My Mom jerks everywhere when she is sleeping. Any advice?

My Mom is 96 and has no major medical issues, and I notice when she visits me and we sit on the sofa to watch TV, she will doze off and start to jerk and mouth like she is talking. But she's fine when she wakes up from that cat nap.

fligirl58, just curious is your Mom's jerking while sleeping is recent or has this been going on for awhile? Some people are just very active dreamers, they kick their legs because they are running, or fling their arms because they are fighting off someone or just talking with their hands in their dream. The mouthing of words, she is talking to someone in her dream. The dreams could be exhausting her thus the reason she is shaky and dizzy when she wakes up.

Would it be possible for her to drink more water during the day, as she could be a bit dehydrated.

...especially when she's taking oxycodone daily.

Well, I think there's a correlation if coffee (even if it's decaffeinated) and juice (with "natural" sugars) stops the shaking. And if she's not eating much, she's not getting the nutrition she needs.

You might want to ask her primary care doctor about a nutritional supplement such as Ensure or Boost. And maybe you should ask for a complete blood workup as well. Being dizzy and shaky on waking up is not only a medical issue, it could result in a serious fall.

Oh she is jerking only when she is sleeping. But wakes up dizzy and shaking sometimes. Stops when she has her coffee and juice. She does not eat much anymore. Losing weight. Very concerned.

My mom is 85. She takes oxycodone 60 mg a day. It hardly works. Pain Management tried morphine, diliuid and she started hallucinating. Dr. is frustrated and does not know what to do. She has an appointment on Monday so I am going to try to see if she can try something else. I will have to call her primary then and see about the jerking. It takes her at least 3 hours before she can get out of the house and she is tortured from it. I am going to talk to Dr. about getting her a dr. that will come to the house since she is technically housebound. Thanks for the information all.

Is the jerking only when she's sleeping? How long has this been going on? Has she started on or have any of her meds been changed recently? Have the manufacturers of her meds changed?

Have you taken her to see a doctor, especially a neurologist?

How old is she? What other medical issues does she have?

Does she use oxygen? If she's sleeping with her mouth open it could be a nasal issue or she could need to do so because she needs air. OTOH, some older people's mouths just kind of droop and hang open.

Your mother really needs to be seen by a physician to determine the cause of the jerking. This isn't normal.

Call today and make an appointment. This isn't a problem for a daugher to diagnose.

She's dreaming. Is she taking morphine? Maybe nightmaring. Although I will tell you that my mom does the exact same thing. She doesn't take Norco and isn't in pain. But she surely has very vivid dreams. Usually that she's falling. Several times, I've jumped up because, in her sleep, she's planted her non-skid little shoed feet on the floor and pushed back so hard that the transport chair she sits in goes back on two wheels. Who knew someone could do THAT?

It bothers me that you say your mom is in severe pain. You should be talking with her doctor about that. Hopefully he/she can find a way to control it even if it means she sleeps all the time.

Does she remember what she's been dreaming? If not, take comfort there. And, if it's during the day, and if it bothers you to think she's suffering from her dreams, then I personally would wake her up.