littlemisskitty Asked April 2016
How do you help a person fall asleep?
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It's been three days since my grandma has slept. Anyone have any ideas on how to make her sleep? She seems untired. She isn't even yawning or napping or anything. The doctor said to try her some anti-psychic meds. Even those aren't helping. Personally I'm going crazy. She has severe dementia so she might be going crazy too but with her dementia it might not be noticeable.
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Is she drinking coffee in the evening? Eating sugary foods in the evening, or during the day?
And what meds is she on? Have you researched to see if any have side effects of causing sleeplessness?
Another issue is anxiety, which can easily cause enough mental agitation to keep someone awake.
Has this ever happened before?
I wouldn't mind if she was quiet nonsleeper but instead she is constantly looking for attention while not sleeping and wanting to get up for any and all excuse and since I use a baby monitor with her so she's safe, ignoring her isn't really an option. I just can't imagine how it feels for her not to be sleeping at all and if there is anything I'm missing in terms of helping her to get the much needed sleep.
As for pills, nothing changes. She's been stable in her pills and she has cycles. She'll sleep good for a few weeks then suddenly she will stay up for 3 days at a night, then will just continue the cycle again and again.
Chart the frequency of the cycle.
What could trigger it.
Find common denominator as you compare cycles.
If her meds were not changed, then, what did change to cause it.
Take your notes to her MD.
Is she being treated by a psychiatrist? A geriatric doctor?
The circadian rhythm is a way to keep the same time for the same things. When she can't sleep and you don't either, it will be chaotic for both of you.
It seems to me that there is a deeper issue going on with this being cyclical.
Inform the MD. Perhaps blood work while she's in the awake part of the cycle could reveal a root cause.
There are many different types of herbal remedies that could help. However, if she's on meds, herbs can be dangerous.
Old fashioned way, warm milk (tryptophan) helps, if she can have milk.
Best idea I have is to contact the MD and explain.
Hopefully this cycle can be broken!
Best,
M88
Mulatta's advice is spot on - figure out the cycle. There's some reason why this is happening. If you don't get support from her PCP, or internist, try an endrocrinologist. That might be something happening at that level.
Also, keep track of her diet. Foods like turkey that contain tryptophan are sleep inducers. But don't try tryptophan supplements; years ago there were some issues about side effects with the supplements. And good old turkey just can't be beat!
But it's also possible that it has nothing to do with bodily functions but is more social or physical. If she gets up, I assume she can walk. Can you get her to do some exercises, even just walking back and forth, or leg lifts while she's sitting down? Perhaps one of her doctors could script for home PT and give her some moderate exercises to do.
There's another possibility - she's just plain bored. Does she read? Work puzzles? What can she do that will focus her concentration? Music is a great therapy; my sister told me they played music for the psychiatric patients when she worked in a psych hospital.
Art therapy is another calming activity. There's a proliferation of medium quality coloring books available now. Just the act of coloring, even with crayons, requires focus and concentration. However, if there's more going on that interrupts that concentration, you'll have to ask the doctors to dig deeper. \
What about visitors? Does she have any social interaction outside of your home? Have you taken her to Senior Center activities?
The cycle I notice is........................awake every hour all night for 3 days.......then sleep all night for 2 days (probably from not sleeping previous days). Then it starts all over.
The problem is that your gram has dementia. This is not about caffeine or anxiety or good bedtime hygiene or consumption of sugar or taking naps during the day. Addressing some of those things may help some, but the core cause of this issue is that there is damage in your gram's brain that has seriously messed with her sleep cycle.
I am not trying to suggest just giving up. Try any reasonable approaches you can think of and that the doctors recommend. You may be lucky as my husband and I were. If not, keep firmly in mind that this is Not Your Fault. It is not Mom's fault. It is nothing anyone is doing wrong. It is the damn dementia!
You may need to have in-home care overnight to deal with this. Or, if Mom needs the level of care provided by a nursing home, that might ultimately be the solution. I know from personal experience that a zombie trying to take care of a person with dementia is not a good thing. You need your sleep.
Nursing homes do have to deal with people who have sleep issues. The first month that my mother was in an NH she would be up most of the night. They sat her outside the nursing station so they could keep an eye on her, and gave her things to do. She loved folding the terry cloth bibs. She did crossword puzzles. She looked at magazines. Of course she could do all this at home, too, but the point is the nursing home is staffed all night with well-rested people who get breaks and get to go home at the end of their shifts. And who are experienced at dealing with person who have dementia.
Work with her doctors. (It was a nuerologist and a sleep psychiatrist who came up with my husband's solution.) But understand that ultimately the only solution might be 24 hour supervision.
I hope you will take the time to keep us updated about what you are trying and what the results are. This is a VERY common problem in dementia. We learn from each other.