 hour she seems to want to eat for england then she gets back in bed and goes off to sleep I would not worry about this because they are not doing themselfs any harm but it gives you time to take a breath
phillgd

 

[oldbones]

Thanks to all

Hi all. Thanks for the responses. At least I now know that this can sometimes be a part of the illness. Also thanks to those who thought I should enjoy the peace and quiet, as some with this disease can be awake and belligerent. I had begun to feel guilty allowing him to sleep all the time, but I think I will just have to go with the flow. He is on loads off meds as he has severe diabetes which was not picked up until it was too late, and he has various illnesses due to this, including extremity neuropathy. I sometimes think he sleeps to get away from how he feels, as he knows he has these illnesses and knows it will get worse. Unbelievable how many people have this problem.
Good luck to all who are caring for people with this illness. AND THANKS AGAIN.