Is it common for Alzheimer's patients to sleep 14 or more hours per day?

I have read so many of your stories and they all sound so familiar. I take care of my dad who is 80 and has dementia. He too would rather sleep all day. We had a home healthcare aid through the VA hospital for the past 3 weeks and I saw a huge change in my dad. Dad really liked her but she had to stop coming. She was very inappropriate verbally and morally. Dad is back to not getting up, just wants to sleep. But....while she was here, he went for walks that I could not motivate him to take and his spirit just on the first day soared and he looked forward to the walks. He stayed awake most the day and socialized. Now he has withdrawn again. They thrive on company and talking about things they enjoy. She loved to fish and even spoonbill snagged and hunted. So did my dad! Let them talk about when they were young, ask questions, show interest, make them feel their worth. My dad lives for the mail delivery. He can't mow now, he can't remember how. But he CAN get the mail and hand it out to other members of the home. They need something to make them feel useful. Have them help you with small chores like you would teach a toddler. When my son was 1 ,I would use Walmart bags for the bathroom trashes and on trash day he knew to just go in and pull the handles up and pull it out of the can and carry it to the kitchen and put in the kitchen trash. He had his own responsibility and feel of worth. It is the same with dementia patients. They need to feel worth. We are raising our loved ones now with dementia, and keeping them safe as we would our children. He had an Occupational Therapist at one point. She told me to get out an old photograph. Only 1 as to not overwhelm. Ask who is in the picture, where was it taken, when was it taken. Pull those memories out and help make them think, and build new brain cells. I have done much reading on the human brain because I have suffered many strokes myself and memory loss. I play games everyday to build and train new parts of my brain. Everyday you lose brain cells, they die. You must read (read to your loved one), or learn, be active and build new brain cells to take the place of the ones lost. If you are sleeping all the time you cannot do that. Your body, muscles, heart, and brain all become weaker, and your body is dehydrating also because you are not taking in water! Water is very important for the brain since it is made up 99% of water and your body and internal organs also need it. When your loved one is no longer with you, will you have the clear conscious to say, I did my best by them? I am going to excuse myself now, because I need to try again to wake my dad and get him to eat. I need to motivate him to sit up and socialize and bathe today for his own well being, and because I love and respect my dad very much. He has always been a clean man and had so much pride. I want him even though he may not know it now, to still be clean and well kept as much as I can.

I am caring for my mother with Alzheimer's in my home. She is now sleeping 14 hours a night.....getting up at night, maybe once. She used to drink 3 - 4 cups of coffee per day & would get up several times per night. She occasionally stayed up all night! She then slept about 10 hours per night, but now its 14 or more. (She does not nap much.) Isn't 14 hours too much? If you try to wake her up earlier she is angry & visibly tired, but relatively fine when she's had enough sleep.

If that is what her body needs, let her sleep and be grateful that her mind is quiet. Sometimes my mother sleeps 16 hours, so I just let her be. As long as she is at rest, with her body and mind are at peace, it makes for a peaceful day, which is rare for an Alzheimer's patient.

My 84 year old husband has Alzheimer's. Some days he sleeps most all day. He goes through periods that he doesn't want to eat. I usually offer him juice or fruit and he will nibble on that. He is very frail and I think just being weak makes him tired. He watches tv all day or listens to it . He wants it on even if he is asleep. Night and day it's never turned off.

Matthew2414, isn't 14 hours too much for what? A normal healthy adult? Yes. But that ship sailed when Mom got dementia.

What are the other 10 hours like? Is she getting some social interaction? A little gentle exercise? Some mental stimulation? I guess I'd focus more on the time she is awake.

If she has other symptoms that make you think she might be ill -- coughing, fever, continuous hiccups, rash, etc. -- then consult her doctor. But if she seems generally well I wouldn't try to waken her before she is ready.

my husband is 67 has dementia/alzheimers he sleeps at least 20 hrs a day he cant move he lies in bed all day in nursing home has only one hand he can just about move he cant talk properly he just lies there. when he is awake he looks so sad .he cant tell me anything I don't know what to do. I love him so much ,he had a fall when he was 46yrs old which left him with brain damage .what can I do for him we,ve been married 48yrs and with each other 52yrs x

