Mom with alzheimers afraid to go to bed with “strange” man in it

Spryput

My mom who has moderate stage alzheimers and lives with my Dad. She sometimes is confused who my Dad is. This typically was happening during sundowning, but has also been happening recently in the morning. She will call me and my siblings saying there is a  “strange” man in the house, she is afraid and is going to call the police. Telling her the man is her husband doesn’t work, we know that. Last night around her bedtime (9:30), she made calls to me and my brother saying she couldn’t go to sleep because there was a “strange man” in her bed. I tried to sympathize with her and suggested she lay down on the couch instead. Hard to redirect her that late at night. She is afraid and wants to call the police. Any suggestions?????

eaglemom

Welcome to the message boards Spryput. I'm glad that you've found us, but sad that your in a situation that you needed to find us.

At the top of this page is a section called solutions. If you click on it you will find various topics. Just click on the one your interested in and you will find information.

As for your current situation is your mom seeing a neurologist? Have your dad call and speak with a nurse about the situation, and how its changed. Possibly a virtual visit with the neurologist is in order. Your right, its difficult to redirect our LO's when they know they are correct. Thus far I think your handling the situation well.

eagle

Spryput

Thanks for your input. My dad has a host of medical issues, so I am dealing with mom’s memory care appts. When my dad was helping her last year, she was seeing a neurologist, but my dad wasn’t happy with the dr. My mom’s primary care suggested a geriatric psychiatrist. Had an appt with social worker for baseline testing/data info gathering and met with Geri psych in Dec. Mom is supposed to start a very low dose of risperidone in a week and will have two follow-ups with Geri psych. Dad is often unaware mom is calling us and gets angry if he happens to find her calling us. It’s a battle on all fronts.

eaglemom

I failed to give you the ALZ Helpline number. It is answered 24/7. You can call and ask to speak with a care consultant whom can help you figure this bumpy road out. 800-272-3900.

Why can't she begin the medication now? Just curious. The Geri-Psych needs to be kept aware of the situation. You might want to keep a brief journal of the things that she is doing / not doing. Things that happen on a daily basis.

Its rough to watch anyone go through this. 

eagle

M1

spryput I hope the risperidone may help.  All of the "atypical antispychotics" are used for agitation and delusions in moderate to late Alzheimer's, and if one doesn't work, the others might--no one really knows why some respond to one drug and not another.  The most commonly used are Seroquel/mirtazepine, Risperdal/risperidone, and Zyprexa/olanzapine.  Depakote/valproic acid is used sometimes too, it's an anticonvulsant that is also used in this setting and in bipoolar disorder and atypical depression.

Good luck and keep us posted....

zauberflote

A short-term than some husbands on here have used successfully is to sleep in another room. I wouldn't sleep with a strange man either! And that's her reality. Being told to give up her comfy cozy bed to a perfect stranger doesn't sound very nice either. Strangers belong out of the bedroom, which is hers and her husband's, in her reality.