Difficulty waking Mum up

[Beat]

I am joint carer, with my Dad, for my Mum who has Alzheimer’s. Two days ago, when it came time to go to ged, we were unable to rouse Mum, who had been dozing in the armchair for a couple of hours. We tried everything.Ended up calling an ambulance etc. It was as traumatic as you could imagine etc and the 999 staff were brilliant & talked us through the necessary etc. She was entirely unresponsive For 45 minutes or so. She was breathing etc, but we feared a stroke. Everyone - paramedics & all staff at A&E marvellous, of course. By the time she was in the ambulance, she was waking. Blood tests ECG etc all checked out normal. A&E staff suggested it was to do with her meds but when we told the mental health nurse, she thought it unlikely, but could offer no suggestion.
I am very concerned that this could happen again, even though the test showed no physiological problems.

Has anyone experienced this with a dementia patient? It was as if she had fallen into the deepest sleep ever. And yet, at times, it was as if Mum was fighting us back from deep inside. She resisted, for example, when we tried to get her on the floor to put her the recovery position, almost digging in her heels. Familiar to anyone? Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

Yes Mum's done this and actually fell asleep in an inappropriate place so bashed her face on the way down. For the next 2 hours, we tried everything to wake her; lifting her arms, opening her eyelids and even tickling her feet. Over the following weeks, this continued to happen with Mum once falling asleep on the toilet.

We were finally given a diagnosis of hyper delusion and we were warned that it was likely to happen again.

 

[sdmhred]

I’ve seen similar postings here about such situations. In mum’s care home it’s happened where one lady was unresponsive all day but then the next back to normal. I think others have posted too that their loved one will sleep like this for a couple of days.
very frightening for you.

 

[Beat]

It was. I'm really hoping that we can get this possibility confirmed because it's absolutely terrifying. We both thought she'd had a stroke.

 

[Beat]

Yes Mum's done this and actually fell asleep in an inappropriate place so bashed her face on the way down. For the next 2 hours, we tried everything to wake her; lifting her arms, opening her eyelids and even tickling her feet. Over the following weeks, this continued to happen with Mum once falling asleep on the toilet.

We were finally given a diagnosis of hyper delusion and we were warned that it was likely to happen again.

Thanks for replying! That's really interesting. We're going to raise this 'hyper delusion' with the docs. She's a scheduled appointment with a psychiatrist mid-June, but we're trying to get a phonecall appointment with the GP (who has been pretty helpful so far). We're on the waiting list for the Admiral Nurse, but there's a lot of people waiting and one nurse, so I'm not holding my breath. I'm not sure there's any point in contacting the mental health nurse with it, since she didn't seem to have any ideas at all!

Last night Mum did her usual falling asleep in front of the telly (don't we all) and we kept waking her every 15-20 minutes just to try to prevent the same thing happening. Each time she, literally, fell asleep again by the time we'd got back into our seat from waking her!

Dementia: the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving …

 

[Beat]

Thanks for replying! That's really interesting. We're going to raise this 'hyper delusion' with the docs. She's a scheduled appointment with a psychiatrist mid-June, but we're trying to get a phonecall appointment with the GP (who has been pretty helpful so far). We're on the waiting list for the Admiral Nurse, but there's a lot of people waiting and one nurse, so I'm not holding my breath. I'm not sure there's any point in contacting the mental health nurse with it, since she didn't seem to have any ideas at all!

Last night Mum did her usual falling asleep in front of the telly (don't we all) and we kept waking her every 15-20 minutes just to try to prevent the same thing happening. Each time she, literally, fell asleep again by the time we'd got back into our seat from waking her!

Dementia: the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving …

 

[Beat]

Yes Mum's done this and actually fell asleep in an inappropriate place so bashed her face on the way down. For the next 2 hours, we tried everything to wake her; lifting her arms, opening her eyelids and even tickling her feet. Over the following weeks, this continued to happen with Mum once falling asleep on the toilet.

We were finally given a diagnosis of hyper delusion and we were warned that it was likely to happen again.

Just checking I've got this right: might it have been 'hypo' rather 'hyper' delusion? Hypo seems to refer to something low or slow, and hyper to something high or fast.

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

Just checking I've got this right: might it have been 'hypo' rather 'hyper' delusion? Hypo seems to refer to something low or slow, and hyper to something high or fast.

It could have been!

 

[GailM]

It's called Hypoactive Delirium.

 

[Beat]

It's called Hypoactive Delirium.

Thanks!