Reversed sleep patterns

rwsel1

My DW was diagnosed in 2021 and at our last visit with the neurologist he said she was at Moderate/Severe stage. According to what I have read that would be Stage 6 somewhere. She has always been a night owl and almost always went to bed long after me. There was a period where she was overdoing the wine so she would stay up and drink until she passed out, She no longer drinks but still stays up very late or doesn't come to bed until early morning, then sleeps all day. She has delusions that there are others in the house and they tell her to do things. She roams around the house all night, rummaging through drawers and closets and hiding things. She says she can't possibly come to bed because she has so much to do, which besides rummaging and hiding things consists of rearranging scraps of paper, pieces of paper towel, old receipts and coupons and thank you notes from the grandkids. She also suffered from anxiety. The Dr. prescribed Seroquel. He said it would make her drowsy. It does a good job on the anxiety but no help with sleeping. A week ago he prescribed Trazopone for sleep. It's only been a week but no help so far. Since the new medication here is how a day goes. She will sundown which is usually when I'm preparing dinner. I wake her to come eat, and she eats well. Then about 7PM she will nod off, not a deep sleep but naps. I give her the Seroquel about 7:30PM.About 8:30PM I will turn on the TV and watch an episode of something. She will wake up a few times but only for a minute or two. At 10:30 I wake her to take the Trapozone. I get ready for bed about 11:30PM and suggest she come to bed but am always met with "I have too much to do" I go to bed between 11:30 and 12:00AM. I awake some times and hear her rattling around the house, sometimes talking to one of "the people" Sometime in the night she comes into the bedroom , the last two night to say the "people" said we had to leave, or check out. I say I'm not going anywhere and she gets totally confused and either sits on the bed for about 15 minutes or leaves the room right away. I may get up a couple times to see if she is still awake, which she usually is. I get up about 7:30 or 8:00AM and she is usually asleep or almost asleep on the sofa and I take her to bed, no argument until it comes to taking her clothes off, that is an argument every time but I seem to be winning more often than not. She will then sleep until I wake her up for whatever reason.

Sorry to drag this on so long, what I would like to know is if anyone else is dealing with a similar sleep disorder with their LO and if so has the Dr. been able to do anything about it. Thanks for listening

Kat63

Although our situation isn’t exactly the same I can pass along our journey and what has and hasn’t worked for my DH. My DH is currently late stage 6, early 7. For almost 2 years now I have dealt with him sundowning and moving things constantly from late afternoon to late evening. I could get him to bed around 10:00 pm. and he would be up every night for at least 2 hours roaming the house and moving things again. We tried Trazodone and it did not work. I then asked the doctor to try Seroquel and it has helped. It’s a process and I have went from 25 mg of Seroquel to 100 mg, three times a day over this year and half and also have added another medication that Hopsice prescribed and just recently increased that medication amount as well as a melatonin at night. It is definitely a process to find the medication and the right strength needed and as the disease progresses amounts will need to be adjusted. My DH currently just gets up once or so at night to use the toilet and will come right back to bed. I would give it a little time and if you aren’t getting the results you need, ask the doctor if the mg can be increased. Good luck.

Tetonman

My DW gets up about 3 times a week around 3am takes a shower and brushes her teeth. Some times does other things and returns to bed. I haven't slept a whole night in a long time

terei

One thing that might make things easier is forcing a clothes change. Is it really necessary? You are agitating her when you want her to sleep…just put her to bed with her clothes on IMO

harshedbuzz

@rwsel1

Who is prescribing her psychoactive medications? If it's her PCP or neurologist, it might be worth taking her to see a geriatric psychiatrist for medication management. Geripsychs are the specialist in this area of medication and tend to be more proactive in tweaking meds to obtain relief from symptoms while minimizing side effects.

Sleep issues are a common reason for placement.

HB

rwsel1

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/236028#Comment_236028

Thank you for that advice, I will look into it. I think neurologists take a different approach and it's not helping.

rwsel1

I understand what you're saying but if I didn't force the issue she would wear the same clothes for weeks in bed and out. Thanks for the input though.

rwsel1

Thanks for the input, I hope we can get the meds sorted out at some point. The big problem is she refuses to go to bed at "normal" bedtime. She has always been like that. I have to figure out how to get her into bed so the meds can do their job. At least I have a lot of questions for the Dr. Thanks