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He sleeps very late in the mornings and sits wit head down & eyes closed most of the day. He gets irritable when I try to get him up or arouse him from "naps". I have no support and am the sole caregiver. Should I let him sleep/rest? Help!

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Thank you for your responses. What do we do when I wake him? The usual- clean up, take meds, and try to get him to eat(he is much better eating at breakfast.). When awake hubby can be engaged with jigsaw puzzles when we work together. He likes to sit and work on the puzzle late at night by himself. I just replace the incorrectly pieces when he is dleeping or engaged elsewhere. He enjoys seeing the finished product so we leave them on puzzle boards for sometime. He also likes to go for long rides a couple of times a week. Other days we have errands, appointments or go to watch trains at the local train station or ships & boats coming uo the bay or thru the canal. We like to sit and watch the birds at the feeders. Some days he just wants to sleep/rest up to 16-18 hours. He no longer knows who I am most of the time- often asks where I am or tells me about his wife (me), where we are even at home, or that tv shows are not reality in our home. He can seem perfectly engaged in the present when we are with others, though he is not. He sees doctors regularly who say that he is healthy other than bp, periodic illnesses- kidney stone, cold, etc., and the dementia. He has lost a lot of weight over 2 years which I am assured is not unusual with VD. I have been told by the geriatrition and primary " if he doesn't want to eat, take meds, etc., don't force him." It's hard, but I try to coax him at a later time. I guess I should accept the sleep/ resting as his norm.
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Let me ask you this, if you do manage to rouse your husband, what then? Would you have an activity planned for him? Work puzzles, play cards or board games? Does he sleep through multiple mealtimes during the day as well as medication times? If so, then do your best to rouse him at those times and not at random times during the day simply because you don’t think he should be sleeping? Does he sleep all day and then keep you up at night?

When was the last time he visited his doctor? He may have a medical condition that causes him to sleep, but I can tell you that my mom with vascular dementia and who lived to 95 and spent the last years of her life sleeping most of the days away. Some people feel they worked hard just to get through Life in general and they deserve to sleep as much as they want in their later years.

Have him see his doctor to rule out health issues, and if he’s not causing you any problems other than sleeping, let him rest.
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Irish055,
My 94 yo mom (stage 6 Alzheimer's) would sleep all day and be up all night. I tried to keep her awake all day but she still didn't sleep well at night , even with medication. I would try to entertain her but she wanted nothing to do with puzzles, picture books, etc.  She probably knew she couldn't comprehend any of it so she pushed it away. There was nothing she wanted to do but sleep.

I would try to wake your husband for meals and, if he could take his meds at the same time, that would get two things done at once.  You could try getting him cleaned up (shower or however you wash him) right as he gets out of bed so he doesn't get comfortable in his chair or sofa and fall asleep. Once he's "out for the count", he won't want to be disturbed.

Try to coordinate all activities he has to do during the times he's awake. Other than that, at his age and level of dementia, I'd let him sleep (as long as he sleeps at night).

This is so hard. I deal with my mother, I can only imagine how hard it would be with my husband. God bless you.
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The above are good suggestions. If he has vascular dementia and is 90 years old, then, I would wonder what keeping him awake would accomplish. I would discuss it with his doctor and ask about how this is listed as a symptom of the progression of dementia. I have read that eventually, the patient sleeps all the time and becomes bedbound. I'm not sure there is any way to avoid this.

My goal with my LO is to keep her comfortable. She has VD too.  At one time, she liked to sleep late, but, once she got on medication for depression/anxiety, she became more alert. But, she was only 62 at the time. Now they put her down for a nap in the afternoon. If she was sleepy at other times, they would allow her to sleep then, I believe. Just so they are able to get her up for meals, changing, bathing etc. But, I know that as she progresses, they won't be able to do that and she'll eventually not be alert at all. 
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Thank you for your responses. What do we do when I wake him? The usual- clean up, take meds, and try to get him to eat(he is much better eating at breakfast.). When awake hubby can be engaged with jigsaw puzzles when we work together. He likes to sit and work on the puzzle late at night by himself. I just replace the incorrectly pieces when he is dleeping or engaged elsewhere. He enjoys seeing the finished product so we leave them on puzzle boards for sometime. He also likes to go for long rides a couple of times a week. Other days we have errands, appointments or go to watch trains at the local train station or ships & boats coming uo the bay or thru the canal. We like to sit and watch the birds at the feeders. Some days he just wants to sleep/rest up to 16-18 hours. He no longer knows who I am most of the time- often asks where I am or tells me about his wife (me), where we are even at home, or that tv shows are not reality in our home. He can seem perfectly engaged in the present when we are with others, though he is not. He sees doctors regularly who say that he is healthy other than bp, periodic illnesses- kidney stone, cold, etc., and the dementia. He has lost a lot of weight over 2 years which I am assured is not unusual with VD. I have been told by the geriatrition and primary " if he doesn't want to eat, take meds, etc., don't force him." It's hard, but I try to coax him at a later time. I guess I should accept the sleep/ resting as his norm.
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