sleep

[BonnieRose]

Hi I'm new, mums dog is Remus, hence the name!
Mum seems to sleep a lot and has trouble in telling the time at night, resulting in making phone calls or getting up far too early. A while ago someone mentioned 'Sundowning' on this site, is this connected?

 

[Lynne]

Hi Remus

Yes, 'sundowning' often presents as anxiety and confusion towards the end of the day and at night.
And of course, if your Mum is napping or sleeping a lot during the day (as mine does) she will be likely to waken earlier (especially now all the spring-fever birdies are yelling their heads off!)

 

[BonnieRose]

Thanks for the reply Lynn, so its just stress at night then. Shes very deaf and worries about being up for her carer.I guess even if she could hear an alarm she would still worry. Is it best just to let them sleep during the day? I've always tried to get mum to do things but nowadays its not easy, her interest in knitting, puzzles and even reading has gone. Surely theres only so much sleep you need, Iv'e always thought too much sleep can make you tired?

 

[DickG]

Hi Remus

Mary sleeps at the drop of a hat and still sleeps like a log at night! It would appear that with AD nothing is necessarily the norm.

Dick

 

[Lynne]

Hi Remus

As Dick says, the word 'normal' doesn't seem to have much meaning in AD vocabulary, but there are lots of similar symptoms & behaviours which crop up again and again.

I can only really speak from observation of my Mum (and a little generalisation from what I have read here) but my impression is that it is the inability to concentrate or focus on things for any sustained time which causes the napping.
A few years ago, my Mum always had the radio on all day; plays, current affairs programmes, gardening, 'magazine' programmes, comedy shows. Now she'll say something like "Oh, I'll listen to that XXX, it sounds interesting" (from the radio times guide), but within 10 or 15 minutes she seems to have lost the thread of it (if indeed she has remembered to listen to it!) or she'll get up to make a cup of tea and forget she was listening to it, and do something else. Ditto crossword puzzles, books and other interests.
I think it's the struggling brain function which gets 'tired', rather than the person.

Best wishes

 

[Margarita]

I think it's the struggling brain function which gets 'tired', rather than the person.

Yes The cortex shrivels up, damaging areas involved in thinking, planning and remembering.