Hello! So to start off I'm 21 and I live with my parents,siblings and my grandma. In the beginning of this year my grandma was diagnosed with dementia and she was put on the lowest dosage of her medication since we caught it pretty early. So my grandma has her own little "apartment" downstairs so the door to her place is right next to the couch in our living room so we check on her and everything.
A little over a week ago my grandma fell in her bathroom and hurt her side but she doesn't remember exactly how. So of course we took care of her and gave her a little medicine to help with the pain (she didnt have any bruising) and we started realizing that she was acting a little weird. First off she started sleeping much more which we figured since she was in pain but she also was barely eating. Now she's been having issues with eating since she was diagnosed but she gets full after only eating a few bites of food now.
So now,about 2 days after she fell,I was watching tv in my living room around 1 am and I hear the door open where she stays and says,oh you're still up and I was kinda confused of course but just said yes. She went to the kitchen and tried making her coffee as she would do in the morning,which was of odd.So, I tried telling her how late it was but she just didnt get it and thought it was totally fine so I went up to bed after awhile. I just kept an ear out to see if she was still down there and she was trying to make coffee I believe and kept moving chairs around for about 30 min until i told my mom,so she tried explaining for like 20 min until she finally went back to bed.
Now another night,we were about to have dinner around 5 30 and I saw that all her lights were off in her living room area and saw she was in her bedroom and she was in pajamas so I was confused as she's never done that before either so I told my mom and she ended up telling her that it was dinner time and it wasn't time for bed and she just said okay and came out to eat. That night she went to bed at her normal time around 8 30.
Again,a day or so later my dad said she was out in our kitchen at 5 am making the dogs dinner and looking for food for her to eat saying she thought no one fed them and thought we werent home,he told her the time and she didn't understand so he explained it again for a while and she finally saw how early it was and went back to bed. So now the day after Christmas, we were again about to have dinner at 5,she was changed for bedtime and I tried explaining the time and she got very upset and didn't understand how 5 pm was too early for bed,she said so what if its 5 o'clock and so on. So my brother and mom tried to calmly explain and she ended up yelling and saying get out I'm not eating dinner and that I'm tired and she shut off her lights and she closed the door and we left her alone.
That night around 10:00, my grandma comes out of her room,fully drressd for the day and sits down on our couch in our living room where we were watching tv, my mom asked her if she knew the time and she said no and told her and all she said was okay. My mom had work so she went to bed around 11 and said goodnight to my grandma and she said goodnight and just went back in her room and sat on her couch and took a nap for a while. After that we all went to bed and she was still on the couch around 1 am.
So now today, she had breakfast with my dad while my mom was at work and he went upstairs to shower,I came downstairs around 12 to grab my laundry and her lights were on but her bedroom was dark so I walk by and I hear her snoring and back in her pajamas which she hasnt done this early before,she has napped on her couch but not in bed. It's now 3 30 and she's still in bed,she has her hearing aids out so when I tried asking if she wants some lunch she obviously did not understand me and ignored me and went back to sleep. I left her lights on in her living room so she knows it's daytime but she hasn't gotten out of bed still.
My mom was told by her friend that it could be sundowners but she has only gotten up in the middle of the night twice so far and I don't know much about it but is it every night or just sometimes? I read about it and she does nap ALOT,we try to keep her up but she doesn't like to do anythimg. I've tried coloring with her,watching a movie,playing cards,going for a walk,but she doesn't want to. It's hard because she is stubborn and of course the dementia makes it worse so I just don't know how else to help. Its very hard to get her to eat and to drink water and to get her to do something productive instead of napping so are there any ideas I can maybe try and do you think she does have sundowners? Thank you!
A little over a week ago my grandma fell in her bathroom and hurt her side but she doesn't remember exactly how. So of course we took care of her and gave her a little medicine to help with the pain (she didnt have any bruising) and we started realizing that she was acting a little weird. First off she started sleeping much more which we figured since she was in pain but she also was barely eating. Now she's been having issues with eating since she was diagnosed but she gets full after only eating a few bites of food now.
So now,about 2 days after she fell,I was watching tv in my living room around 1 am and I hear the door open where she stays and says,oh you're still up and I was kinda confused of course but just said yes. She went to the kitchen and tried making her coffee as she would do in the morning,which was of odd.So, I tried telling her how late it was but she just didnt get it and thought it was totally fine so I went up to bed after awhile. I just kept an ear out to see if she was still down there and she was trying to make coffee I believe and kept moving chairs around for about 30 min until i told my mom,so she tried explaining for like 20 min until she finally went back to bed.
Now another night,we were about to have dinner around 5 30 and I saw that all her lights were off in her living room area and saw she was in her bedroom and she was in pajamas so I was confused as she's never done that before either so I told my mom and she ended up telling her that it was dinner time and it wasn't time for bed and she just said okay and came out to eat. That night she went to bed at her normal time around 8 30.
Again,a day or so later my dad said she was out in our kitchen at 5 am making the dogs dinner and looking for food for her to eat saying she thought no one fed them and thought we werent home,he told her the time and she didn't understand so he explained it again for a while and she finally saw how early it was and went back to bed. So now the day after Christmas, we were again about to have dinner at 5,she was changed for bedtime and I tried explaining the time and she got very upset and didn't understand how 5 pm was too early for bed,she said so what if its 5 o'clock and so on. So my brother and mom tried to calmly explain and she ended up yelling and saying get out I'm not eating dinner and that I'm tired and she shut off her lights and she closed the door and we left her alone.
That night around 10:00, my grandma comes out of her room,fully drressd for the day and sits down on our couch in our living room where we were watching tv, my mom asked her if she knew the time and she said no and told her and all she said was okay. My mom had work so she went to bed around 11 and said goodnight to my grandma and she said goodnight and just went back in her room and sat on her couch and took a nap for a while. After that we all went to bed and she was still on the couch around 1 am.
So now today, she had breakfast with my dad while my mom was at work and he went upstairs to shower,I came downstairs around 12 to grab my laundry and her lights were on but her bedroom was dark so I walk by and I hear her snoring and back in her pajamas which she hasnt done this early before,she has napped on her couch but not in bed. It's now 3 30 and she's still in bed,she has her hearing aids out so when I tried asking if she wants some lunch she obviously did not understand me and ignored me and went back to sleep. I left her lights on in her living room so she knows it's daytime but she hasn't gotten out of bed still.
My mom was told by her friend that it could be sundowners but she has only gotten up in the middle of the night twice so far and I don't know much about it but is it every night or just sometimes? I read about it and she does nap ALOT,we try to keep her up but she doesn't like to do anythimg. I've tried coloring with her,watching a movie,playing cards,going for a walk,but she doesn't want to. It's hard because she is stubborn and of course the dementia makes it worse so I just don't know how else to help. Its very hard to get her to eat and to drink water and to get her to do something productive instead of napping so are there any ideas I can maybe try and do you think she does have sundowners? Thank you!
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