My mum has increasingly started getting up at night and staying up for HOURS, even after having a full day. I put her back to bed once or twice, sometimes it works sometimes I wake up because lights are on again. Mum is very quiet!🙂 She cannot access the outdoors or cabinets (would find open food in odd places). I don’t want to sedate her, and I understand (to a point) about sundowning. She is sometimes distressed, sometimes just seems bored, but I can’t stay awake all night to soothe her. She then sleeps very late in the morning (when I have a carer) but I have to get up.
Would an anti-anxiety med at bed time help?
When she was in rehab I know the sedated her because she would try to get up to pee and they didn’t have staff to watch - evidenced by her falling the 1st night. Her limites clarity of mind was greatly affected by this and took a week at home to shake off ( this was more than a year ago- hip surgery rehab).
Any hints would be helpful. Thanks!
Getting anesthesia can be very hard on a senior and they affect them afterwards (some elders get hospital delirium). Sometimes the impact from the anesthesia takes a long time to clear up, sometimes it never completely goes away. Maybe this is what affected her clarity of mind...
Why did she get a replacement? Did she fall and break her hip? That's what my Aunt did. She had dementia and memory loss and got up out of bed at night (even though she couldn't walk unassisted) and fell and broke her hip. She was still attempting to get out of bed in rehab.
Also, do not give any supplements to her without first clearing it with her doctor. All things you ingest have the potential to interact with any medication or affect a medical condition she may have.
Have you talked to her actual doctor about her nighttime wakefulness? I would start there.
You can experiment with when to give dosage. We've done 200 mg at 4:00 pm followed by 200 mg at 6:00 pm.
We've also done 400 mg with dinner.
Definitely give it in evening.
It won't sedate her but will help with sleep. It also helps with aches and pains (but not a painkiller). It also will help reduce anxiety.
The problem with the elderly is that any sedation makes them more prone to be at risk for falls.
Falls are often the beginning of the end for an elder.
I would discuss this problem with your MD and ask his/her experience with best ideas for getting a good sleep pattern for this patient he/she is more familiar with in terms of overall health and overall ability to adapt to medications that may be tried.
This is often a problem that has a family begin to consider placement. Disruption of sleep for an elder who has any amount of dementia will mean disruption for the family, and eventually can't be tolerated. I sure wish you good luck in whatever you try.