Sleep deprivation

aeliasz

My mom wakes me up several times a night saying “ I need help!”.
Sometimes she’s worried that the cats going to fall off the bed, sometimes she’s cold even though it’s very warm in the house, sometimes she has no reason. I’m SO tired all the time. It’s difficult keeping my cool & staying patient with her. How do others cope with this??

M1

Welcome to the forum aeliasz. Sleep fragmentation can be part of the disease--parts of the brain that control sleep are affected, such that the person can't get a good night's sleep without help. This happened to my partner, and about a year before she went to memory care we put her on a very low dose of Seroquel (quetiapine), 25 mg at bedtime. it worked like a charm, she slept through the night and was not at all sedated during the day. Maybe you could talk to her doc about options like that for your mom. Good luck.

Quilting brings calm

If not Seraquel, inquire about mirtrazipine. It’s an antidepressant that also helps with sleep and appetite. Sone people try melatonin or gummies. I’ve not tried either, so I can’t speak to whether or not those are good ideas.

aeliasz

Thanks for the advice. I inquired about those two drugs. Her hospice doc prescribed Trazodone. We’re starting it tonight. 🤞

M1

Not an unreasonable choice. My partner got very, very constipated on it though, you may need to watch out for that.

aeliasz

Thanks for the advice, I’ll bump up her fiber intake just in case. Can’t hurt, right!

aeliasz

Started the Trazodone 4 nights ago. She did good the first 2 nights, but the third night she was awake calling for help. She thought there was a “ man upstairs” she said she heard him come in and she wanted me to get him, ( we don’t even have an upstairs). For an entire hour she was saying she needed help but couldn’t tell me what was wrong. I made sure she used the toilet, she was warm, and didn’t appear to be in pain. We waited it out, she eventually calmed down and went back to sleep. Then last night she did good and slept all night again. So I was able to get some sleep too; but I don’t feel like I got any sleep at all. I’m just drained.