Oh for a nights sleep.

wightdancer

Registered User
Mar 15, 2017
99
0
Hi folks
It's 2.20am and my wife is still full of beans walking around muttering and picking up anything that is not nailed down and trying to open doors repeatedly and noisily. This late night wandering is a fairly new phenomena but can go on until 4 or 5am. She seems to need less and less sleep and simply refuses to take pills that might help her sleep. She will keep them in her mouth and spit them into her hand or on the floor and get angry if i try to encourage her to swallow them. If I grind tablets down or hide them in food it is hit and miss if she will eat them, usually she will detect the taste and just refuse, so food and tablets are wasted.
Is there a solution?
 

Bunpoots

Volunteer Host
Apr 1, 2016
7,342
0
Nottinghamshire
Have you tried a bedtime routine?
Something like a warm milky drink when it's time to wind down. I've heard it works for some PWD. Or a tot of whisky.

I hope you've managed to get some sleep.
 

wightdancer

Registered User
Mar 15, 2017
99
0
Have you tried a bedtime routine?
Something like a warm milky drink when it's time to wind down. I've heard it works for some PWD. Or a tot of whisky.

I hope you've managed to get some sleep.

Thank you. i will try whisky and milk or similar.
I thought she would sleep more as Alzheimer's got worse but she seems to need less.
 

Buteo

Registered User
Mar 20, 2019
83
0
Routine, toiletting, getting the bedroom right, they all help, but sometimes they don't work. My wife was up until 4.00 this morning, in spite of everything, seems to be without rhyme or reason.
 

AbbyGee

Registered User
Nov 26, 2018
746
0
Portsmouth, South Coast
Lavender pillow spray is great but go gently with it. Too much lavender does the opposite and acts as a stimulant. You could try a lavender room spray (not air freshener though) or lavender and ylang-ylang if the PWD doesn't object to the smell.
 

wightdancer

Registered User
Mar 15, 2017
99
0
Lavender pillow spray is great but go gently with it. Too much lavender does the opposite and acts as a stimulant. You could try a lavender room spray (not air freshener though) or lavender and ylang-ylang if the PWD doesn't object to the smell.


I will try Lavender Oil tonight along with crushed tablets in Jam, see how that works. Thanks for all the tips, much appreciated.
 

CWR

Registered User
Mar 17, 2019
212
0
Hi folks
It's 2.20am and my wife is still full of beans walking around muttering and picking up anything that is not nailed down and trying to open doors repeatedly and noisily. This late night wandering is a fairly new phenomena but can go on until 4 or 5am. She seems to need less and less sleep and simply refuses to take pills that might help her sleep. She will keep them in her mouth and spit them into her hand or on the floor and get angry if i try to encourage her to swallow them. If I grind tablets down or hide them in food it is hit and miss if she will eat them, usually she will detect the taste and just refuse, so food and tablets are wasted.
Is there a solution?
If she isn't on any medication for high blood pressure , you could try Montmorency cherry juice from a health food shop. Presumably she wouldnt mind the taste of that. I gave my mum that when she started sundowning, and it meant she went from getting up 10 or more times a night to maybe 3 at most.
 

Roseleigh

Registered User
Dec 26, 2016
347
0
Hi folks
It's 2.20am and my wife is still full of beans walking around muttering and picking up anything that is not nailed down and trying to open doors repeatedly and noisily. This late night wandering is a fairly new phenomena but can go on until 4 or 5am. She seems to need less and less sleep and simply refuses to take pills that might help her sleep. She will keep them in her mouth and spit them into her hand or on the floor and get angry if i try to encourage her to swallow them. If I grind tablets down or hide them in food it is hit and miss if she will eat them, usually she will detect the taste and just refuse, so food and tablets are wasted.
Is there a solution?

I found with my husband that he tended to crunch the tablets so of course they were horrible. I got him to take them by splitting a soft Haribo sweet inserting them and telling him it would taste much better now.
In the hospital they put them in a spoonful of thick sweet yoghurt. You could try earliier too, before the sundowning takes over.
 

wightdancer

Registered User
Mar 15, 2017
99
0
Yes, you are right, my hoping she would simply go to bed and sleep was a losing gambit. I now put lavender oil on her pillow and that has a calming effect. She still gets out of bed and wanders around muttering and picking stuff up but usually settles on the 2nd or 3rd attempt. I really try not to give her Zopiclone too much (prescribed sleeping aid) and she usually refuses it anyway!
Keeping her entertained stops snoozing in the daytime but it is not an easy option for a good nights sleep!
 

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