Any advice regarding sleepwalking or falling out of bed?

Since she lives independently, your biggest concern is her safety. You might consider having security on her doors (kind of like Ring) to notify you if her doors open at night. Then, you could contact local authorities to make sure she is OK. Also consider lowering her bed as low to the ground as possible. Place a thick carpet or mat next to the bed so she doesn't hurt herself if she rolls out of bed. Remove bedside tables that have sharp edges. As long as she doesn't try to leave her home or "cook" in the middle of the night, she probably can stay in her home. If she appears to be in danger, then she will need to have either a change in medications or a sitter at might.

My mom had high blood pressure when she was younger. After her Parkinson’s disease her blood pressure dropped. She knew that she wasn’t feeling right so I took her to the ER.

The hospitalist told us that Parkinson’s patients had issues with low blood pressure and they took mom off of her blood pressure medication.

My mom needed a bed rail to hold onto to get in and out of bed.

When my mom did home health the occupational therapist recommended that we move her furniture around to a better position which helped.

My mom was trying to walk out of the front door at one point in time. The doctor put her on Ativan and Seroquel and she was able to rest at night.

Your mom’s situation is puzzling. Maybe she is on the wrong dosage of her meds.

I was a sleepwalker for awhile. My mom put extra locks on the doors so I didn’t walk outside in the middle of the night.

I continued to sleep walk even as an adult. My husband was always afraid that I would tumble down the stairs at night. It’s really weird. He said that he tried talking to me and when I didn’t answer he knew that I was sleep walking. Then I turned around and went back to sleep.

My daughter has a friend that sleep walks into the kitchen and eats all kinds of weird stuff! LOL 😆 He discovers it the next morning.

I accidentally woke myself up one night. I found myself standing with my hand reaching out in the kitchen window.

My parents had a fan in the kitchen window when I was a kid and the tip of my finger hit the blade of the fan which caused me to wake up. I was confused about why I was standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night.

I’m sorry that you are going through this. Falls are upsetting for them and for us. I hope that you are able to find a solution soon.

Wishing you and your family all the best.

My Mom is a fall risk.

We didn't know she had early dementia at the time, however, she woke up constantly during the night to go to the bathroom. She claims she only got up once (HAH, more like 30x) As a result, we got a caregiver to help us out at night. My Mom didn't have a choice. She really didn't like the caregiver because she thought it was a waste of her money to have them watch her sleep. On the other side of the argument, we couldn't keep caregivers because she was up so often and they had to be "right there".

Sometimes, instead of just going to the bathroom, she would go out to the kitchen and would have cocoa or something so that she could sleep. She could have really lucid, productive conversations with the caregivers, and then during the next wake up, not remember anything about the previous conversation....or....have continuing conversation throughout the whole night, and claim she never woke up and never had the conversation. She claims that the caregivers ate her food, however, it was her that ate it. Ironically she did complain about the caregivers that were not there to help her throughout the night. In my briefing to the 1st time a caregiver was there, I would tell them she was capable of sleep walk, sleep talk, and sleep eat. The problem is that when she woke up, you didn't know if she was still asleep or reasonable awake. Most of them were amazed after the first night at her behavior.

One time, after she vehemently denied waking up at night, because we didn't have a caregiver, my sister decided to do the shift. Each time my Mom woke up, my sister loudly would tell what number she was on. When my sister got to 9, my Mom told her, she made her point, she got it. However, the next morning, my Mom remembered nothing of my sister's conversation and count and my Mom said she only woke up once and my sister was not awake.

We opted out of a bedrail because my Mom didn't necessarily come off the side of the bed, she would occasionally exit from the foot of the bed or the corner. For us, we really didn't want anything to stop her from going to the bathroom fast.

Regarding the bed alarm, because my Mom was hard of hearing, the bed alarm wouldn't have woken her up. In our case, if the bed alarm went off, it was already too late. The risk of the fall was as soon as she attempted to get off the bed.

Whenever she fell, she just crumpled. If she fell off the bed, it was because she attempted to stand up, and couldn't.

So our solution was a nighttime caregiver.

When my Mom went to Memory Care, before we got the bed alarm, one time my Mom had fallen asleep near the door. It was so close to the door that the workers could not get into the room. Even nudging her with the door did not wake her up. After about 4 hours, my Mom rolled over (in her sleep) and that was when they were able to enter the room. They got her up and back into her bed...and she didn't remember any of it the next morning.

For almost a year now, my Mom is primarily in a wheelchair, although she can walk with assistance to the toilet with her walker. Sometimes, if the staff is not fast enough on the bed monitor, they would find my Mom on the toilet, fast asleep. Since she couldn't get off the toilet herself, when she woke up, she would pull the cord and someone would come and help her. She has no idea how she got to the toilet and would accuse them of abandoning her on the toilet. If they woke her while she was on the toilet, she would yell at them for waking her up...and then they had to wait around for her body to wake up. Otherwise, she was prone to falling coming off the toilet.

