My elderly father shows signs of dementia when he wakes up in the morning. Is there a likely reason why this happens when he wakes up?

Louise - does your father see a doctor regularly?

The reason I ask is that he is 96, and you've mentioned comparatively minor difficulties with his orientation on waking, and with toileting (the toileting issues sound more like a loss of sensation than anything else, is my guess).

So... Does he generally have exceptional good health for a man of his age?

Louise60, time to have Dad checked for a urinary tract infection.... such an infection can cause dementia type behavior.

One day my Dad's caregiver called me saying that my Dad was seeing ants on the wall and in his food. I gave her the go ahead to take Dad to his primary doctor. Sure enough, it was a UTI. After a few days on antibiotics, Dad was feeling much better.

Sometimes he says things that aren’t true. He may point to the ceiling light fixture and say “ that looks like ice”; so he is experiencing mild hallucinations. One morning, he was lying on the floor and wondering how he got there. He does have a habit of trying to get up before l come in to help him. He does have dreams at times too.

Does he have a habit of getting out of bed as soon as he wakes? Perhaps even just to go to the toilet? In order to get his bearings (and sort out his blood pressure), it might be better to get him into the habit of sitting on his bed for a couple of minutes first before he stands up. Does he dream? Sometimes it’s hard to snap out of a dream, and that could sound a bit bizarre. What are the symptoms you think are like dementia?