Excessive sleeping

krrtools

some days my wife will sleep almost 20 hours. Is this common among those with Alzheimer’s?

jsps139_

My DH late stage 5/ early 6 was sleeping for 16+ hours because of the new meds (Seroquel). But now that he is adjusting to the meds, he’ll take a 1 or 2 hr nap in the evening, and then sleep 9 hours straight through the night.
Is your wife on meds that make her sleepy?

terei

The last months of her life, my mom slept 20 or more hours a day, not on any meds. If she has deteriorating health, such as weight loss or loss of motor control, I would call in hospice for an assessment.

midge333

My wife is stage 5 and has vascular dementia. She usually sleeps 10-11 hours at night and takes a 1-2 hour nap during the day. She will on occasion sleep 18-20 hours in a 24 hour period.

Vitruvius

You don’t say how far along your wife is, but sleeping a very long time became more the norm as my DW progressed in her dementia. She is now in a MCF, and many residents seem to sleep a great deal, even those not nearly as far along as my DW.

mommafour

MY DH sleeps approx. 20 hrs. per day. He's been doing that for over a year. We went through testing with the clinical pharmacist at the VA and determined it wasn't due to his meds. My daughter is director of a memory care center. She tells me this is common in the later stages of Alzheimer's. For awhile, I made attempts to convince him to get out of bed and let me take him out to dinner, on a drive, etc. But I finally gave up and decided to just let him sleep.

ButterflyWings

Feeling a bit guilty about this answer, but "I wish!" DH does sleep most of the day, but it is catnapping. So, we are awake every so often around the clock - night and day - maybe at least once every hour or two. It is exhausting.

If he took extra meds to sleep more soundly at night that means a woozy, wobbly fall risk the next day, so we have opted not to do that. (His hospice team and neuro psych). I am trying to just sleep when he does, but nothing much gets done around here and I'm pretty sleep-deprived these days. Early Stage 7 so I am trying to just tough it out.

JiminTexas

My DW likes to sit in bed at night and watch shows but usually not much past 1 am. Then she sleeps in, usually until between 11:30 and 1pm. She will eat a bowel of yogurt and drink some Coke (to "wake her butt up"). She might eat a small frozen dinner then will go up for a nap between 2 and 3 pm. She will then sleep till after 5, sometimes 6pm, unless I wake her. I was wondering myself if this was normal.

Crkddy

krrtools, my DW went from sleeping about 12 hours a day to sleeping 20+ hours a day over a six month period. I thought it was just progression. Then she had seizures and was hospitalized. During her hospital stay she was diagnosed with a severe UTI. Since being treated and leaving the hospital, she has returned to sleeping about 12 hours again. Don't know how this might relate to your situation, but you may want to talk to her doctor.

Kibbee

DH sleeps more now than he did a year ago. He catnaps on and off all day, and then sleeps solidly all night. I give him two melatonin gummies at bedtime, so that may be helping him to get to sleep at night and to stay asleep. I don’t worry about the increased sleeping time. He is progressing into his disease so it is to expected. The body knows what it needs, and for him at this point his body apparently needs more sleep. As long as he is safe and content, I am good with it.