Mom is 87 and was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia six years ago when I became her legal guardian. She lives with me and has home care help during the day when I'm at work.
My problem is that Mom wanders at night. She feels she has to go to the toilet pretty regularly. Whether she does or not, she still has the strong urge to go. When she leaves her room, she wanders the house, immediately gets lost, lies down on floors, pulls things off shelves, and I'm afraid will eventually do something serious to herself, my pets or the house.
So I've been sleeping in the living room. Problem is, the wandering has become a regular thing and goes on all night. I haven't had more than a couple of hours sleep in the past month. It doesn't seem to matter if we keep her awake and active all day or not. The night wandering will go on for some time and then stop for a little while and then start up again.
When she is wandering, she is also having serious mental issues. She identifies a pillow as a 'stairway to the upstairs' .. a quilt is dog... etc. She claims she can't sleep in her own bed because there are 'so many bodies there'. Its getting worse and worse.
I shut her door one night, (didn't lock it!) and she hammered on the walls until I woke up. Not sure why she kept yelling 'is there anyone in this building?'.
We can't afford the local assisted living facility or an all night aid. Does anyone out there have any experience with this or ideas?
Thanks. I don't know how much longer I can go without sleep.
BTW there is no family help available.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/i-have-decided-to-lock-my-86-year-old-mom-in-her-room-at-night-from-12pm-to-8-she-has-dementia-what--450997.htm