MIL is now living in her own home with 24 hour live in care. She sleeps very well at night 11/12 hours uninterrupted. During the day she is very sleepy. If left in the room on her own for more than 5 mins she will fall asleep. Her carer tries to keep her awake allowing her a 2 hour nap during the day. Is this "normal" ie another stage/ step along the dementia road. She suffers from Mixed Alzheimers/vascular and has deteriorated rapidly over the last 12 months.
Sleeping most of the time
- Thread starter Trini
- Start date
Hello Trini,maybe mum in law is resting her poorly brain and it may be distressing for her to be "kept awake" am sure she is eating and drinking properly which is most important,could the carer put the TV on or some music that mum in law likes and have a conversation with her, her sleepyness could just be boredom rather then a new stage of dementia, alas one size does not fit all and everyone regardless of dementia is so different, maybe get her GP to give her a check up, general blood tests and urine test,just in case there is another reason for this
you could request a home visit for this,in order not to upset MiL
Take care
Chris
you could request a home visit for this,in order not to upset MiLTake care
Chris
thank you Chris. MIL does not like the TV or radio. The carer does talk to her although we get very little response these days, perhaps the odd comment, usually unrelated to anything you have said! The carer also tries to take her for little walks in the garden so perhaps she is just exhausted. Will think about GP option although that will involve SIL! Will see how she is this week.
Hi Trini - how are things going? My (nearly 90) Mother, with vascular dementia, lives with us. She also sleeps a huge amount - again I suspect boredom but she simply doesn't want to do anything and just sits and falls asleep. recent GP appointment showed nothing particularly wrong so I'm just coming to the conclusion that as Chris says, she wants to rest her brain and her body is worn out. I try to make sure she eats with us and take her out somewhere when I can (today was a trip around the village where we live) - exercise for me as believe it or not our Suffolk village has slopes and pushing the wheelchair is quite hard work. She can't/wont' hear very well and so communication is hard (sometimes impossible) and her delusions are getting stronger. So I'm beginning to acccept the sleeping and as long as she eats and drinks, gets washed and dressed and looks at her paper every day and has a bit of a chat, that's OK. I'm learning not to sweat the little stuff! Take care.
As others have suggested it could be fatigue associated with the stage of dementia or boredom or even a 'I don't like my reality.If I go to sleep perhaps everything will be better when I wake up,' avoidance strategy.
Last year my mother always seemed to be asleep on my visits, yet now she rarely is asleep. Not mentally there but has her eyes open, staring at nothing in particular, which actually is worse.
It depends which stage she is at but certainly in the very last stages they have very little brain activity left and will need lots of recuperation time.
Last year my mother always seemed to be asleep on my visits, yet now she rarely is asleep. Not mentally there but has her eyes open, staring at nothing in particular, which actually is worse.
It depends which stage she is at but certainly in the very last stages they have very little brain activity left and will need lots of recuperation time.
I am coming to the conclusion that this is just the stage she is at. OH went to see her at the weekend and again she was very sleepy. Carer says she is like that most of the time. She sleeps well at night which is a blessing. Carer does try to talk to her. We get virtually no conversation these days. She doesn't read anything or watch TV or listen to the radio. When she is awake she tends to just stare into space. Trying to talk to her for just an hour is hard enough with no response so I think her carer is doing the best she can.she is not very mobile these days and needs help with everything including eating. She does however eat well. In fact we think she is putting weight on probably because she is not moving around much. She has complained of a pain in her hip on occasion but then she will say it is fine. She speaks so little it is difficult to know if there is anything wrong. She is due an appt with rheumatoid consultant in a couple of weeks so we will see if he can help. She is also due some blood tests- routine. My suspicion is there is nothing specifically wrong just dementia progression. It amazes me that in OH/in-laws seem surprised when they see a deterioration. What do they expect. She has vascular dementia. It is only going in one direction!
