Sleepiness

dedeholl · August 20

Hi - I’m new here. My mom is the primary caregiver of my dad diagnosed this past year with stage 4 Alzheimer’s. My mom is very unaccepting of the diagnosis and keeps hoping for a cure or that any medication he takes will improve his memory. One of the main issues is my dad’s sleepiness. Is this common? He wakes up in the morning, has breakfast and then is so tired he goes back to bed. My mom has had him go through 3 sleep studies trying to determine why he’s so tired. She keeps ordering any supplement that she sees on the internet that supposedly helps memory. She and my dad keep thinking it’s long covid. At this point, he doesn’t know his kids or grandkids and doesn’t remember if he’s had a meal. Is the sleepiness and napping common with Alzheimer’s? It’s so frustrating and sad.

JulietteBee · August 20

I am so sorry to hear of your dad. As my mom does the same thing, I do not know the answer. However, my mom has been plagued by insomnia for at least the last 30 years. I do not know if her daytime sleepiness is due to insomnia or dementia. My mom SWEARS she cannot sleep in the day. Yet, there have been many days I have to raise my voice to awaken her.

All I can say is that we are in this thing together. 🙏🏽

SDianeL · August 20

welcome. Sorry about your Dad’s diagnosis. Yes, sleeping a lot is common with dementia. Their brain is tired from the disease. Over stimulation isn’t good for them. Read the book “The 36 Hour Day” which helped me after my husband’s diagnosis. Have your Mom read it too. It explains the disease and caregiving. Google the 7 stages of dementia with behaviors listed in a chart. Show it to your Mom. Many caregivers are in denial because the truth is too hard to bear. 😢 Dementia is a progressive disease with no cure. Soon your Dad will require 24/7 care that your Mom will most likely not be able to provide by herself. Make a Plan B which is either hire help or a memory care facility. Don’t wait. Come here often for info and support. Learn all you can about the disease and caregiving. There are caregiving videos online. Tam Cummings and Teepa Snow have good ones. 💜

H1235 · August 20

Welcome. Yes sleeping a lot is common. I agree with SDianeL about a plan B. Facilities can have a waiting list. Are you familiar with their finances? Memory care can be very expensive. Medicaid may be an option, but the qualifications and what is covered varies by state. It might be a good idea to look into this if money is a concern. Has your family seen a lawyer. Someone should have a DPOA for your dad (It might be good to have one for mom as well ). If this has not been done guardianship may be necessary if he doesn’t know family. An elder law attorney is best. Learn all you can, it will help. I have attached a few resources. I have no idea how you get through to your mom. You may just have to keep an eye on things to make sure they are both safe and be prepared with a plan when they are not. This site is a great resource. Ask questions as they come up.

DBAT.pdf

understanding-the-dementia-experience.pdf

harshedbuzz · August 20

@dedeholl

Hi and welcome. I am sorry for your reason to be here, but pleased you found this space.

Alzheimer's is a progressive disease; the symptoms and behaviors you are describing in terms of excessive sleeping and not recognizing his own children are consistent with late stage 5 (moderately severe dementia).

I'm sorry you're dealing with mom's denial of this reality. That's hard on everyone. I had the same with my own mom; she absolutely fought me on getting dad evaluated until his impairments nearly killed her and even after she could not admit how compromised he was. I found that having professionals and other souse caregivers in her support group valuable for mostly getting her to see where dad was in terms of progression and to care for him appropriately. Getting mom a psychiatrist and therapist also helped.

HB

Sleepiness

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