Sleeping

Cazcaz

Registered User
Apr 3, 2021
338
0
Hi me once more.
I would love to know if it is normal for someone only recently diagnosed with early stages Alzheimer’s to sleep most of the day?
Mum was diagnosed in February. In the last 2 or 3 weeks she has slept more and more each day. Dad says as far as he knows she sleeps well at night too, if he wakes she is usually asleep.
Is this daytime sleeping normal? Is there anything we could/should do? Any advice for what might help mum? Has anyone in this situation found anything to do/not do?
Any advice gratefully received.
The only things I can find online refer to sleeping lots in the later stages, but mum’s neurologist said she is early stages.
 

karaokePete

Registered User
Jul 23, 2017
6,534
0
N Ireland
Hello @Cazcaz

My wife is like that and, given the number of comments I have seen on the forum, I think it can be common enough.

I think that the dementia brain can easily be exhausted, thus inducing sleep. In my wife's case I think it is a combination of that and the effects of the medication she is on.

I enjoy the 'quiet time' this gives me as it's 'all go' when my wife is awake!
 

Moggymad

Registered User
May 12, 2017
1,314
0
As your mum is sleeping so much I wonder if she is managing to have sufficient fluids? Dehydration itself can cause drowsiness.
My mum used to doze a lot & had what she called a muzzy head which made her feel drowsy. Not sure now if this was early or middle stages.
 

Cazcaz

Registered User
Apr 3, 2021
338
0
Thank you both for your replies. I wasn’t sure if it was Alzheimer’s, the fact she’s nearly 74, her medication or something new to look into.

Mum has a bottle of juice with her 24/7 and drinks several decaf coffees every day so I don’t think she can be dehydrated. But a good thought, thank you.
 

kindred

Registered User
Apr 8, 2018
2,937
0
Hi me once more.
I would love to know if it is normal for someone only recently diagnosed with early stages Alzheimer’s to sleep most of the day?
Mum was diagnosed in February. In the last 2 or 3 weeks she has slept more and more each day. Dad says as far as he knows she sleeps well at night too, if he wakes she is usually asleep.
Is this daytime sleeping normal? Is there anything we could/should do? Any advice for what might help mum? Has anyone in this situation found anything to do/not do?
Any advice gratefully received.
The only things I can find online refer to sleeping lots in the later stages, but mum’s neurologist said she is early stages.
Hello! My husband slept such a lot in the early stages. I used to sit in his room and read or work so we could at least be together. Then after about a year, he suddenly got up, came downstairs, said I don’t want to be alone anymore, and loved downstairs! Kindredx
 

Ellebe

Registered User
May 5, 2020
18
0
Hello Cazcaz.
My mum too sleeps most of the time she’s up, other than when she’s eating. I have to constantly remind her to drink, so I interrupt her sleeping - she often says she’s dozing or just has her eyes closed and is fully aware of what’s going on around her (highly unlikely). I’ve tried distracting her with puzzles or talking, but she doesn’t want anything but to be left alone.
She has Carers coming in for 30 mins each day to get her up - it was distressing me too much to have her shouting at me so I got Social Services involved. She shouts at the Carers instead!
Today I had someone sitting with her for 4 hours to give her drinks whilst I went out with a walking group and for lunch. BUT she had refused to get up. I got back just before 3 and whilst the carer and I were talking she got herself up!!! When up she’s very friendly and easy going.
If she tells me t go away and leave her alone, my response is “I can’t. My job is to make sure you’re fed and watered and kept safe”. She seems to accept that.
But she still sleeps a lot. Gets up late. Goes to bed late and sleeps through much of the day. It seems to be fairly normal - perhaps her body is gradually shutting down?
Good luck with your mum. ?
 

Patsy and Perky

New member
Oct 25, 2020
4
0
My wife was diagnosed with dementia in November 2019 confirmed after a PET Scan in February 2020 as Frontotemporal Dementia. We then fell into a void because of lockdown. Would really love to have a good chat with a psychiatrist and look at the scan results. I wonder if sleep and feeling tired is a symptom of Dementia and if the doctor should have picked it up years ago? My wife can go to bed quite early and sleep soundly all night. After getting up between 7 and 8 she can go back for a snooze at 9. She has a sleep for about an hour most afternoons.
 

mussoman

Registered User
Mar 2, 2009
12
0
NE Essex
My wife denies sleeping. If I switch the television off she says I was watching that.mI had not realised she had perfected the art of watching through her eyelids.
She sleeps through the night and the day, I think it is drug related
 

Wrendy

Registered User
Feb 5, 2021
12
0
Leeds
Same thing happening to my OH. Sleeps all night then watches tv all day. At least he has the tv on but asleep on and off most of the time. Lost interest in everything else. Recently diagnosed with mixed dementia Alzheimer’s and Vascular and prescribed MEMANTINE. Not sure what this behaviour suggests. Progression of the disease or what. Any ideas ?
 

