Sleeping disorders

Spirosavvas1

My mother in law was diagnosed with moderate to severe alz . She is in her late 70s and despite every attempt she spends 15-18 hours in bed. I don't see how this is ok or is it normal for that stage. Wife and I are feeling overwhelmed with this situation. Looking for some answers, a friend.

M1

welcome to the forum. Some people sleep a lot, others very little. All seems to depend on what part of the brain is affected. Some doctors will prescribe stimulants (like Ritalin), but those have risks for heart disease and hypertension in the elderly. Caffeine may help. But honestly, I don't see much harm in it. If she's content, it may be best to just leave it alone. What worries you about it?

harshedbuzz

Normal is a dryer setting. At least as far as dementia is concerned.

Sleep can be all over the place in the late moderate to severe stages of dementia. People don't typically worry about sleeping this much unless the sleep is very fragmented or occurs during the day which disrupts the rest of the household with shenanigans overnight.

Sometimes in the later stages, PWD will seem to shut their eyes and sort of zone-out but not really sleep. My dad did a lot of this in the last year of his life; he'd lie on the sofa in the living room facing the TV with a book on his chest (not that he could process the content of either) with his eyes shut. Sometimes he'd ask for things or even have conversations if you came into the room.

HB

RunningWorried76

I would'nt let it get to you too much. Sounds like you're doing what you can. My mother does this most days. It used to bother me, but doesn't anymore. I do my best to keep her active and out of bed but it can be tough. Even if I get her to sit in the recliner and watch tv, she'll often do what harshedbuzz mentioned above. She'll be watching game shows with her eyes closed seemingly sleeping and then blurt out answers to the questions. Other times she is sitting there straight up snoring. She'll go to bed at 5pm some days and sleep through til 9 am. I have to wake her up in the middle of the night to get her to go to the bathroom.