Mum was prescribed this for anxiety and sundowning, which usually happened around bedtime. It did work, but really only for a short time and after this it actually started to increase her anxiety and strange behaviour, so we stopped . We had a period of taking Zopiclone sleeping pills, but far and few between because although they worked again they started to effect her behaviour especially after going to bed, she would sleep for a few hours and then was up and about in her room and of course because of the medication, was a little wobbly. I still have the sleeping pills, but she rarely takes them now, sometimes just half to calm her before bed, but at this stage we don't really need them. Most nights she sleeps and if not, she no longer comes out of her bedroom, just occasionally potters around moving her bits and pieces on the chest of drawers.
I do know how difficult dealing with a sleepless dementia sufferer is. I had a lot of different things in my arsenal to aid sleep, paracytamol, night nurse, travel sickness pills, rescue night, nytol alixier. Not all at once of course and only after talking to her gp, but after a run of sleepless nights for me dealing with mum's wandering, I would administer one of these crossed my fingers that it worked, but as with all prescribed and over the counter medication, there are the dreaded side effects.
