Night time confusion

nancyj194

Two nights ago my husband fell down getting out of bed.  I helped him get up and he said he had to go to the bathroom. There was a wet urine area on the side of the bed as well as the throw rug was wet.  I led him in to the bathroom and went about picking everything that had been knocked off of the night stand. He was mostly incoherent.  His arm was skinned and bleeding, so I washed it off with some antiseptic and covered the area with bandaids. He went back to bed and slept until his usual 7:00 am.  

A few years ago I bought a short rail for his bed, as he kept falling out in the night. This is the first time this has happened since then.  From the wet urine spot on the sheet, he got up and sat on the side of the bed, before he stood up and knocked most everything off of his night stand.  There was no light on in the room and his mini flashlight was on the floor with everything else.

He has no memory of the fall/event and wondered why his arm hurt. Is this common with mid stage Alzheimer's?

Thanks!

  

nancyj194

On another note, my DH has had numerous TIAs over the last 10 years.  Was this one? Perhaps.

I was too focused on cleaning up the wound and getting it bandaged. When I see blood, I become light headed, dizzy, and my hands and arms go numb. I managed to get into the living room after I got DH back into bed and then waited for everything to return to normal before I ventured back down stairs to bed.

Nancy

Rick4407

We have soft night lights through out the house to aid in my getting around when its dark after DW has gone to bed.  It's a safety issue for me as I don't want to fall.   We also have soft indirect lights in the bathroom to make it easy to get there and back for either of us.  Rick

towhee

Hi Nancy, 

Not remembering they fell--common

Having problems seeing at night--common

Balance issues, especially from sitting to standing--not unusual

Incontinence at night--common

I second the night lights. If he can't fall asleep with the night light on try some motion detector lights.

My doctor said there is a reason they call them throw rugs, I would remove it and check for any other trip/fall hazards.

Best wishes

Cynbar

My DH has had issues overnight for awhile. He tries to get up while half asleep, and has fallen several times in scenarios similar to what you describe. In addition to adding a nightlight, I finally got him a bed alarm (easily found on Amazon.) It wakes him up and reminds him to ask for help, so it has cut way down on the falls. It also helps me sleep better, I was usually half awake listening for signs of him stirring and that left me pretty sleep deprived. The alarm that we have has a musical option, much nicer than that jarring buzzer in the middle of the night.

nancyj194

Thanks everyone for the replies. My son will install a floor motion sensor that will turn the lamp on. DH covers the clock, keeps the bathroom door closed so the lights from the pond lights (he has around 20 that he put around the small pond)  do not "keep him awake."  He thinks he has to have a totally dark room. He's not happy about the motion sensor turning the lamp on.  

Towhee, I took the previous throw rug out and hid it, but he found another. This is actually a bath mat with a rubber backing, so it stays put, but anything is "tripable."

Strange thing last night. He had his jammies on while watching TV. About 10 minutes before we go to bed, he went down to the bedroom and came back dressed in sweat pants and a golf shirt.  I asked why he got dressed right before going to bed. He said he did not know.  

Living with Alzheimer's is such a challenge.