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Kimmie45 Asked January 2018

My mom doesn't sleep much since I took her out of memory care unit and brought her home. She wanders all night. Any advice?

She wanders all night, close to midnight, tearing up my den.

golden23 Jan 2018
This must be very hard on you for several reasons. Can you tell us why you took her out of memory care? Many ask to go "home", but it is not a solution, as they are thinking of home from years ago. It might be best for all if she can go back to memory care, so you can get sleep, and some one can watch her at night and prevent her from tearing things up. Her needs will increase and it will be more difficult for you.

SueC1957 Jan 2018
That happened to me too. I had to put her back in memory care because no one was sleeping.

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surprise Jan 2018
This behavior is exactly why memory care is so useful to us- mthr was wandering in parking lots and stepping out in front of people. Some sweet ladies offered her a ride home and she could not tell them where, even when they drove around a bit. She was on the far end of her block when they found her! I am thankful they took her to the police station where her adventure was reported to adult protective services.

Once in memory care, mthr would pace all night until about 4 when she would sit at the cafeteria and ask for coffee as she needed to get ready for the school bus. About 7 am, she'd fall asleep in front of the tv until lunch!

The doctor gave her some prescription meds I worried about but in the long run it was the right thing. Later she was on an anti- anxiety at night which allowed her to sleep.

Hope you can get some rest. If you can afford it, memory care keeps patients safe while we do other things like sleep.

freqflyer Jan 2018
Kimmie, with memory issues, every time you move someone to a new "home", this tends to confuse them more, even though your Mom was returning back to her own home. To her it looks like some place she never seen.

Does Mom have "sundowning"? My Dad would think he was back in the 1940's, attending meetings at work, calling me to tell me he won't be home for dinner as the meeting ran over, plus he missed his bus so he will stay at the hotel. Well, the call was made from Dad's memory care, and the hotel was his memory care room.

You may want Mom to see her primary doctor to see what he/she says, maybe there is something Mom can take to calm her down at night, so that she will sleep.

Countrymouse Jan 2018
How long since you brought your mother home from the unit? Were you worried about how she was being looked after there, or was there another reason for taking her out?

I'm sorry you're going through this, please tell us a bit more about what's happened.

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