How do I handle the night when she doesn't sleep

lindastanton

I care for a 96 yr old woman that has sundowner. She harms herself at night when she is in bed so we have had to resort to protective mittens. She has recently started to climb out of bed so we've had to use foam wedges to keep her in bed. She doesn't sleep much and is always crying out for help to get her up. She has CHF, a large plural effusion in her right lung which we drain 3x a week, a large pericardial effusion and ascites. We have tried everything we can think of or heard about to help her sleep, but to know avail. We are both exhausted and at the end of our rope. Any suggestions?

Marta

Has anyone asked her doctor for sleep meds?

Is she on Hospice? She likely would qualify. Hospice is great for comfort care, including sleep.

terei

Agree with Hospice. They will be able to use meds to calm her.

Olly_Bake

Hospice is an option. My dad was on hospice before and it was wonderful. He has been off hospice though for probably over a year now if not more. Mostly carry him to see his primary or do tele-health visits.

I hope the 96-year old woman will get relief soon. It seems the sleep med or sleep med combo will change off and on. My dad was on 25mg of seroquel and was sleeping. However, I believe, due to those darn uti’s, he started not sleeping and was hallucinating much more. I requested to up the seroquel to 50 mg once it was time for a new prescription, but that didn’t work.

So strapped the 50mg. Now we are trying 25mg of nortriptyline (to help with pain & anxiety) around 3 pm. Then at 8 or 9 pm, he gets 25 mg of seroquel. So far, a week of rest although dealing with yet another uti.

He is also on lasix 3 times a week to help with fluid buildup in his lung.

Hope this help with a conversation.