My husband has had increasing dementia for 2 years. He has frequently complained of extreme fatigue. Advice?

This sounds like my husband, who has Lewy Body Dementia. Meds helped for a while, but for the past two days, he only wakes up to take them. I hope your husband doesn't have this horrid disease.

try vit.b12 and folic acid together

My almosy 93 yo MIL sleeps about 20 hours a day. She gets up for coffee, stays awake an hour or 2 to have lunch, naps in the afetrnoon, eats dinner 4-5 pm, and is back in bed asleep by 7. She's also almost always cold (wears 4-5 layers). The only med she takes is zoloft, which reduced her anxiety and argumentativeness. Her blood pressure and everything else is fine.

She is slowly dying and this is her body shutting down. We have seen a slow steady - now accelerating decline - since she moved in with us 14 months ago. She has said that she hopes to die in her sleep.

It's ok for him to sleep. This stage will also pass. Or he may be bored. It is hard to find something for folks to do . They need to like to do it, and be capable of doing it. Some like puzzles for a while or drawing or coloring in coloring books. If you take him outside he may be revived a bit. A visitor stimulates folks for a short time. Sometimes what they want is complany, just to sit on the sofa with him and hold his hand.

Have the Dr check his B-12 levels.

Yes, it is. Also, despite the fact that your doctor said all blood work is great, I would not hold on it. What is great for some people can be not so great for others. He might need a little boost with Iron, Vitamins D and B, and most of all -- daily great protein shake. But not that sold in a store and filled with processed GMO (sugar) ingredients. You should consider making one with hemp/chia seeds (three spoons = 10 gr of protein) and organic protein powder (I buy mine in Costco). Blend it all with frozen bananas, avocado, orange/mango juice.... or invent your own recipe!

Landlocked, my mom is 92 and has had Alzheimer's for a number of years. She has a few other health issues that come into play - only one kidney that is functioning just under 50%, meningioma (a non-cancerous tumour in left frontal lobe, and a thyroidectomy for which she relies on synthroid. She also had a hip replacement that was botched up, leaving one leg shorter than the other, so she has balance and mobility problems, as well as high blood pressure and chronic mastoid discharge from her ear with almost total deafness. Not surprisingly, she is depressed and miserable also when she is awake. She, too, complains of constant tiredness during the day, and her refrain during the night is, "It's so good to get into bed." Also, like you, I'm baffled by nothing showing up on the blood tests. I was given a copy by the emergency department when mom fell on the escalator, and basically took an online crash course in haematology trying to figure out if I can find any subtle pattern. The thing about blood tests is that the results are calibrated on a range from a low to a high continuum. Doctors usually say nothing showed up, or the results were normal. On my mom's blood test, kidney functioning at 49% was not "normal". I believe there was a slightly lower or elevated count on some other factors I think like white blood cell count. Surprisingly her iron and red blood cell count were normal. So I have to look for explanations elsewhere, like inertness, musculoskeletal or mental/emotional fatigue from confusion, anxiety and depression. Maybe the pattern of excessive sleepiness has something to do with the effect of Alzheimer's on the part of the brain that controls consciousness and the sleep/wake cycle (I believe it is in the brain stem). At any rate, what I am trying to say is my mother sleeps a lot and is extremely fatigued and no explanation can be found from blood tests either.

My husband has vascular dementia following a stroke 13 years ago. His sleeping has increased to 20 hrs a day and cognitive functioning decreased over the years. He's been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and has been put on hospice care, which is a great gift to both of us. It's hard to get enough food in him when he's awake so little, but I can prolong his awake time with rides in the car or playing cards or warching M*A*S*H or a movie on TV. He's very pleasant to be with, always joking or thanking me for what I can do for him. I found out from experience that it's impt to weigh him often to see if he's retaining liquid. That's a symptom of heart failure. It's a slow journey, but we're trying to make the most of it.

