I find it very difficult to deal with my husband in the middle of the night. He constantly refers to these other people and he needs to get away. Tonight he won’t let me touch him and feels very frightened if I attempt to. He thinks I’m leaving him. Anybody else have this problem.? I’m desperate for advice..
Sundowning and delirium and hallucinations
- Thread starter Deloma
- Start date
Welcome to the forum @Deloma.
I'm so sorry to read about your husband's hallucinations. It must be really scary. Does he have a diagnosis of a particular form of dementia? Hallucinations can be more common in certain forms. If this is something new it might be due to a urine infection. It would be worth having him checked for a UTI. My mum used to hallucinate but only when she had a UTI.
If you are very worried about him tonight you should phone out of hours GP - sorry I'm in Scotland so not sure what the procedure is in England but you know what I mean.
I hope you can get him settled.
I'm so sorry to read about your husband's hallucinations. It must be really scary. Does he have a diagnosis of a particular form of dementia? Hallucinations can be more common in certain forms. If this is something new it might be due to a urine infection. It would be worth having him checked for a UTI. My mum used to hallucinate but only when she had a UTI.
If you are very worried about him tonight you should phone out of hours GP - sorry I'm in Scotland so not sure what the procedure is in England but you know what I mean.
I hope you can get him settled.
You might find this factsheet helpful in the long term.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Hallucinations and dementia
Dementia may cause a person to have hallucinations or see things that aren't there. This is most common in people living with dementia with Lewy bodies, although other types of dementia may also cause hallucinations.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Phoning the normal surgery should either tell you where to call or divert you to the appropriate number
Urgent and emergency care services
Services the NHS provides if you need urgent or emergency medical help
www.nhs.uk
He has vascular and altziemers for 5 years. He’s under a psychiatrist who keeps changing medication but nothings working. He completely changes at night. I’m looking for respite
I just wondered if anybody else was experiencing this. Thank you for your reply.
I wrote about 3 weeks ago. But now my husband is in respite and I don’t feel I can have him home. He sleeps ok with new medication but walks about continuously, going into other peoples rooms picking up things that don’t belong to him. They lost him late one night, called the police and eventually found him shut in one of the empty rooms. Yesterday, the senior rang and said they had found him In another persons room with a big red mark on his head. Then they called an ambulance to check him over. When I saw him it is like a graze, nobody knows what happened, he’s only been there a week! I don’t know what to do?
Hi @Deloma
If you feel that this carehome can’t cope with your husband’s behaviour it might be worthwhile looking at a few others to see if they would suit him better. It does sound as though he needs someone to keep an eye on him all the time and some homes are better at dealing with wanderers than others. Going into other peoples rooms and picking things up is normal for EMI homes if this is what he’s in and shouldn’t phase them.
I’m surprised the empty rooms aren’t kept locked though.
He has only been there for a week and they’re still getting used to him. Have you spoken to the manager about your worries and wether they would be able to cope with him going forwards?
If you feel that this carehome can’t cope with your husband’s behaviour it might be worthwhile looking at a few others to see if they would suit him better. It does sound as though he needs someone to keep an eye on him all the time and some homes are better at dealing with wanderers than others. Going into other peoples rooms and picking things up is normal for EMI homes if this is what he’s in and shouldn’t phase them.
I’m surprised the empty rooms aren’t kept locked though.
He has only been there for a week and they’re still getting used to him. Have you spoken to the manager about your worries and wether they would be able to cope with him going forwards?
It does sound as though this home may only be geared up for people with early stage dementia. If you do decide to look elsewhere ask how they would manage your husband and keep track of his wandering. The home my dad was in had a gate at the bottom of the stairs so it was difficult for residents to wander into each other’s rooms and the staff found it easier to keep track of people. Visitors were always let in and out by a staff member so there was no chance of escape!
