Sleepless for days

kdkmommy

Sleepless for days - help needed. My mom has Alz, mid-stage likely, lives in SNF. Doesn''t sleep all night or day for two days at a time. Over the past year it used to happen once a month. It''s progressed to 1-2 times a week. On the first day without sleep she gets hyper, talkative, her memory gets better (!), but hearing is worse, hears songs in her head for hours at a time. After two nights without sleep she gets weepy, fearful, angry and weak. She fears falling down. The music in her head gets progressively worse. It''s like she has bi-polar for those two days. Then she sleeps and is back to baseline until it happens again.

She already gets 2 mg melatonin and minerals at night, which used to make her sleepy when she was healthier. In-house doctor may consider an antidepressant. What suggestions do other LOs have that could help her? Thanks

Quilting brings calm

Ask the doctor to put her on mirtrazipine.  It’s the generic of Remeron.  An antidepressant that aids with sleep.

M1

Welcome to the forum kd. The sleep fragmentation and disruption is part of the disease, more prominent in some people than in others. Will almost certainly need medication to help-there are a number that can be tried. Mirtazepine as mentioned, Seroquel worked really well for my partner.

Olly_Bake

kdkmommy - you described the sleepless for days perfectly. We finally asked for a prescription. Seroquel at 25mg 3 to 4 hours before bedtime is working now for my dad.