NONSTOP. CONSTANT. CRYING.

BarbaraG

Oh my gosh, can someone tell me what to do?  She cried nonstop yesterday from 8am to 2:45pm.  CONSTANT.  NONSTOP.  Repeating over and over and over "nooooooooooo.... noooooooooo... nooooooooooooo..." in a haunting voice, not her real voice.  She finally fell asleep at 2:45pm and slept until 9pm when I forced her to get off the couch and go to bed.

Today I got her up at 6:30am today and she's doing it again.  Nonstop whimpering "noooooooooo... noooooooooooooooo... nooooooooooooooo..."  She cannot speak coherently to tell me what she needs or wants.  The answer to every question is "no."  She's had food, water, pills, toilet.  What else can I do? 

I have resorted to wearing headphones so I can listen to music and tune her out. I can't live like this. There has to be a solution, a pill, something to stop the crying.  She has a dr appt Feb 11 and I hope we can get something to knock her out.

Thanks for listening.

Barbara

M1

Barbara, I would call the doctor and see if they won't prescribe something now. You are both distressed...

BarbaraG

Unfortunately, she has no doctor here yet.  I pulled her out of the facility and the facility doctors won't treat her anymore.  I have an appt for her to meet a new primary care doctor on Feb 11th.  They won't prescribe anything until after they meet her and evaluate her.  It's going to be a long 19 days!

abc123

Taking care of a PWD is extremely difficult. She is probably very scared. Didn't you recently bring her to your house? New surroundings and new sounds/noise can be overwhelming for her. Why did you wake her up at 6:30? Also, I would have let her stay on the couch until she woke up on her own. I learned something the hard way....it's now all about the PWD. Try to imagine what's going on inside her head. She needs to be reassured that she's loved and welcomed and safe. She needs a quiet, peaceful place. Nothing about this is easy.

terei

There are drugs that specifically for inappropriate crying(or laughing). The one I have read of recently is Nuedexta, which you might want to bring to the Dr’s attention.

RobOT

If you have urgent care in your state, call them and get her in, otherwise, go to ER.  They can evaluate and medicate her ASAP.  If you have to tune her out for your own sanity (I get it!)  you cannot hear her.  She's in an extreme situation, and needs constant supervision in case she acts out in some way that is dangerous to herself, even, possibly, others.  So sorry the two of you ae suffering like this.

Jane Smith

Barbara, I’m so sorry to hear about what’s going on. It must be so hard, and from your other posts it sounds like you recently removed her from a facility because of issues there so I am sure your stress levels are through the roof. 

The nonstop crying could be something called Pseudobulbar Affect which is not uncommon with dementia. 

I would say it sounds like you need help now. If you have to, go to the ER or urgent care.  If you have a local hospital with a Geriatric Psychiatric unit, take her to that ER.

I hope you can get the help you need. Best wishes.

towhee

It probably is the upset from environmental change. But a couple other possibilities-

Any chance of a recent medication change by the facility, or that you did not get correct medication information from the facility when she was moved? (Happens more often than you would think)

Pain-- You say she is non-verbal? She could be in pain. On youtube search for- Teepa Snow Late stage dementia care how to recognize pain part 1 and part 2 (Sorry links are beyond me)

If it is ok for her to take a non-prescription pain reliever try giving her one and seeing if it makes a difference.

Hope things get better.

BarbaraG

The facility gave me a 30 day prescription for her meds and I've been giving them as prescribed.  She was crying when at the facility so this is not a new thing since I brought her home.  I think she is severely depressed and obviously scared.  She just keeps crying and whimpering the same thing over and over. noooooooooooo..... noooooooooooo.... nooooooooooooooo...  oh my god... noooooooooooo....

Yesterday she did that from 8am to 2:45pm and she finally passed out on the couch.  I couldn't get her off the couch to go to bed, too heavy, so I let her sleep there.  I woke up at 5:39am to her whimpering and crying again.  She did that all day today until about 3pm.  Then she slept until 5:30 and I woke her up to eat and take her pills. She wouldn't eat and she just cried and whimpered. 

I've asked every question I can think of about pain and the answer is always no.  Then I said "I think you are severely depressed" and she coherently said "you may be right."  WOW. Then she went back to whimpering.

I'm going to call the new doctor's office to see if they can get her in any sooner than Feb 11 for her first visit/evaluation.

I just want her to feel safe and taken care of.  She deserves the best care I can give her. I had no idea how hard this would be.  It's heart breaking.

Quilting brings calm

Barbara... is it possible she is further along in this disease than you realized?  Maybe her brain can no longer translate her thoughts into words?  If she’s been in the group environment for a while, and you haven’t been able to visit due to the Covid restriction, maybe she moved into stage 6 or more without you being told?

abc123

Barbara, I think she's very fortunate to have you!