Sundowning

[PianoMike]

I was intetested to know how others deal with this.

At 6pm my Dad goes wild. He's everywhere in the house. He creates tasks for himself that just cause mess and chaos. For example he'll pour a cup of tea into 4 other cups, put a cup in the breadbin, take another into another room, force one in his pocket (that spills of course) he may just pour them out onto the floor.
That's just one example. He will dismantle, destroy, and reposition and if you try to stop him he will shout.
Thankfully it stops at a time I want to sleep but on occasions he's up in the night doing this.
I find it hard keeping my temper. When I call local crisis line they tell me to just leave him be.
Any other tips? I've not been down the medication route.

 

[marionq]

I would say that without medication the behaviour will continue. I also take my husband out walking when he is agitated like this. You need to involve his doctor in this.

 

[CeliaW]

Gosh that sounds hard to deal with.

You say you haven't been down the medication route and I wondered why? I know meds aren't the answer to everything and we all dread the idea of someone being over medicated but, sometimes, when someone is agitated and distressed /angry, getting a suitable medication can be the kindest thing.

It often requires some trial and error and won't completely remove the sundowning but should make things less agitated and stressful for both of you. Sadly as you have found, at such times distraction doesn't work. Maybe worth a word with the doc or mental health team?

I am sure others will be along to add more information / help.

Take care.

Sent from my SM-G361F using Talking Point mobile app

 

[nitram]

I agree that medication is probably the way to go, contact the GP or, preferable, the mental health team or a consultant.

However
"When I call local crisis line they tell me to just leave him be."

IMHO a requirement for employment on a dementia/mental health crisis team should be to have had some personal experience at the coal face even if it is only a day or two spent in a unit.

 

[kissesintherain]

Dealing with sundowning is tough, i am having similar problems tonight. Not as bad as yours but for four hours my mum has been hearing things and reacting to the voices. I find this the hardest thing to deal with , as i know the anxiety is not real but it is for her and because i can't reason with her she is left believing it and responding to the voices which causes her further anxiety and the vicious circle continues. I also asked the forum for ideas. Beyond checking for underlying illness, developing a toolkit of distraction techniques and emergency supplies of patience and resilience, it is something to be endured, unless alternative meds prove successful, though my mum is already some of them!

 

[Tin]

Does sound like you need some medication with the night time sundowning. Day time anxiety etc is and can sometimes be ignored or eased by a short walk or drive, but the evening not so easy. When mum was first diagnosed her sundowning was horrible to see and I was at a loss what to do, the one thing that did work for a short while back then was to warm up a bowl of rice pudding, had a bowl already in the microwave ready to go if needed through the night. It was hit or miss with a hot milky drink.

Eventually we turned to medication, but I do sometimes turn to the warm rice pudding. Talk to the gp, just to see what is recommended.