After my dad passed away, my mother who was in a nursing home with dementia, started losing weight quickly. The nursing home put her on 15 mg. of remeron every day to help stimulate her appetite. She soon started eating better. I brought her to live with me and all she wanted to do was sleep. Her new doctor here is working with me to get her off some of the medications that the nursing home had her on. It's been a very slow process but I am starting to see her be a little more wakeful and responsive since we have taken her off the antidepressants and reduced the dosage of some of her meds. She still wants to go to bed at 8 pm and sleep until 10 or 11 the next morning and then naps throughout the day in the recliner. She can't walk at all, so I don't have to worry about her wandering but it bothers me that she doesn't talk and is so fatigued all the time. I try to do a little PT with her to keep her strong enough to transfer from bed to her chair but it's really hard to motivate her. I am afraid that sleeping so much is causing her to lose her physical ability that she has left to help me transfer her and especially for her to be able to toilet. I don't know what the answer is. I just know that this is so hard and so draining for the patient and the caretaker. Blessings to you all for caring for your loved ones.

I have my 84 Year old Father in my care as well as my 82 year old Mother. My father, although never diagnosed with anything as of yet, will wake up about 9:30am, and then sits in his chair and falls asleep. If he`s awake by 11am, the TV goes on, then he falls asleep. He will sleep off and on all day, not moving from his chair. More time is spent asleep than awake I assure you. He retired early, and the only problem I have with his sleeping all day is that this is what he chose to do for the past 29 years wince retiring at 55. He was lucky, and now I think he regrets not doing anything. But if you try to get him to do anything he just doesn`t want to, or, on rare occasions when we go to the hardware store or something, he is simply out of gas. My Mother has been diagnosed with FTD or Frontotemporal Disease ( Very similar to Alzheimer`s ). She was always more active, but with this disease has become withdrawn and has no interest in doing much. Her life is now sleeping and eating. She stays up from Dinner, which is at 5:30pm every day, until 11pm. Then its bed for her until dinner tomorrow. We have tried things to get them out more but I feel that it just agitates them. We must remember that just because WE feel getting them up and moving is the best thing, it isn`t always. I think if you are over 80 and you want to stay in bed......you have earned the right to stay in bed, or, in your recliner, if that is what makes you happy. The most important thing is that neither one is causing any harm by doing so.

My mom was is 74 and has alzheimer, I placed her in a nursing home 3 years ago n she was in and out the hospitals for UTI's, she could walk n they refuse to get her out the wheelchair and bed n never gave her water to drink, after 21 years on my job I had to give it up n bring my mom home because she was going down fast n they kept her over medicated. She has been home now for three months and doing great, she just sleep a lot in the day n talk off n on at bedtime. I don't worry about her sleeping because I know she gets her meds, three meals, snacks n plenty of fluids and i keep her clean she's not able to walk or transfer herself, I get to sleep good at night n even in the day when she's napping, I look forward to hearing her at night talk or hum it lets me know she's alright n I don't have to jump up from bed. The great grans keep her going every weekends n she is so very alert n active.

My mom was is 74 and has alzheimer, I placed her in a nursing home 3 years ago n she was in and out the hospitals for UTI's, she could walk n they refuse to get her out the wheelchair and bed n never gave her water to drink, after 21 years on my job I had to give it up n bring my mom home because she was going down fast n they kept her over medicated. She has been home now for three months and doing great, she just sleep a lot in the day n talk off n on at bedtime. I don't worry about her sleeping because I know she gets her meds, three meals, snacks n plenty of fluids and i keep her clean she's not able to walk or transfer herself, I get to sleep good at night n even in the day when she's napping, I look forward to hearing her at night talk or hum it lets me know she's alright n I don't have to jump up from bed. The great grans keep her going every weekends n she is so very alert n active.

I was hoping to find an answer to this issue, as my fiance sleeps all day won't take his meds on time, won't eat and can't sleep at night. He has trouble walking without falling, but refuses pt. I'm so afraid he's giving up. He's a brilliant retired professor.

My husband is 83 and sleeps most of the day and night. He'll get up to eat, shower, feed the cat, clean the litterbox, and occasionally watch programs in his native Polish online. He also gets up for PT sessions. The problem is that the time he usually wants to be up doing things is after midnight! I'm trying to unwind and go to bed but he wants to start "20 questions" and often pick a fight over something he believes to be true but isn't. Sometimes he'll be up every 2 hours, waking me up, talking, going into the kitchen, etc. Sometimes I don't get to start sleeping until 5 or 6 in the morning. This makes scheduling appointments difficult because I'm not "awake" until the afternoons. He does have medications, by the way, but for some reason, he tells me he "didn't sleep all night" even though he does, but he's always been a light sleeper at night.