Excessive AND Deep Sleep

BothDementia

I'd say Dad's dementia is at stage 6 and wears a foley catheter. In the past couple of months, he has been sleeping more and more --- from 6:30p - 7:30a. On certain days, he would nap/snooze throughout the day and on others he would be up and pacing. From the discussions in this forum, I get that Dad's excessive sleeping is not abnormal given his ALZ disease and current stage; however, there have been two occasions within the last 3 weeks where he cannot be awaken and I'd like to know if anyone of you have similar experience.

The first time, he slept right through his sponge bathe in bed. Paramedics were called, but by the time they arrived at around 3:30PM, he was awake and being his normal self. All his vitals were normal and no signs of stroke. So the paramedics left.

Today, sister cannot wake him because he was in a very deep sleep again. The nurses at Dad's assisted living facility called 911 and they took him to the hospital. He woke up on his own in the hospital. They did a battery of tests, including checking for UTI. All results were unremarkable and no UTI! They even did a CAT scan of his brain and found nothing remarkable. They are releasing him. The ER doctor said, there is no need to bring Dad into the ER next time should the same thing happen again. I agree with that.

My question to the community is this --- have you experience this with your LOs, where LOs is so deep in the sleep that you are unable to wake him/her?

ButterflyWings

BothDementia - Yes, once. I called hospice overnight line 2x, because DH was also sweating profusely (a "cold sweat", his skin was clammy cold but water was running off of him).

They told me if he couldn't be awakened but was breathing, to let him sleep. And not to worry that I couldn't awaken him for his evening meds...that trying to get him to drink even through a straw in that condition may cause aspiration pneumonia.

Marta

I wonder whether the meds your father is taking are too sedating?

mommyandme (m&m)

I was also thinking meds might be a reason. My mom went to the hospital and one of her meds that could be given up to three times a day were given three times a day there. At home she only got them twice. That situation almost kept her away from home til I noticed. When they pulled that third dose, mom became alert and back to baseline so I was able to bring her home.

May be time for an evaluation by hospice. I’m not saying that as a prep for death but as an extra layer of support for you and your dad for as long as he’s here.

scarfire

my mother is late stage dementia. she has episodes where she falls asleep and can't be awoken. the first time this happened was scary but now we know it is a symptom of her ALZ dementia and we just let her sleep. it's unusual because it almost seems like she is faking being asleep!

scarfire

Linda_Miami

Yes that has happened to my mother a few times. It is always scary to see. My mom is in the late stages of alzheimer's.

BothDementia

It is real comfort to find out from all of you that what was happening to Dad wasn't unique. Thank you.

We ruled out medications since there were no changes to his medication. When I couldn't wake Dad, I thought he was in a coma, not a pleasant thought and feeling at all. Image my relief when he finally woke up!

Dad's Geriatric Psychiatrist later confirmed what happened to Dad is consistent with late stage dementia. She second the recommendation of the ER doctor regarding sleep. However, we should still attempt to wake him up and make sure he is hydrated as best as possible.

BothDementia

It happened again today and it took me about 15-20 minutes to finally wake him. Those 15-20 minutes felt like eons. I thought I share what I did to wake him up. Repeatedly wipe his face, eyes, ears, and neck with cold wash cloth, tapping his cheeks, lightly tapping his chest, whistling, and finally setting him into sitting position. Maybe I just got lucky that he was about to wake up anyway. 🤔