It’s not falling out of bed….it’s loss of balance

Smyles7720

Hello everyone,

I just returned to my bedroom after another episode of finding mom on the floor. When I looked in mom’s bed she had several things from her dresser. The dresser is not near the bed. Obviously, mom gets out of bed and begins to find things to play with  from her dresser. At some point she looses her balance and falls. 

I don’t remember when it started, but I noticed Mom was having problems with her balance. When she would stand up and turn to walk out a room she needed assistance. There was another incident when mom became unstable when her heel came out of her slipper. I thought all of this was part of getting older (mom is 88 years old), but looking back and doing research the issue is her balance.

Mom’s bedroom is wall to wall carpet.  She has a smaller rug on her side of the bed covering a stain. If I remove the small area rug Mom will get fixated on the stain and find something to cover the stain.

Any suggestions on what to do?

Thanks in advance for your advise and suggestions.

I am so tired of dementia, as soon as you jump over one hurdle another appears out of no where

M1

Smyles, I know bed rails were discussed on your other thread.  What about a bed alarm that can tell you when she gets up?  Would it drive you crazy?  But it's another thought....there are several models available for home use....

Smilinpj

Hi,

Maybe have someone professionally clean the stain? If you get rid of that, you can get rid of what may be a dangerous trip hazard. I understand the fixation. After I vacuum my mom will go around with her walker and 'fix' all the stripes left by the vacuum. It is so precarious that I now try to fix them all first....but I can't help leaving footprints! 

Good luck.

jfkoc

When there is a loss in balance turning is very hard. 

Specific excercises may help but a rollator should be tried. 

I have balance deficit and simply must have something to "touch" to get around.

Marta

You have not found her to be injured?

Why not put a camera in her room that you can monitor with your phone?

You would have concrete information instead of having to guess about what is happening. 

Cherjer

Get rid of carpet . So much easier to balance and no stains to fixate on..

Smyles7720

Hello everyone, 

Thank you all for your suggestions and advise.

To Marta……. Mom is not injured. I find her on the floor in an upright position.  (Mom is not sitting on the floor on her own). Which makes it so confusing to figure out and it is not occurring every night. I am going to get cameras in her bedroom to see if this mystery can be solved.

To M1…… never thought of a bed alarm. Going to try that too.

There are so many to choose from…. any suggestions on good bed alarms or cameras?

Thank you.

jfkoc

You might think about something like the bed assist railing at Amazon.

​fesk

I had a motion sensor that worked great. 

https://smartcaregiver.com/portable-paging-systems/

Many people use the bed mat sensors but I found that to be too sensitive. The motion sensor alerted me whenever she began to get out of the bed. The alarm only went off in my room.

There are many posts with recommendations for cameras I believe.