She's in an Assisted Living Facility, and when I go visit one day she seems very alert. Although she still is hard to talk to because she has trouble finding the right words to describe situations, etc. The next day she'll sleep the day away, then the next she is agitated and abusive to everyone. Is this normal. I never know what to expect.
Then I'd suggest that you schedule a CARE PLAN MEETING. I'd ask the social worker at the AL how is the way to do this best.
For residents of NH, a care plan meeting is something that is required every 90 days and the family member that is DPOA/MPOA gets a letter with the date and time. But for AL, well they don't have to do this per se but you as your mom's DPOA/MPOA can request one. I'd start a log of your overall concerns and specifically the day to day changes that you are noticing or concerned about. At my mom's old IL that was part of a tiered facility (IL, AL, NH and hospice), we would have a resident renewal meeting every 6 months just so we all were on the same page as to what they expected the residents to be able to do and whether my mom was doing that and to what degree.
At my mom's NH care plan meeting, her doc is not there, but the RN for her floor is, along with someone from dietary, the activities director and the daytime LVN and a social worker. Sometimes there will be a gerontology resident (MD) as her NH is affiliated with a medical school. You get the latest on her weight, eating and activity patterns, her meds and changes with them and an overall evaluation of where is is on doing her ADL's. There should be no reason why the AL can't do something like this for you. Good luck.
My mom has Alzheimer's and had I known more plus not listened to my siblings, my mom would have been on meds far sooner than was. I was told my mom struggling to get my name right for the past 2 years was old age when in fact it was Alzheimer's. She is now doing better with my name, but the childlike behavior now occurs.
I would recommend doing research on dementia and speak with the doctor about the behavior. The reason is there could be more going on or the dementia has changed. A friend of mine her mother had a brain tumor but behaved like Alzheimer's and she had what was called sundowners. Her mom was far more alert and with it in the morning versus in the evening. So best to check with the doctor and if you are not comfortable with the one you have check with another doctor.