DW Waking up 3 AM

Hvbw · April 3

First time on this Forum. Some background my wife was diagnosed with EO Alzheimer when she was 58. Now 6 years later she has lost her ability to communicate, self care, and starting to have trouble walking. I am her sole caregiver (married 38 yr) and basically have to do everything like feeding, bathing, dressing.and toileting. I still work full time but I have been very fortunate to have been able to work remote such that I have been able to take care of my wife. Lately she has been having these middle of the night episodes (usually 3 AM) where she wakes up crying and aggravated. It usually last an hour to settle her down but last night we stayed up all night. During the day, caretaking while working is already exhausting, but adding lack of sleep adds another dimension of stress to me. I first gave her 10 Mg of Melatonin to let her sleep through the night and worked first but now not as much. Can anybody recommend what to give her so she sleeps through the night or something she can take when she has one of these episodes?

JDancer · April 3

My husband is at a similar place. I enrolled him in hospice two weeks ago. The qualifications are different with dementia patients. They provide a lot of support.

CampCarol · April 3

I'm not sure an OTC medication is the right route now that she's at this stage. Maybe speak to her PCP or Neurologist about this new behaviour?

Quilting brings calm · April 3

Sone doctors prescribe trazadone or mirtrazipine for sleep issues. Trazadone didn’t work for my mom, mirtrazipine did.

MN Chickadee · April 3

Speak with her doctor, you likely need a prescription strength med for her sleep. Mirtrazipine did wonders for my mom. She quit getting up at 4 am for the most part.

harshedbuzz · April 3

@Hvbw

FWIW, melatonin is meant for short-term (2 weeks or less) use to help a person fall asleep. It's not intended to manage fractured sleep.

I would talk to her doctor about this, s/he can prescribe something. Seroquel worked wonders for us.

HB

RetiredTeacher · April 3

My husband has VD and had extremely fragmented sleep for year. PCP prescribed Trazadone for sleep. Started at 50 mg but DH is a big guy. He's on 150 mg and it has helped significantly. The crying and agitation you describe may need something different. I hope you continue to pursue appropriate mds with her dr.

jsps139_ · April 3

Seroquel 50mg gives my DW 10 or 11 straight hours of sleep. He gets 50 mg in am and at bedtime. It was a game changer.

SDianeL · April 4

welcome. Sorry about your DW. Risperidone is another anti psychotic medication prescribed for hallucinations and agitation. I would also recommend a Hospice evaluation. They offer so much help and resources that will help you both. Don’t wait. We understand the mental and physical exhaustion. 💜

Abby627 · April 4

My DH takes 25 mg of Seroquel about 7 pm every evening when the sundowning symptoms first start showing up. So far it has worked like a charm. He’s calm within an hour of taking it and sleeps like a baby through the night. Good luck. I, like so many others here, feel your pain. It’s such a frustrating disease.

Hvbw · April 7

Thank you for everybody response. I will talk to our Dr to see what he recommends.

dgubbru1 · May 18

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/72702/dw-waking-up-3-am

My DW also 58, onset age 47. Risperidone 0.5 has been a Godsend for sleep and agitation

Hvbw · May 25

I wanted to provide an update as this last week has been terrible for my DW and wanted to see if there is any advice. Sorry for the long post but I am tired and frustrated.So I did receive a prescription from the Dr (Trazadone 50 mg./nightly). The first two weeks it was great she was sleeping through the night and during the day she was in a good mood no outburst.

Last week it stared at 4:30 AM where she got up and was emotionally upset to a point she was swearing and then basically try to hit me. It was worst outburst she has had. Then again 2 days later she again got up at5:30 AM with an incident where she was very upset but no super aggression. Two days ago was the start of basically continuous depression during the day with crying several times and incessantly pacing around the house. It is heartbreaking to see her like this and she seems have such sadness, anxiety and then crying.

She unfortunately has lost her ability to communicate so it is impossible to understand her why she is so sad. I understand this disease causes chemical imbalances in the brain so she might not know why she feels depressed but then maybe she does. There is nothing I can say or try to redirect or comfort her that is breaking this cycle. I did contact my Dr and said that I can give another half dose of the Trazadone if needed, doesn’t seem to help, not much help from my Dr!

Any suggestions would be appreciated, ,maybe the Trazadone is not working anymore and should try another medication. I am also weary of the anti depressant drugs side effects but understand that the benefit might outweigh the risk.

midge333 · May 25

I think they should at least try an antidepressant. Perhaps more importantly, shw will likely benefit from seroquel (or risperidone) given her agitation and sleep disruption.

SDianeL · May 26

definitely talk to the doctor. Make sure to describe all the behaviors: anxiety, waking up, agitation, aggression, depression, crying, pacing. There are different meds for different behaviors. If you can get a referral to a Geriatric Psychiatrist, I found they were the best doctor to manage the anti-psychotic meds. Unless the anxiety and agitation is controlled, I doubt talking or redirection will help her. So sorry.

DW Waking up 3 AM

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