Constant talking

Cazcaz

Registered User
Apr 3, 2021
338
0
My mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in February.
Yesterday afternoon she started talking. The same things over and over and over. Telling us how to put sugar in the sugar bowl, then the name of the music she was listening to followed by an explaination of who they are (David Bowie), then explaining that she knows “things” and telling us a list of the things she knows. Dad took her to the hospital at about 3am to see if they’d do an MRI or something, the rang a few hours later to say they don’t know what to do but can we come and collect her as she can’t stay in hospital When we went to get her, she was still talking but also now every touch/bump in the road on the drive home/move she makes she reacts like she’s frightenEd or hurt even though she is neither.
Now,17 hours after it started, she’s still going. Talking about anything and everything that pops into her head. We tried getting her into bed and leaving her alone, she just starts calling/talking to us even though we are downstairs.
It seems like she just NEEDS to talk, constantly, like she cannot stand silence.
Can anyone relate to this? Is there anything we can do?
 

lollyc

Registered User
Sep 9, 2020
947
0
Yes! I can absolutely identify with this. I have only recently come out of about 4 weeks of non-stop talking - sometimes in French. Hour, after hour, after hour. Mum could barely eat a meal, or clean her teeth, because she couldn't stop. It was almost like a mania.

The good news is that it has stopped (for now, at least.) Mum was already on Quetiapine, her GP increased the dose, and gradually things have got back to something more bearable. It is well worth contacting your Mum's GP and seeing if they can give her some anti-anxiety medications. My Mum also has anti-depressants and Lorazepam, all of which help her sleep - otherwise I think she would actually have talked for 24 hrs.
 

Cazcaz

Registered User
Apr 3, 2021
338
0
Yes! I can absolutely identify with this. I have only recently come out of about 4 weeks of non-stop talking - sometimes in French. Hour, after hour, after hour. Mum could barely eat a meal, or clean her teeth, because she couldn't stop. It was almost like a mania.

The good news is that it has stopped (for now, at least.) Mum was already on Quetiapine, her GP increased the dose, and gradually things have got back to something more bearable. It is well worth contacting your Mum's GP and seeing if they can give her some anti-anxiety medications. My Mum also has anti-depressants and Lorazepam, all of which help her sleep - otherwise I think she would actually have talked for 24 hrs.
Thank you for this. At least I know it happens now.

We now have an appointment with the GP tomorrow, so wait and see. But it’s just exhausting not slept since yesterday morning, not likely to sleep tonight either.

thanks again.
 

lollyc

Registered User
Sep 9, 2020
947
0
Thank you for this. At least I know it happens now.

We now have an appointment with the GP tomorrow, so wait and see. But it’s just exhausting not slept since yesterday morning, not likely to sleep tonight either.

thanks again.
Good luck. Stand your ground, and insist that your mum cannot carry on like this. I think sometimes the medics don't actually understand just how exhausting this is for both PWD and family. And they really don't understand that when you say they don't stop talking, you really mean they don't stop talking!
 

Cazcaz

Registered User
Apr 3, 2021
338
0
Good luck. Stand your ground, and insist that your mum cannot carry on like this. I think sometimes the medics don't actually understand just how exhausting this is for both PWD and family. And they really don't understand that when you say they don't stop talking, you really mean they don't stop talking!
We took a video of mum to show the gp so she could see that it is like you said, she just doesn’t stop!

We had the gp appointment , mum has been given the ok to take risperidon (she already takes other meds for epilepsy and osteoporosis).

We just have to wait and see.
 

Banjomansmate

Registered User
Jan 13, 2019
5,395
0
Dorset
Out of interest, did she actually stop talking while at the Drs.?
If so it’s like Hostess mode, they can pull themselves together when absolutely necessary.
 

NuNuP

New member
Aug 16, 2022
4
0
Thank you for this. At least I know it happens now.

We now have an appointment with the GP tomorrow, so wait and see. But it’s just exhausting not slept since yesterday morning, not likely to sleep tonight either.

thanks again.
Thank you for this. At least I know it happens now.

We now have an appointment with the GP tomorrow, so wait and see. But it’s just exhausting not slept since yesterday morning, not likely to sleep tonight either.

thanks again.
How did it stop? My dad is going thru the same non stop talking… from the time he opens his eyes to when he falls asleep with seroquel 50 mg… couple of nights he continued till morning- 22 hours straight! I feel so bad for him … is he exhausted? Why does it happen? He is 90 and very frail
 

Cazcaz

Registered User
Apr 3, 2021
338
0
How did it stop? My dad is going thru the same non stop talking… from the time he opens his eyes to when he falls asleep with seroquel 50 mg… couple of nights he continued till morning- 22 hours straight! I feel so bad for him … is he exhausted? Why does it happen? He is 90 and very frail
She just stopped. Like a light switch going off. One minute we are trying to ignore the constant chatter. Then she falls asleep, when she wakes only a couple of hours later, we wait for the chat to start, nothing. We are all (me, dad and sister) looking at each other quietly signalling that she’s stopped. Was an hour or two before we dared say anything TO her, she replied totally normally and then was quiet. Pure bliss. She slept like a log afterwards, must have been about 12 hours, which for mum was almost unheard of.