ka7e

Registered User
Nov 10, 2014
5
0
Somerset
My husband was diagnosed with mixed dementia about 9 years ago and looking back, one of his first symptoms were excessive "napping". He had a series of TIAs and now sleeps about 18 hours a day. He eats whatever meal he's got up for (he's quite food-obsessed!) and then goes back to bed. I usually manage to get 2-3 pints of juice in him, more if it's hot and he might sit in the garden for a while. He will stay awake and watch hours of snooker, but he doesn't take it in. He has no perception of time, but if it's dark and I'm in bed he knows it's night. I make sure the curtains are open during the day and he has a clock next to his bed, but he can't remember if he's been up before and thinks he's slept late!
 

Skippy43

New member
Jun 8, 2019
3
0
My mum is 88 and has mixed dementia she sleeps a lot during the day and all night but we normally find that sleeping more during the day is a sign that her haemoglobin levels have dropped as she has an iron deficiency. She also says shes bored and there’s nothing else to do but sleep.
 

SJM10

New member
Jan 10, 2021
14
0
Hi, my husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's @ 65 after MRI and amyloid scans. Before being out on medication, Donepezil , he kept dropping off in the afternoon and was v restless in the night. However, since being on medication he is much better ,, sleeps well and doesn't drop off in the day. Mind you, as he is young and physically fit I do keep him quite busy with lots of jobs to ' help me'
 

dbrilyant

Registered User
Sep 14, 2014
36
0
I am five years from diagnosis and am sleeping ever more in the day. Coping with life takes longer and is much more tiring than it used to be. I try to sleep, eat and go to the loo by the clock. After lunch I retire for over an hour and set an alarm and then I can cope with the rest of the day. I fall asleep at 11pm but can wake and sometimes find further sleep difficult.
 

Doubleexposure12

New member
Apr 28, 2021
3
0
I am five years from diagnosis and am sleeping ever more in the day. Coping with life takes longer and is much more tiring than it used to be. I try to sleep, eat and go to the loo by the clock. After lunch I retire for over an hour and set an alarm and then I can cope with the rest of the day. I fall asleep at 11pm but can wake and sometimes find further sleep difficult.
 

Doubleexposure12

New member
Apr 28, 2021
3
0
I am fairly new to this, and i too sleep a lot, kind of bugs me, but i need the sleep i seem to be off balance a lot, if i start to do the dishes i can. do them, but i tire before i hit the pots and pans hehe, on the whole i feel well , except for that, i do belong to a dementia study call the brain and gait study....I hope you are doing well
 

MagG

New member
Mar 31, 2020
5
0
My OH was diagnosed last Summer and was prescribed Memantine by the Memory Clinic. It made him very sleepy during the day, so he was advised to take it before bedtime. It seems to help him sleep through the night and he hasn't done much wandering since doing that!
Having said that he still sleeps quite a lot during the day and is not interested in doing much apart from reading the paper and watching television.
He also has CLL and has just had lymph nodes removed as a melanoma on his head had spread to those in his neck. I think I'd sleep too if I had all that to contend with.
 

electra2008

Registered User
May 4, 2019
21
0
My husband sleeps a lot all night and daytime naps that sometimes last approx 3 hours I have come to understand that processing any information or working at a task takes an enormous amount of energy for our person. I have watched him dress or undress for bed, from around the corner, the length of time each sequence takes is incredible I can almost see the wheels working in his forehead. If you relate that to when you are tired and how confused you can get, just being tired, think just how much energy they have to use just to do the smallest task.
So using all that energy they need to recuperate, we can just sit for a while, but they, or mine, needs to sleep. Also as one poster says use that time for YOU no jobs relax in your own way.
 

Mimi47

New member
Mar 30, 2020
2
0
My husband was diagnosed with mixed dementia four and a half years ago. He goes to bed around midnight and often sleeps for 12 hours. If he gets up earlier he doesn’t feel good. Has his “breakfast” about 12.30!
 

Lavender Blue

New member
May 7, 2019
1
0
I am really interested to read all the comments, as was worried about my mum who seems to be constantly tired, always napping during the day and too exhausted to do anything much more than watching TV or listening to the radio. it sounds as if this is not uncommon. The has only recently been diagnosed and prescribed Donepezil so hopefully we might see an improvement.
 

Libbybookworm

Registered User
Apr 6, 2018
135
0
My husband was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at the beginning of 2014, although he had been showing symptoms for around two years before that. Over the years his need for sleep has grown more and his ability to do anything has diminished. He is usually up by midday to have his breakfast, then has a walk, returns for lunch and sleeps on and off until dinner. He'll then fall asleep in front of Morse or golf until it's time for bed. He can still dress himself after a fashion and but needs reminding what to wear. He'd happily walk around in swimming trunks all day if I let him.