The only medicine she was on was Tylenol and Aleve. So I am pretty sure her repetitive wake up was nothing to do with medication.

So, we solved the issue by hiring a caregiver. However, I can tell you that my Mom didn't like it, didn't like to pay for it, and we had a very difficult time getting them to return.

Oedgar23: Speak with her physician as 400 mg of Seroquel is four times the high end normal amount.

What I have looked into because of my husband falling out of the bed sometimes they say get a pool noodle put it under the fitted sheet on the edge of the bed. They say this helps keep them in bed.

Based on another post from OP it looks like her blood pressure medication may be contributing to her falls.

How about consulting with a pharmacist to see if any of her medications have side effects that could be causing her symptoms? Does she wear a necklace that alerts 911 for help? How about placing a baby cam?

Part time care taker for night time? Perhaps a call to Visiting Angels would give you some ideas.

Even "sweet little old ladies" can accidentally and gradually become opioid addicts, like my MIL did when prescribed oxy for her chronic back pain. She was over-medicating herself (and she also later had a diagnosed short-term memory problem).

Of course your Mom "likes her pills". This is the addiction talking. Someone other than your Mom now has to dispense her pills to her. Period. Do not leave them in her house for her to access. We used to count my MIL's pills, which is how we discovered she was over-medicating and running out of the oxy too soon. Then we just dispensed them to her without leaving them in her house.

Also, work with her doctor regarding any possible drug interactions.

Why is she taking opioids? For what medical issue specifically?

Take her to to see her doctor. If you are afraid of discussing the situation in front of her, write a note and slip it to the desk people to give to the doctor beforehand. I have done this with my Mom. I just tell her I will check her in. He/She will ask the necessary questions to your Mom. The doctor is in charge of her meds, not her. It is up to their discretion whether to refill them or not.

I have been talking to our care workers about falling out of bed, and she currently has rails and alarm, and they said this is not the best solution because they can still climb over the rails can can injure themselves. The alarms tend to go off when you just grab or lean on the rails, so I can see ignoring them.

The solution is wedges on the sides, put the bed low, and a mattress on the side at night, so it is difficult to roll off, but if she does she rolls to another cushion. As a solution this is low cost and easy to implement. It does mean however they will probably not be able to get out of bed on their own if they cannot get up from the floor on their own.

I think your mom is taking too many opioids over what she is prescribed

Any medication can have adverse side effects.
Sleepwalking is one.
Talk to her doctor about it.
If you can get her into an AL facility that would probably be better for both of you.
You can use side rails at home they would not be permitted in a facility as they are classified as a restraint.
A Hospital bed can be lowered so that there is less of a risk of getting hurt if you fall out of bed.
If she is willing to go to AL that would be the safest route to take.

Check her alcohol consumption.

Sounds like it is worth investing in a timed pill dispenser. It gets set up for the week and releases the compartment for the pills as prescribed. The price start around $65. This may be a good investment in Mom's safety. If she refuses, that opens too many other questions that need to be discussed with her PCP. BTW if Mom is still driving take the car. Her sleep disorder puts her at risk for falling alseep at the wheel.
https://www.amazon.com/LertTM-Premium-Automatic-Dispenser-Transparent

Opioids can cause sleep walking. Have you checked her pill bottles to see if she is double dipping on her pills?

My mom was trying to walk out of the front door in the middle of the night.

When my mother was placed on Ativan and Seroquel she slept much better.

My mother had Parkinson’s disease and dementia. She asked for a bed rail so she could have something to hold onto when getting out of bed in the morning. She found the bed rail helpful.

I am sorry that the meds aren’t helping your mom. Speak with her doctor again and see what options are available.

Mom wanted a bed rail and so I got her one.

Lasted one night and she was on the phone to me "Get this thing out of my house!" She couldn't get over or around it to get out of bed.

For someone who is mobile, a rail is an impediment.

BTW--she's taking a LOT of 'drowsy inducing' meds. 400 mgs of Seroquel? And a pretty big dose of Hydrocodone. She might be a bit too buzzed--check with her Dr and the pharmacist.

My MIL had a bad fall last night. Wouldn't push the alert button, so she laid on the floor until her CNA came in the morning. She was OK, just bruised.

DH and OB went to check on her and found her absolutely gorked to the gills. She's been taking 5xs the dosage of her Ativan and Xanax. Washing it down with a shot of wine.

I've no doubt her 'wandering' at night has been made much worse by the overdosing of the meds she's on. Maybe your mom has the same thing going on.

After checking on the meds with your mom’s doc, I would also maybe have a conversation with her pharmacist. Sometimes, they know things about meds that the docs aren’t even up on.

I'd avoid the bed rail. May not stop her climbing out & could increase injury if she did. I like the bed alarm idea better - it's possible the sound may wake her (as long as not does not cause panic).

Has there been a medication review? I know nothing avout meds so would want advice on the mix asap.