My 90-year-old grandmother is sleeping much more and looks lethargic. What can I do for her so that she has more energy?

my 90 year old mother gets "weak, dizzy, sometimes nauseaus" usually about an hour after breakfast. On a good day, she walks 1/4 to 1/2 mile, but then will have a spell of several weeks when the weak dizzy nausea plagues her. Sugar tested, heart tested, blood tested, gall bladder, etc. What could it be that makes her feel so lousy sometimes?

Mother sleeps alot too. The more we can get her up to walk w her walker or holding hands the better also in her wheelchair motoring by herself. She likes to go out for certain things. She usually sleeps alot for two or three days then we have an outing. When she is rested she asks were can we go just to get out. She likes rides in the car with the music on. The more someone her age moves around the better as it keeps muscles toned. She can walk up steps when it is at a Chinese Restaurant. Keeping her hydrated helps too. This is in addition to seeing a good Doctor, vitamins, pills for various conditions and healthy living environment.

My 91 yr old mother has gone through this several times at a few times became so weak that I took her to the emergency room. She was showing no signs of any illness which is the primary reason I said to myself, "something is wrong and i don't know what to do". Every time I took her to the emergency room or her doctor she was dehydrated. They hydrated her intraveinously (?lol, spell?) and within 1 to 2 hr's she started pepping up. When finished she was back to normal. We have an ongoing battle about drinking 6 glasses of water per day. I'm lucky to get 2 into her. According to her doctor no other liquid will do and she hates water. The worse part of this is that they will eventually refuse to re-hydrate. It is considered to be something she can do and if she refuses insurance will not pay. At any rate, I would surely take her to the doctor and have this checked out. Coffee and tea are dehydraters. Hope this helps.

I'm a caregiver to a beautiful 89 yr old w/dementia. I stay with her 24/7 with a fill-in on Saturday afternoon and Sunday am till Sunday pm. She has two adult children one male one female. My client and I are on a routine, which is also becoming a little irregular due to the dementia, even so we still have a routine. She has three meals a day, she is eating less but Dr. said to supplement w/dietary drink, she is also sleeping more and states she is "just plain tired". Here is my problem...one of her adult children comes withouy little notice stating she will be staying with Mom for a few days every so often and when here begins to rearrange care and it throws both client and myself off. It was stated that "I know how Mom thinks, I've stayed with her x amount of days." Correct me if I'm wrong, but with dementia no one knows how they think or what they are thinking...right or wrong?

I would suggest what Linda said as well. My Grandmother has an appointment with her doctor in September and have planned to go a few days before her and talk to him about my concerns so that he can assess her without her knowing. She can be a bit of a hypercondriac. Then later I am to go back and discuss this stuff with him. It's strange for me to be treating her the way I would treat my children. Its unnerving that this woman who was once strong and independent now needs me for everything. I can't imagine how she must be feeling. Especially since this happened all of a sudden. Just two weeks ago she was able to cook herself breakfast and now she can barely walk accross the living room without fear of her falling. It saddens me greatly.

It could be a temporary thing. My 89 years old Mom cycles between wanting to sleep 24/7 (having to be woken for meals, to the toilet, etc) for days at a time, then cycles back to full energy.

If she is getting proper nutrition and proper caregiving (which she obviously is) I would be inclined to let her be. Hugs

Joesam - My 89 yr old Mom with severe dementia - to my knowledge - never brushed her teeth. Ever. (Any sort of cleaning was anathema to her. I have seen her wash her hair at the sink, but I have never known her to take a tub bath or shower) But I digress . . . my point is that I can't undue a lifetime of not doing - so Mom is on a 'soft' diet so as not to challenge her teeth.

Have you tried using the Colgate Wisp disposable toothbrush? These are very soft and at least accomplish some surface cleaning and result is fresher breath.

I would be hesitant re the stress of a dental visit. Even a cleaning can be stressful.

With Moms dementia I have learned the hard way to keep my fingers away from her mouth.
Of course I have also learned to stay out of striking distance when she is hostile

Just wanted to give an update.

Last Saturday my grandmother was taken to the emergency by ambulance because she looked more pale than ever before and couldn't sleep well because she said she felt very very sick.

She was placed in a room by herself in the emergency section, but was later placed in a critical care room because they found out she had low blood pressure and an irregular/slow heartbeat.

One doctor suggested a pacemaker. The risks of her getting an infection later or dying on the table was something me and my mom did not want to take a chance on. We really did not know what to do until another doctor suggested a blood transfusion and that he believes her heart was most likely always slow/irregular.

Her problem was that her blood did not contain a normal amount of red blood cells so they gave her a blood transfusion with red cell concentrated blood. She was at the hospital for 4 days with me and my mom taking 10 hour shifts to stay by her side and make sure she was not alone and had someone to talk to and not get too confused or worried to what was happening to her.

Fortunately the blood transfusion improved her blood pressure and heartbeat and she came back home yesterday evening. My family and I have to keep a close eye on her for now since she has trouble walking from laying down on the hospital bed for a long time.

Also she needs to improve her fluid intake. On top of everything she also had a UTI.

So far though she looks more brighter and is not complaining of feeling ill. I go and talk to her once ever hour or two to see if she needs anything or I give her some water or juice in a small cup. We are all taking it step by step with her.

Thank you, linda and christina.

That is great news, linda! It made me smile when I read that.

As far as brushing her teeth goes she can do it herself with no issues, but I have to watch over her and make sure she actually does it. So I basically just lead her into the washroom and make sure all goes well before she sleeps. Her gums look a little raw so I have to make sure she doesn't brush too hard.

I can't thank you two and everyone else who posted in this thread enough for the kind words, suggestions and insight. You are all so incredibly wonderful .

joesam , good to hear that she bounced back and is feeling better . horray .
i hate it when my dad gets sick , its heart breaking , he just had uti also and is now takin antibodi for it . was tested again yesterday and its cleared up .
youre a good person and i bet your grandma appreciates you . xoxo .