He is pacing, l’m going crazy

French

Bad night, he waked me up at 3 am. He asked to go to bathroom then he was unable to enter the bed… when it was finished, I couldn’t sleep. That's every other night. 

Today is Saturday I wanted to do a nap. All this time I heard him pacing in the closest room. Unfortunately the 120 years old wooden floor creaks.

I got up and then he came and paced in the room where I was. I can't stand it anymore, it's awful, I want to scream at him. I know the only solution would be to take him for a walk, but I need my weekends to rest and do things around the house. Besides, even if we go for a walk, as soon as we get home he starts walking around again.

If I ask him to stop, he stops 2 minutes and then continues.

I hate weekends. Yes, it is the last one, but I am so tired.

M1

Hang in there French. You're almost there. Sometimes I think when you're near the end of a marathon and can see light at the end of the tunnel it just makes you aware of how hard it's been. Joyeux Noel, there's a true new year around the corner and I hope its a good one for you.

FTDCaregiver

Dear Sleepless in Seattle - My DW gets up every day around 6 am and is a pacer and always empties our bathroom drawers (next to our bedroom).    I sleep with the ceiling fan on high all night, every night, the gentle wrrrr of the fan helps block out some noise and is soothing to help me fall asleep.  I do get up though around 6, give her a Boost drink, leave the bathroom light on and go back to sleep so she can be busy clearing out the drawers.  Takes me about 1/2 hour to put it all back again for the next night.

Michael Ellenbogen

I sleep with 32 Db ear plugs

Joydean

French, praying you can get some rest! Maybe he will take a nap!

Buggsroo

French, I do understand what you are experiencing. My husband walks up and down on out wooden floors repeatedly. I find myself flinching every time I hear his footsteps. I feel stressed and anxious. He also wakes me up at night, raring to go and it is 5:30 in the morning. As M1 says, you are in the home stretch, so his habits are driving you crazy. Just a few more days and hopefully he will settle in Tunisia. Good luck. Bon courage.

JoseyWales

I feel your pain. He's up when I just want to sleep....And they just don't understand how their actions affect us.

French

I asked the doctor about the antidepressant. He told me I can try to stop them and see if it is better. They also have an anti-psychotic effect, and he is afraid that the anxiety will rise. I'm still going to try to save my week of vacation. I really need to rest, the next vacation is a long time away.

ButterflyWings

(((French))) Hugs to you- je comprende! I hope I am not too far off from my long ago college French course. I understand!

What is so magical about the 3 a.m. hour I wonder? Here, it is DH’s new time to awake and begin endless chattering, asking me questions over and over, while I try to convince him it is not morning yet and not time for breakfast.

If I do not follow him when he gets up to use the toilet that is asking for trouble. Our bathroom plumbing is clogged with whatever he tried to flush when my back was turned and I fished a banana stem out yesterday. I assume he threw the whole peel in there when I stepped outside briefly to take the garbage out yesterday. I can’t hide or lock up EVERYTHING. I can’t let him out of my sight since he doesn’t pace but will go room to room, rummaging and/or trying to leave by himself to who knows where.

As M1 and others said, you are almost to the finish line. Do you think a sleep aid like maybe liquid Melatonin would help? It does not (*edit: completely) sedate my DH, but his neuropsych Dr approved, it is sold here over the counter, and up to 10mg in his water or juice will cause him to sit and relax within a few minutes of taking it, and sometimes even go to sleep. That way we don’t have to mess with his antidepressant or Seroquel dose. 

Bonne chance!

Jeep1

I certainly feel the lack of sleep at night.  I feel sorry for whoever is going through this during the night.  I'm running on 2 hours of rest and have cried all day.  My husband never ever raised his voice to me, and now, he's so very hateful when he has these episodes.  I do remember his mother was the same way.  It's been a VERY LONG day today which started at 1:15 a.m.

I'm praying for all of our spouses, friends, family members, etc. during this rough time.  It's so very sad they have to go through this.

Merry Christmas to all.