Dad obsessed with heating

[Pennyc]

My dad has mixed dementia and has started lots of obsessive behaviours. He leaves the dogs toys in certain parts of her house and nobody is allowed to touch them. He calls them his friends. He is now starting to get obsessed with turning the heating thermostat up to 25. He’s constantly pressing buttons and house is like an oven. My poor mum keeps turning it down but he’s always turning it up.
He sits with numerous layers on and sometimes his coat and is just obsessed with heat. Is this normal? And am I right that people with dementia struggle to control their body heat?
Also when do you know your loved one has moved from the moderate stage to the advanced stage?

 

[karaokePete]

Hello @Pennyc

It's certainly true that some people with dementia can struggle to control their body heat - my wife is one!

As to the stages, they are very fluid and every person with dementia can be different. That said, a site that gives a lot of detail on the subject can be found with the following link

Seven Stages of Dementia | Symptoms, Progression & Durations

Learn about the stages of dementia and the scales used to measure the progression of Alzheimer’s and other dementias: the FAST, GDS and CDR scales

www.dementiacarecentral.com

There is also a Society Factsheet on the subject and clicking the 2nd line of the following link will take you to that
The progression and stages of dementia (458)
PDF printable version

 

[Lynmax]

Mum went through a stage where her body temperature was all over the place, she'd be cold, feeling radiators on a summers day asking why they weren't on, then 5 minutes later, stripping off layers complaining she was too hot! She had a thyroid test just to rule it out.

Some people have got around the thermostat issue by having it disconnected and another one installed somewhere that the person with dementia won't be able to find it. However, the old one is left in place so as the PWD still believes they can control the heating. That avoids causing any unnecessary distress.

Exactly what we did when mum started messing about with the central heating! We installed Hive so could control the temperature and settings remotely and had the new until fitted in a discreet place in the little used dining room. But the original thermostat in the hall was disconnected and left for mum to use. She had no idea about the Hive controller but we had peace of mind knowing the heating was on at an appropriate temperature.

 

[Lawson58]

My husband's body temperature control is all over the place and I have given up suggesting to him that he needs a sweater, shoes etc because it becomes another thing for him to argue about. He will sit around in a short sleeved shirt when it is quite cool but at other times I have to turn down the temperature several times a night.

We had a very mild summer this year so it has only become very noticeable in the last few weeks.

 

[Sarasa]

My mother had the heating in her flat cranked up to 30 degrees all year. This meant that she felt cold when she was anywhere else. I've mentioned several times Christmas 2018. We were all at my brothers and mum had a total meltdown as she thought we were deliberately freezing her. The rest of us had stripped to the bare minimum to remain decent and mum was in a coat. The root of the problem seemed to be that mum's knees ached from going up and down the stairs of my brother's house. By mum's reasoning that meant she must be cold.
Mum still feels cold, the only thing I really understood when I visited her in the care home the other week was that her knees ached and she was cold. The place was pretty warm as care homes usually are.

 

[Dianej]

My partner struggles with heating issues. He constantly contains he is cold so will turn up the thermostat to 30. Then when he complains he is too hot, he doesn't turn the heating down, but just strips down to T shirt and shorts. He will then want to go out dressed like that, even though it may be freezing outside. He doesn't seem capable of working out that the temperature can be different indoors to outdoors. He will also turn the heating up to 30 on a hot day because he wants to dry a single cloth on a radiator. He gets up at first daylight which is currently about 5 to 5.30am and turns the heating up to 30. I wake up a to a tropical house and my first job is turn it down. We continue turning it upend down all day. I am dreading the next fuel bill.
He does complain that he has a painful knee and having read he previous post, I wonder if that could be linked. I find in general that he gets very anxious about such things as minor headaches and small cuts etc as if they are major health issues when he would just have shrugged them off in the past.
I don't think I could get a new thermostat installed without him knowing. He checks every corner of the house, drawers, cupboards etc all the time so he would notice it. Also he never goes out, so would know about the workman. I am just hoping this heat thing is a phase that will pass.
Another new behaviour I have noticed is that he seems to have become addicted to ice cream. He will sometimes eat three or four bowls straight after each other, obvioulsy insisting that he hasn't eaten that many and this is his first one. I wondered if this has something to do with the temperature thing too.

 

[Catastrophe]

We had the same issue with the thermostat. It was constantly being turned up to 30. Dad would sit there in a room that was boiling hot wrapped in two blankets, soaked in sweat, saying he was cold. I don't think he can tell anymore if he is cold or hot so defaults to cold. Which ultimately results in him suffering dehydration and heat stroke. The hotter he gets the more confused he gets. The thermostat situation sorted itself out when we moved it while doing some renovations. It's still in his reach but as its not where it was he doesn't recognise what it is.
Now the issue we have is the electric blanket on his bed. He would have it on all night, then complains that his pyjamas are soaking again. Don't know how to get around this one other than take the blanket away. And don't think I can face that tantrum yet. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[lollyc]

We had the same issue with the thermostat. It was constantly being turned up to 30. Dad would sit there in a room that was boiling hot wrapped in two blankets, soaked in sweat, saying he was cold. I don't think he can tell anymore if he is cold or hot so defaults to cold. Which ultimately results in him suffering dehydration and heat stroke. The hotter he gets the more confused he gets. The thermostat situation sorted itself out when we moved it while doing some renovations. It's still in his reach but as its not where it was he doesn't recognise what it is.
Now the issue we have is the electric blanket on his bed. He would have it on all night, then complains that his pyjamas are soaking again. Don't know how to get around this one other than take the blanket away. And don't think I can face that tantrum yet. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Can you plug the blanket into a time switch? It could be on when he goes to bed and wakes up, but off during the night.
My Mum also has no concept of temperature. She will say " I want to take my cardigan off, because I'm cold", but doesn't know whether she's hot or cold.

