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normasdaughter1 Asked February 2018

Last month or so, mom is sleeping a lot more. Any advice?

I’ve read a lot of your questions and answers regarding a elderly parent sleeping a lot. My mom has stared sleep sometimes 15 to 18 hours at once.
She has dementia but also has Anesthesia Dolorosa which is a chronic nerve pain that never ceases. So I understand her wanting to sleep because she doesn’t feel the pain when she sleeps. Or at least it’s not as painful as when she’s awake.
She saw her doctor yesterday, who concluded she is severely depressed and her dementia is worsening. (No surprise on both)
She increased her depression medication, gave her a hug and off we went.
She has lost seven pounds since November. She’s always been small, but this makes me nervous.
Is this a sign of the last stage of life? I’ve read here about having a hospice evaluation. Her doctor never mentioned it and I don’t know much about how hospice works. Any advice would be helpful and appreciated.

normasdaughter1 Feb 2018
Thank you all. There is no stopping her pain. There is a Anesthesia Dolorosa Facebook page which is very enlightening, but horribly sad. There is nothing, I mean nothing that can be done. It’s awful. Mom got it from a botched gamma knife surgery for trigemenal neuralgia.
I called her doctor, hopefully she will return my call and agree to a hospice evaluation. Thank you for your replies.

Katiekate Feb 2018
Yes, the weight loss and sleeping a lot more are sure signs of it.

I suggest that you get the doctor to order and evaluation with Hospice. Those people can give your Mom pain medication that really works, your doctor has his hands tied by the FDA crack down.

Many people live a long time on hospice, so do not concern yourself about that...but, please stop her pain. You may find she is "around" a lot more and willing to eat to gain weight.

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JoAnn29 Feb 2018
Ask for a dementia evaluation from your doctor.

cwillie Feb 2018
Is this the last stage? Your mom's doctor should know that better than we can, after all we would just be guessing based on a very limited description from you. I though my mom's sudden, dramatic decline meant that she was dying - 5 years ago. Now she is almost totally immobile and needs help with 100% of her ADLs and sleeps probably 20 hours a day, but I've noticed there are still other people in the nursing home worse off than she is.

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