What can I give my 91 yo very healthy mother who suffers from dementia to help her sleep?

Mirtazapine was a wonder drug for us too, mom not only slept at night but was much more her old self during the day.

Mom's geriatric psych doctor prescribed a low dose of mirtazapine to our mom a couple years ago and it changed our lives! It meant we all got sleep, with maybe one or two sleepless nights a month instead of the other way around, and it's been that way ever since.

If your mom's primary care physician is unable to help, ask for a referral to a geriatric psych doctor. They have been the most crucial member of our mom's care team, she has a great pcp too, but they didn't have the expertise of the geri psych, and not the experience with dementia.

Good luck!

I recommend 400mg of magnesium and 50mg of zinc. These taken together help our bodies naturally produce melatonin and magnesium is a great natural relaxant.

1st time I tried this I was traveling and I slept like a log, which I never do, every noise is new and I am usually listening for strange sounds all night. Not that night, 8 hours straight, I have been taking this nightly for about 7 years and sleep great. Well worth a try. Stay away from oxide magnesium, we don't absorb it as readily. I like the gel caps, works faster for me.

Sad to say, there really isn’t. Melatonin doesn’t work for me, either. And, the doctor will not prescribe a “sleeping pill” because there’s a chance it could make her “sleepwalk” and fall. But, you do need to speak with her doctor for some ideas to help her sleep at night. She has a lot of stuff going on here and there may be meds that could help her with her issues.