Behavior changes

Stav

looking for tips on how to redirect aggressive behavior, agitation and combativeness in my mother with moderate/severe Alzheimer’s.

This behavior tends to flare in late afternoon/early evening.

SusanB-dil

Hi Stav - welcome to 'here', but sorry for the reason.

That time-of-day behavior us called sundowning. Very common. Please do tell her doc about that agitation and aggression. There are meds that can dial that back without being zombied.

Anonymousjpl123

Welcome to the forum and so sorry you are dealing with this. People here have firsthand real experience with all of this and how to deal with it.

Totally agree with Susan b dil - if you can get your mom to a geriatric psychiatrist or even a good gp with experience treating dementia there are lots of meds that help. It helped my mom A LOT. They can also help with overall anxiety and stress that causes the aggressiveness. I was very worrried ablut my LO taking seroquel but it helped enormously - she felt better and was not a zombie at all.

Stav

thank you for these posts. My mom is already on seroquel and we are adjusting the dose. I was hoping for some non-medication tips.

SusanB-dil

Is there any activity she might like to do? Some LO's like to fold or sort laundry, such as towels or socks, even if it would seem repetitive to us.

Unfortunately, it may depend on what stage your LO is whether redirecting would be effective. MIL also has seroquel, and you may just have to wait for the adjusted dosage to kick in.

harshedbuzz

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/240770#Comment_240770

Have you looked at any of the Teepa Snow or Naomi Feil videos on YouTube. There's a lot of material on dealing with sundowing and agitation there.

HB

Stav

thank you!

The you tube videos are helpful!