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daddydaycare Asked December 2016

How do I deal with my Dad (81) who has Alzheimer's and at bed-time he gets agitated, responding to voices, then becoming aggressive?

I learned about some of the ways to de-escalate my Dad during the day, most of them work. But at night sometimes the behavior escalates, refusing to go to his room at bed-time, yelling at voices, repeating different words, asking himself questions, then answering them. Then when he finally goes to bed, he continues the behavior. How do I go about getting him to calm down? When I try to re-direct him, he just says,"I'm alright, yes sir, I'm alright." Then go right back into the behavior in a lower tone, revving up louder, and louder, getting angry, into fierce voices. I called the Doctor,(he ordered another sleep med) it worked for the first 2 nights, he slept pretty much all night. But now he's back to the yelling, the behavior, & the voices. How do I help him?

Dulcigirl Dec 2016
I got a calm instrumental CD for my mom. She loves hymns and lullabies so I bought one and put it on replay at night. It relaxes, calms, lowers blood pressure, blocks pain and most of all calms the mind. The very best are Strauss waltzes. Music is amazing therapy. Mom loves the 30s and 40ssnd 50s songs .... I play those during the day and peaceful stuff in the evening.

BarbBrooklyn Dec 2016
It sounds like dad is "sundowning" which is agitation and behaviors that emerge late in the day. He may need meds that calm agitation and anxiety, rather than sleep meds.

As Jeanne says, he would benefit from being treated by someone with lots of dementia experince, or perhaps a geriatric psychiatrist.

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jeannegibbs Dec 2016
The first medicine did not work. Try the next one. Medication is often trail-and-error, unfortunately. Keep trying!

Is the doctor you called a specialist in treating dementia? That can make a huge difference.

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