My 96 yr old mom has severe dementia. Also sleep apnea, which leads to poor sleep. Should I investigate an apnea machine?

I would not put Mom thru this. Being in a strange place would probably cause anxiety. I wish my Mom had napped throughout the day.

Since dementia is a terminal illness, I wonder how CPAP would figure in. I can’t imagine how a person with severe dementia would tolerate it. The user has to be able to provide feedback, like airflow too strong, strap too tight, etc. if not, she could get an injury. Why can’t she sleep whenever she feels like it? Night, day, whenever....to keep her comfortable. If she did get one, I’d think she’d require someone to monitor her with it at all times.

I’d really discuss this with a doctor who understands dementia. Most people with dementia can’t tolerate anything that overloads their senses.

The sleep study requires lots of electrodes placed all over her head, then trying to sleep that way while being watched by a technician from another room. That alone would make me not do it with any 90 something year old with any dementia. The masks are cumbersome to keep in place. My dad went through most every type of them and could never adjust to it. He finally returned all of it and told the doctor that it was messing up his plan to die in his sleep! He’s still got apnea, still sleeps off and on during the day, and still doing okay minus the contraption. Sometimes the fix is worse than the problem

A person who's 96 with severe dementia is going to have sleep issues, with or without a CPAP machine. It's the 'severe dementia' that causes sleep disturbances. My husband was in his 50s when he received his CPAP machine. It took him several MONTHS to adjust to it, and that was with me insisting he put it back on his face every time he'd rip it off during the night. I'd allow him 10 minutes with it off, then tell him to put it back on.

No way on Earth you'll get your mother to keep that mask on her face all night, so why bother going through the nightmare? That's my opinion. Your only goal here is to keep your mother as comfortable as possible, which may mean getting hospice involved for comfort care at this point. Severe dementia warrants a hospice evaluation; see what her PCP has to say on the subject and if he'll write the order.

Best of luck!

If I understand it correctly, your mom would need a sleep study before being prescribed a treatment. Medicare will pay for this. A sleep apnea specialist could advise you if your mom is a candidate. The specialist I am familiar with is a neurologist. Ask your moms doctor for a referral.