Tiredness

[Mike60]

Hi there,
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few months ago. Although he seems to have come to terms with the diagnosis, the one real physiological problem he has encountered is continual tiredness. He is in his late 70s, so you would expect him to be tired in a general sense, but this is different; sleeping in till early afternoon, going to bed early and even nodding off at the dinner table. He hasn't been particularly active for a number of years - although, Alzheimer's aside, he is in pretty good health - but the tiredness seems to be completely dominating his life.

We've spoken to the GP and people from the local memory clinic and there seems to be a confusion over a. Whether Alzheimer's has contributed to this, b. Whether the tiredness is due to anti depressants (which he's now off anyway) or c. Whether it's depression causing it.

Any advice/ideas good people?

Mike

 

[Amy in the US]

Hello, Mike, and welcome to Talking Point. I'm sorry you have needed to find your way here, but hope you will get some help and support. Remember that TP is always open!

While I have not had personal experience of the fatigue and excessive sleeping you mention about your dad, I have definitely heard others on TP mention this, and seen other posts asking about their PWD (person with dementia) sleeping a lot, or having a lot of fatigue. For some it seems to be a phase that comes and goes, and for others, it's constant.

So I do think it may be something caused by the dementia, especially if other physical problems that might cause fatigue have been ruled out, and medication is not the issue.

If there isn't another problem, and he's tired, then I would let him sleep, and try not to worry (easier said than done, I am sure).

The little personal experience I can offer is that my mother (75, Alzheimer's) does tire easily and does nap and sleep much more than she used to. Any kind of exertion (physical or mental) definitely fatigues her more than you would expect. She can, and does, fall asleep sitting up, or watching television, not something she would have done pre-dementia.

I am sure you will hear from others about this. In the meantime, here are some past threads from TP on this issue:

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?39434-Extreme-tiredness

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?62490-Tiredness

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?32860-wife-wants-to-sleep-all-the-time

Best wishes.

 

[Starter]

Hi
Has your father been prescribed Donezepil? I ask because my mum was and for six months afterwards she either asleep or dozing. We took her off the medication and the next week she was so different. She still gets tired but nothing like she did. Hope you find some answers X

 

[Slugsta]

Hi and welcome to TP.

This does come up on occasion and it is generally agreed, among carers, that this seems to be linked to the dementia. If you think about it, living with dementia, where you are not sure about anything and the brain is constantly trying to 'cover up' the problem, must be utterly exhausting!

The medical things you have not mentioned are diabetes, anaemia and low thyroid. Have these been ruled out by the medics?

 

[Mike60]

Thanks

......for the comments so far folks - and the useful links to prior discussions. I'll certainly check on the drug that was mentioned - he's been on so much medication over the last few months it's hard to keep up....and he has had the other possible causes of tiredness (thyroid etc.) checked out by the GP.

Appreciate the feedback - sometimes it's just nice to know you're not the only one in the same boat.

Mike

 

[Linbrusco]

Having a husband with a brain injury and on anti seizure meds, and only 54yrs he sleeps 10-12 hrs a night and has a nap during the day too.

My Mum has Alz, and prior to this for many many years she would have a nap every afternoon. Alz came along and she stopped napping. Mum was on Donepezil too.
Even when she went into her Ch a year ago, No! she was one of the ones awake all day and up from 4am.
The last few months with UTI's, and some minor changes in her medication, and a change in her cognition. has seen Mum taking to her bed for a nap after breakfast and early afternoon.

I would also measure it on how your Dad is when he is awake.

 

[Jo Sutton]

Hi Mike

My Mum is mid-stage VasD and sleeps a lot. Out of 5 days, she will sleep all day and all night for two of them. Then she's up early in the morning / every few hours during the night, and accuses me of being the one who sleeps all the time!

She came off donepazil recently, after being on it for a couple of years, but it didn't seem to make any difference to her sleeping. She is much calmer, though. But then, they say every PWD reacts differently to different drugs, so there's no real benchmark in terms of behaviour.

Mum is very bored at the moment, and that might be a contributing factor to her sleeping so much. I am trying to put things in place to keep her more occupied. But she does sometimes lay in bed having very loud conversations with imaginary people, and I can't always tell whether she's awake and delusional, or talking in her sleep and just dreaming.

Anyways, just to say that, in my experience, tiredness is part of the dementia. But I think it can be affected by drugs, boredom, brain overwork and all the other things people have mentioned here.

I hope that helps!

Hugs

Jo xx