 

[MartinWL]

Internet +app based heating controls may help with this. They can be set up to change the temperature setting at regular intervals automatically although not is a bit fiddly to do. It will also be possible to adjust the thermostat from anywhere including in bed!

 

[marty21]

My dad has mixed dementia and has started lots of obsessive behaviours. He leaves the dogs toys in certain parts of her house and nobody is allowed to touch them. He calls them his friends. He is now starting to get obsessed with turning the heating thermostat up to 25. He’s constantly pressing buttons and house is like an oven. My poor mum keeps turning it down but he’s always turning it up.
He sits with numerous layers on and sometimes his coat and is just obsessed with heat. Is this normal? And am I right that people with dementia struggle to control their body heat?
Also when do you know your loved one has moved from the moderate stage to the advanced stage?

Hi @Pennyc
My Dad has mid stage vascular dementia and is also obsessed with having the heating on, almost 24/7. I’d put it down to his other chronic health problems (kidney function, poor circulation etc) but didn’t realise there could be a connection to his dementia. I’ll mention that to my Mum (his main carer) as well. She gets so frustrated with having the heating on so much but this could help explain why.

 

[SerenaR]

My Dad has the heating on all the time, including the gas fire even when the door is open and he's sat in the sun. I am so grateful that others have similar issues. I am new to the forum and gaining some comfort from learning that others are dealing with similar issues - thank you so much.

 

[Grannie G]

My husband was always cold.

On the warmest day if I could persuade him to sit outside he insisted he needed a fleece and a blanket. Then he would want to go indoors because he was too cold.

 

[Shedrech]

hello @SerenaR
a warm welcome to DTP
good that reading posts is already of comfort to you ... it really does help to share experiences here .... so now you've started, do keep posting

 

[Pete C]

Hi all, my wife feels cold all the time she will sit there with thick jumpers and a coat on, I keep telling her it is the brain playing tricks and show her a thermometer, she understands this, forgets about it and the cycle starts again I suppose she will get to a point were she won't understand but we will cross that bridge when it arrives.
Petr

 

[Ramblingrose]

My mum is always cold even in a heatwave. She has to be forced to put warmer clothing on. Thankfully she has no idea how to use the central heating, light the fire etc. The bills would be sky high. I don't know if it is due to a more inactive life or dementia.

 

[kawarider]

My wife has temperature swings not unlike the personal summers she had at menopause. its' jumper on jumper off. I'm cold can I have the heating on. The room stat is a radio frequency module, which is now not transmitting, heating control is by the radiator stat', which will not take the room above 24 degrees. Currently she can comprehend "I'm cold, the radiator is hot, need a jumper", that can be fun though. When I suggested she needed another top. she came back with two t shirts on. By using the settings for the room stat transmitter, you can stop it communicating with the programmer, set the timer system to times, the just work on the radiator stat's. Works for us

 

[Algy]

My wife has early onset Alzheimer’s and one of her problems is extreme sensitivity to the cold. At first I was really worried as all of a sudden she appeared to be in a catatonic shock unable to communicate or even move. Now when it starts we put her under an electric day blanket and usually within 10 minutes or so she is back to normal but can’t remember what’s just happened to her. Doctor has tested thyroid etc but found nothing untoward apart from slight vitamin B deficiency. Conclusion is that it must be from the Alzheimer’s. She does take warfarin daily for heart valve replacement.

 

[Anchorite]

Can anyone help? My husband has a temperature problem in that he’s always cold. On the hottest of days he’ll wear a pullover and is always cold in other people’s houses etc. Ours is always too warm for everyone else . But more worrying are his constant night sweats. Someone at my local Dementia Carers group said they’d been told to stop their husbands donepezil because of this, but my doctor doesn’t seem to be aware of this connection and just dropped him back to 5mg, making his speech problems worse again and he still has the night sweats each night. I cannot find anyone with a similar problem or solution.

 

[Bunpoots]

Hi @Anchorite . I’m not aware of any connection between Donepezil and temperature but I think it’s common for PWD to feel cold all the time - my dad certainly did. Dad had other problems with Donepezil so he was reduced to 5mg to improve his behaviour. Perhaps it’s worth your husband going back to the 10mg dose. I bought dad blankets as he was always cold but he used to sweat under them and still say he wasn’t hot. Perhaps something similar is happening with your husband.

Sorry not to be of more help.

 

[Quite contrary]

Hi @Anchorite . I have the same problem with my husband! Only last evening he was complaining that it was cold and closing all the windows, even though the thermometer was reading 26 C at 10.0 pm! I am not looking forward to winter - he turns up the thermostat, I turn it down, he turns it up and that is how it goes on! I do not think it is anything to do with medication but rather that the part of the brain that controls body temperature no longer works properly.