While she was constantly talking We tried everything we could think of
we tried having the tv on all day, then the radio on constantly. Nope, she just talked Over it.
we tried getting her to wear her headphones and listen to music. Worse, she still talked but because she couldn’t hear herself she talked louder.
we tried constantly talking ourselves, with US not stopping talking. Nope, she just got annoyed that we weren’t letting HER speak.

one thing we THINK worked a bit is (without telling her) we filled her coffee jar with DECAF coffee and gave her alcohol free wine in a normal wine bottle. Cutting out caffeine and alcohol (which we had tried to do earlier in the year with her knowledge but she just got angry) seemed to help. But that might just be power of suggestion.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,693
0
Hello @NuNuP and welcome to the forum, you'll find lots of friendly support here. Sorry to hear about your dad. Did the non stop talking start before or after he was prescribed seroquel (also known as quetiapine)? It may be worth speaking to his GP to let them know what is happening and ask whether a medication review would be helpful. Sometimes a change of dose, or even the time that the medication is taken, can make a difference. I hope that you can find something that will help your dad as it must be very tiring for him and for you too.
 

NuNuP

New member
Aug 16, 2022
4
0
Hello @NuNuP and welcome to the forum, you'll find lots of friendly support here. Sorry to hear about your dad. Did the non stop talking start before or after he was prescribed seroquel (also known as quetiapine)? It may be worth speaking to his GP to let them know what is happening and ask whether a medication review would be helpful. Sometimes a change of dose, or even the time that the medication is taken, can make a difference. I hope that you can find something that will help your dad as it must be very tiring for him and for you too.
Thank you for your support! He started talking before seroquel… guess what though he was given 50 mg last night at 8 pm and continued talking till 7 am which was almost 24 hrs … mom didn’t get any sleep again … she gave his breakfast and he didn’t talk for 2 hrs before he fell asleep on his chair …I am hoping something stopped it …. I will keep you posted …
 

NuNuP

New member
Aug 16, 2022
4
0
She just stopped. Like a light switch going off. One minute we are trying to ignore the constant chatter. Then she falls asleep, when she wakes only a couple of hours later, we wait for the chat to start, nothing. We are all (me, dad and sister) looking at each other quietly signalling that she’s stopped. Was an hour or two before we dared say anything TO her, she replied totally normally and then was quiet. Pure bliss. She slept like a log afterwards, must have been about 12 hours, which for mum was almost unheard of.

While she was constantly talking We tried everything we could think of
we tried having the tv on all day, then the radio on constantly. Nope, she just talked Over it.
we tried getting her to wear her headphones and listen to music. Worse, she still talked but because she couldn’t hear herself she talked louder.
we tried constantly talking ourselves, with US not stopping talking. Nope, she just got annoyed that we weren’t letting HER speak.

one thing we THINK worked a bit is (without telling her) we filled her coffee jar with DECAF coffee and gave her alcohol free wine in a normal wine bottle. Cutting out caffeine and alcohol (which we had tried to do earlier in the year with her knowledge but she just got angry) seemed to help. But that might just be power of suggestion.
I am praying he will stop too .., I will keep you posted
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,693
0
That sounds positive @NuNuP and I bet your mum was relieved! Maybe the seroquel took a while to start working? Hope it continues and yes, keep us updated, fingers crossed ?
 

NuNuP

New member
Aug 16, 2022
4
0
She just stopped. Like a light switch going off. One minute we are trying to ignore the constant chatter. Then she falls asleep, when she wakes only a couple of hours later, we wait for the chat to start, nothing. We are all (me, dad and sister) looking at each other quietly signalling that she’s stopped. Was an hour or two before we dared say anything TO her, she replied totally normally and then was quiet. Pure bliss. She slept like a log afterwards, must have been about 12 hours, which for mum was almost unheard of.

While she was constantly talking We tried everything we could think of
we tried having the tv on all day, then the radio on constantly. Nope, she just talked Over it.
we tried getting her to wear her headphones and listen to music. Worse, she still talked but because she couldn’t hear herself she talked louder.
we tried constantly talking ourselves, with US not stopping talking. Nope, she just got annoyed that we weren’t letting HER speak.

one thing we THINK worked a bit is (without telling her) we filled her coffee jar with DECAF coffee and gave her alcohol free wine in a normal wine bottle. Cutting out caffeine and alcohol (which we had tried to do earlier in the year with her knowledge but she just got angry) seemed to help. But that might just be power of suggestion.
I am praying he will stop too .., I will keep you posted
That sounds positive @NuNuP and I bet your mum was relieved! Maybe the seroquel took a while to start working? Hope it continues and yes, keep us updated, fingers crossed ?
nope it was a false hope! He continues to talk - non stop! Doesn’t want to eat and little water! Is he near the end? How could he not eat and talk so much ? He has lost lots of weight!! So sad to see him like this … seroquel doesn’t seem to work on continuous talking!
 

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