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mariajimena07 Asked December 2017

For the first time, I think in her life, my grandmother (87) wanted to just sleep for the whole day today. Is this something common?

Countrymouse Jan 2018
The important thing is that it's not common for your grandmother. You say this is the first time you can ever remember her wanting to sleep all day.

Has she been overdoing it over Christmas? Catering for the entire family, travelling around a lot, or anything like that?

Is she catching a cold, with so many bugs about?

Are there any other worries you've noticed - is her speech normal, has she been having trouble sleeping recently, have you checked for stroke symptoms, for example?

If everything else seems fine, and/or when you come to think of it perhaps there are good reasons why she might be more tired than normal, then just see how she is in the morning. If she's no better and you're still worried, call her GP for advice.

While I'm at it, though - here is the "FAST" routine for ruling out stroke:

Face - is it droopy? Ask her to smile, make sure her mouth curves evenly both sides.

Arms - ask her to raise both arms as high as she comfortably can. Is she raising both arms in roughly the same way or is one arm noticeably weaker or limp?

Speech - is her speech normal for her, not slurred or garbled?

Time - if one of these three is definitely not right, call for help at once.

Midkid58 Jan 2018
My 66 yo hubby FREQUENTLY sleeps for 24, 48, 72 hrs at a stretch. Yeah, I know, it sounds impossible, but it happens. He is depressed, takes meds and sees a psychiatrist. It doesn't help, He just loves to sleep.

BUT--if this is unusual to your g-ma's usual state, take it into consideration. She could be catching flu, or a cold, she could be exhausted from the holidays. No law says 10 hrs of sleep is too much or too little. A quick checkup from her PCP, if this continues is in order, but one night? I'd be GRATEFUL if my hubs only did this one night a week!

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Karenina Jan 2018
Or could be mild stroke. My grandmother presented as abnormally tired so my mother took her in.

cdnreader Jan 2018
Dear Maria,

I have to agree with cmagnum, it really depends. But if your grandmother is sleeping more than 10 hours a day I would be concerned. Maybe she has an undiagnosed medical situation or this could be a side effects of any new medication. I would talk to her doctor about any new changes.

notrydoyoda Dec 2017
If this continues, then she may need some meds for depression. If this is a one time occurrence, then she might be exhausted from the holidays.

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