That's nothing. My father sleeps 9-10 hours in bed and all but a few hours of the rest of the time asleep in his recliner. Aside from meals, bathroom, and getting the mail, he lives in his chair for two years now (actually, mom died exactly two years ago the Sunday before Thanksgiving which would be equal to today). The TV is often on but he's rarely actually watching it. He barely communicates (doesn't want to) and refuses to go to the doctor (does see psych nurse though who won't talk to me) or do anything. He won't allow me to hire people to fix the house. I do everything that he used to except getting the mail and unloading the dishwasher. He looks and smells dead but I am sure now that he is immortal (hence the Zombie name for this account).

It could be the antidepressant. Could be a heart condition. Could be depression.

My 90 year old Dad started to sleep all the time about a year ago and passed away from liver cancer Nov. 2, 2015. Sometimes it is part of the dying process and the body shutting down slowly. But you only find that out after the fact. At least that is what the doctors tried to tell me. Both my parents have or had dementia. Mom who turns 91 today looks like she is following the same pattern. She is so mean when she is awake. Never happy.

Both of my parents slept about 15 hours a day with their Alzheimer's. The rest of the day, they sat in a wheelchair. Initially they each struggled with depression until their doctors prescribed anti-depressants. Both my parents experienced balance difficulties and dizzieness, which led to frequent falls. Their medications contributed to these issues. Within just a few weeks of exhibiting these symptoms, my parents required wheelchairs. My parents developed more infections as their movements declined. It can be very difficult separate the medication side effects and the Alzheimer's symptoms. I reported these issues to my parents' medical team, but my mother declined quickly and passed away in February 2015. My father continues to decline at a VA nursing home. Physical therapy did slow the progression of the disease, but didn't resolve it. Keep close contact with medical professions.

Ah, but I should add that exercise has helped greatly. We go to a fitness room at the senior center daily and it has made a huge difference. I talked to the blood lab guy about it and he said that they recommend exercise for fatigue.

Can't hurt to try--although getting my mom (90) to do the exercises was like getting a mule up a ladder. I finally gave up.

This is exactly what my husband does but he has Polycythemia Vera, a blood disorder. It gets lonely with him asleep so much!

As the first comment on this question cites, there may be many reasons for this tiredness. My mother's behavior is very similar. She was never easy in social situations and shrunk back from them during her life, preferring to socialize only with her own blood relations, of which there were luckily many to fulfill her needs. Not so much now. Mom hibernates during the day, totally zones out, and then complains that she cannot sleep at night. Of course the doctor hears that she cannot sleep at night and prescribed sleeping pills. I unwound that and Mom is now taking anti-depressants which have brightened her up a bit during the day, though she still does have days where she sleeps a lot. Old habits. Still, things change over time and I probably should have another analysis of the behavior. One of the contributing factors to the sleepless nights was a too-hot room in the Winter. Mom demands, as many elderly patients do, that the heat should be turned way up in her room. In the Winter, this results in dry throat, coughing throughout the night, and if it isn't countered by me (as I must do every winter) by setting the heat at a reasonable level and taping the control door shut, Mom will have a winter-long chest cold which always baffles the staff. Several years I was told that the medical staff needed to culture Mom's throat because she hasn't responded to any of the medications to address her chest cold. I told them loud and clear "TURN DOWN THE HEAT IN HER ROOM AND KEEP IT DOWN." It took written edicts from the medical staff posted above the heat controls to enforce this. Mom's chest cold was resolved in a few days.

It is typical of some kinds of dementia. Are you seeing a specialist for the dementia? Has a particular type of dementia been mentioned?

How is your husband's sleep at night? Is he restless, acting out his dreams, frequently up?

Does he have any hallucinations?

What drugs (if any) is he taking for dementia?

How old is your husband? What did he do before dementia set in? What does he do now (besides sleep)? How is his demeanor when he is awake? Is he argumentative, calm, agitated, etc.?

Giving us a little more information might result in more helpful answers.

Even though excessive daytime sleepiness is "typical" of certain kinds of dementia, that doesn't mean it can't be treated for better qualify of life.