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Money0925 Asked July 2019

My 85 year old mother sleeps a lot. Is her body beginning to shut down?

anonymous828521 Jul 2019
Hi, yes I believe the increased sleepiness is part of the end stage process. (Unless the sleepiness is related to a new medication or a cold). My mom did get increasingly sleepy in the last 6 months of her life. (At the time, we investigated many possibilities that we thought caused it), but it was simply "natural causes" of aging & dying. In my opinion, mom had made up her mind & was getting ready to go... (She spoke much less, & even stopped complaining...)

freqflyer Jul 2019
Money, I believe it is quite normal for someone in their mid 80's to sleep more now than say a few years ago. Your Mom has lived a very long life, she's tired.

I remember my parents [90's] use to brag how they only need 6 hours of sleep at night. They forgot to count the nap they took after breakfast, the nap after lunch and before dinner, and the long nap after dinner.

Now, if your Mom is sleeping 12 hours at night, and also taking naps, have the doctors check her for low B12. Low B12 can easily zone someone out. It did me, so now I need to take B12 pills which help.

I see from your profile that your Mom has Alzheimer's/Dementia, so it could be a side effect of that illness.

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