My mother talks non-stop, which makes it hard to communicate with my husband or watch TV. How do I get her to be quiet?

I had that with my husband he would talk nonstop I would just tell him to shut up already and when I finished doing 100 things for him I would tell him I would check on him in 1 hr.and just develope a hearing loss for that time if you give an inch they will take a foot. You can not change their behaivior only how you react to it.

Pam, wow she's record fast on dreaming stuff up. Wow faster than my mom she wins the First Prize...ding ding ding! Lordy be, wow...lol...it's amazing on how debilatated that are in one way but not in the next...wow. Was this type of stuff going on through the ages or is this a recent phenomena?

LMAO.....THE ROLLER COASTER OF 'MOMMY DEAREST'....

At least your mom's are asking for help and communicating. You have to ask my mom 20 questions to find out what's bothering her. She'll say "I don't know" to just about anything you ask. But holy heck, does she not sit still for 1 minute. You can count as many as 50 attempts to get out of the chair she is tied to, in the course of one minute. I strap her in her wheelchair so she can be mobile, but she never stops moving! Her OCD will not allow her to sit quietly, and her Parkinsons' keeps her from being able to walk without falling. The dementia is the added kick that makes her forget that she cannot safely do things on her own. I think I would rather have her talking all the time, as long as she would stay put.
Hope we can find a place that will take her when the time comes!

def....yep there are so many different slices to the same aging problem. I feel sorry for them in a way because they are prisoners of their own bodies at times. Can your mom use a walker safely?

PirateGal, Mom cannot use a regular walker. We had to pay $500 for a MerryWalker in order for her to be able to stay at daycare. These are used in institutions and have seats, a crotch strap, and a wide stance to keep it from tipping over. The daycare also attaches a tray so that Mom has very little room to stand and walk with it.If she loses her balance, she keeps on rolling until she hits something. She doesn't like to use it at home because it doesn't fit where she wants to go. Whether she is in her walker or wheelchair, she keeps on moving constantly. It drives eveyone insane! When she is in the wheelchair, she forgets where the wheels and brakes are 1 minute after you tell her. She only weighs 110, but has already bent the break handles on her wheelchair, by trying to force them in the wrong direction.
When she is in a fighting mood, it's all I can do to keep her from pulling me down with her.
Her neurologist just put her back up to 10mg of Aricept, which is good in the taking directions department, but not so good in the keeping her calm area.She is definitely a handful and will be very hard to place when the time comes. In the meantime, my days are long and strenuous..But life goes on and some day it will be my turn.

Defer can you apply to medicare to help with the cost of the wheelchair -they were very good with my husbands equipment as long as it was 5 years in between the same assistive device it is worth a try they might cover it for you what they do here is send you a statement monthly telling you it is rented but after so long they stop charging we got a hospital bed and cruthes and a wheelchair without paying we did have a medicare supplement insurance so that probably helped but it is worth a try just have her doc say it is necassary for her to have. Can she take anything like xanax to calm her down. In my state it is easier to get people in nursing homes now because the hospitals have units for a 21 day stay in rehab right there in the hospital for medicare pt.s so the nursing homes are having to mostly have long term pt.s and are not so fussy about who they will accept these days.

Mom is on 30mg of Paxil and gets Xanax 3 times a day. When she is behaving badly, confused and looking for people that aren't there, nothing much helps. If I can't redirect her, I just start feeding her junk food favorites, or give her some laundry to fold. Once she gets a thought in her head, she's like a dog with a bone! We needed to spend down on her cash, so paid for the equipment with her money. She still has too much to get state aid, but it looks like her long term care insurance will be kicking in soon. That will at least pay for a 40 hour aide to help me out.
Right now I am fighting a very nasty cold, from being run down by having no time to catch up on sleep. I have restless leg syndrome. When I do finally get to bed , I have trouble falling asleep. I've only been able to manage 4 to 5 hours a night for the past 10 days. Napping is not an option, as my legs won't allow it. I take a med at night, but it doesn't always work. If I take extra, I walk around with a hangover the next day. I'd give anything to be able to sleep a week of 8 hour nights!
In the meantime, I do a lot of knitting and have started to make felted purses. I can't always knit when I'm watching Mom, but it does help de-stress me when I can. It is a pleasure to speak with all of you and have your help when I need it! Take care.

I found crocheting easier to do with being with someone who talks nonstop or had tons of demands you do not have to count stitchs as much and it is easier to put down every five if you have to do that- when my husband acted my meds-xanax helped now that he has died I need very little of it.

Working with your hands can be very satisfying! I also like to paint and make jewelry, but do not have the time for those right now. Sorry to hear you lost your husband, but I'm sure you are finally both at peace. What do you do with your time now?

stick a sucker in her month. It works on my mom . Sometimes. I have to watch her to make sure she doesn't get choked. Before when she would feed herself I had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios by her chair. She ate 3 or 4 bowls a day. One mouth few after another. It did not work all the time but sometimes. Good luck.