What can cause my Mom to say strange things when she wakes?

More likely she has polypharmacy induced vivid dreaming. Go to drugs and enter all the medications on their drug interaction checker.

I completely agree with Pam Stegman. Mom has SUCH vivid dreams and often wakes up still IN them. Sometimes it's creepy. This time it was hilarious...overheard before I got her out of bed one morning...please impute southern drawl:

"Chicken Little!! Is that really you, Chicken Little??? Oh, my! Well, let me tell you THIS, Chicken Little. YOU'RE A LIAR!!!!! LIAR!!!!! Know what happens to liars, Chicken Little??? They go straight to h*ll, Chicken Little!!! Good. Bye."

ROFL!!!

I was told that they wake up with low blood sugar and you need to give her a small glass of OJ before she gets out of bed! It could help and is better than giving her drugs. Give it a try. I learned this at a recent caregiver's conference. It was so great and very informative.

Sunrise Syndrome,(sun?riz) a condition in which there is unstable cognitive ability upon rising in the morning. The mind is filled with delusions that are frequently observed in people with Alzheimer's and may include include beliefs about theft, the patient's house not being their home, a spouse is an impostor, belief an intruder is in the house, abandonment, spousal and paranoia. The person may carry over content of a dream. Sunrise Syndrome conversations may involve the production of unintentional false statements,(i.e. confabulations).

People say things comtaining information that is blatantly false, tell of actions that inaccurately describe history, background and present situations. They are coherent, internally consistent, and appear relatively normal. This despite contradicting evidence. This is distinct from lying because there is typically no intent to deceive and the person is unaware that the information is false. It seems that Alzheimer's / Dementia is fraught with confabulation speak.

Could be the result of vivid dreams (and those could, of course, be drug induced given that she's taking so many), but look for the other early symptoms of dementia, too – how she's handling her money, hygiene, housekeeping...and if are other behavioral clues (she laughs at different things and more often, she blows off things she would have given attention to, etc.). If your sister sees mom often and she suspects it, there's a pretty good chance she's right. My father's dementia started long before we recognized it and in those years he created a shambles of his finances that can't be undone. I have a friend whose father did the same thing. His mishandling of his finances was the red flag, then the family thought back to all the subtle changes they didn't pick up on.

Im with Pam on this one. I took Chantix to quit smoking and often woke up, still dreaming. Absolutely see a neurologist. But if they agree that no scary stuff is going on then I wouldn't worry. Good luck

Odd behavior in the elderly can be caused by a urinary tract infection so have that checked out too.

I have this same thing with my mother, especially if I awaken her from a nap. She insists that there are people in the house, usually they are family members, but in their childhood forms. She thinks someone slept with her and can give a vivid description. Just yesterday, she was angry. insisting that an entire family was in the house visiting and that she didn't want to leave and go home (even though she was home). That family that was in the dream are mostly dead or moved away now. I think she was angry because in reality nobody ever comes to visit and she was having such a good time in the dream that she wanted it to be real. She has not been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's. I will try the O.J. that sounds reasonable. Mother has had blood sugar drop issues for years. Thanks for this tip.

Naturally as women through our lives, we go to bed with worries and wake with things on our mind, add to this medication, fear of forgetfullness that happens with aging, dreams, and possibly a memory illness such as Alzheimers and dementia, you could be seeing a number of things that are contributing. Have you asked her upon this happening why she is feeling the need to mention these things? It is really under many of these circumstances not uncommon.

Kathy31 please have a pharmacist evaluate her full list of meds. They're the only ones who are trained to look at the interactions and possible negative side effects of medications.

You can find one who specializes in the elderly by googling American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. Since it's a dotcom website, if I put a link here, they'll take it out. Many doctors prescribe medication dosages that are appropriate for younger people without understanding the effects on seniors, who metabolize meds more slowly. A senior-care pharmacist can assess all of that.