Are Car Rides Relaxing to Your Loved One?

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12LittlePaws Asked September 2018

Are Car Rides Relaxing to Your Loved One?

I'm caring for my 85 y/o mom with vascular dementia and COPD. When I get home from work I find that she is usually having the most trouble breathing and she is wound up and anxious. Most of the time I find that taking her for a car drive and maybe stopping for an ice cream cone (her one vice) will relax her and put her in better spirits. I don't know if it is the motion of the car or getting out and seeing places and people instead of the same four walls or maybe a combination of that, but so far it has worked just about every time.

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this.

Alzheimer's & Dementia Dementia Behaviors

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score 1 · Answer 1

Yes, car rides were always a big help with my mom

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score 3 · Answer 2

Is your mom alone all day? If she is, that may contribute to her anxiety. By the time you get home, she may have worked herself up into the proverbial tizzy. She may also have Sundowning, where people with dementia become anxious and upset in the late afternoon. I’m sure the car rides and ice cream help. It’s kind of you to do that for her.

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She is alone, but we are in constant contact and she always sounds great. She has been very high functioning during the day, but now with her COPD becoming so much worse she is more sedentary due to breathlessness. I do think she is Sundowning too, she has just started this. The car rides most of the time seem to calm and avert the worst symptoms. I would do anything for her, so drive we will.

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score 4 · Answer 3

Oh, yes! When my hubby was having panic attacks a few months ago, we went for a drive every day for hours. He appreciated getting out of the house, the motion, and humming sound. Usually, he'd fall asleep. I joked with my friends that it was similar to having a baby, and in many ways, it was true. Things have changed now that we got his anxiety better controlled and a different vehicle in which he isn't as comfortable sleeping.

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I was telling one of my friends yesterday it is like when you take a baby with colic for a drive to get them to sleep!

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Are Car Rides Relaxing to Your Loved One?

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