Last night my husband woke me up urgently to help a baby about to be born. Is that a hallucination or a delusion?

Sleep disturbances are a frequent companion to dementia. Yes, I think you did the right thing not to bring it up the next day. I also think it would be good to report this to his doctor, especially if it occurs again soon.

I recall reading a post from a woman whose husband insisted there was a fish hook in the blanket. Failing to calm him down with reassurances, she went out and came back with a pliers and with something else in her closed hand. She showed him the pliers and with her back to him she put a fishing fly in it, turned around and exclaimed, I got it! Her satisfied husband went back to sleep. She showed him that she took his concerns seriously and that she would do her best to care for him. The "removal" of the fish hook was secondary.

As to whether it was a delusion or hallucination, I guess that depends on if he was seeing what he was describing.

Hard to say, but I would report this to his doctor; it might be a UTI. In any event, it's a change in mental status and as such should be reported.

You're such a good wife!

Interestingly my husband has had same idea but was about school & gathering things for kids. At the time he also talked nonstop. We were traveling first time & second nite I had to sleep to drive so gave him Tylenol PM. Next day back to his normal so now at a few nights when he talks constantly I give him half a pill & it works. First time I thought here we go into stage 6 or 7 but no back to his normal. So he does talk in his sleep sometimes. He's very easy to care for & been 9 yrs.

Was he an EMT, nurse, NP, or doctor when he was working?

Sorry to hear what happened. I would check with a doctor and see if this might be a side effect of a medication he is taking or something else.

Garden Artist,
No he wasn't but I was a nurse and he started the request with "nurse"...! What would you suppose?

Luv, I was thinking that if he had been in a medical position during his working life, he might have been reminiscing or seguing back to that time. Since you were a nurse, perhaps he was thinking he was your patient.

Sometime ago a poster wrote that her mother could become anxious finding and rounding up "all the babies". While I don't remember all the details, I believe that she had lost a child when she was younger. I think the trauma of that death presented itself later in life.

I think that notwithstanding dementia and old age issues, we don't really fully understand the nature of dreams. I still have them about my sister, who died in 2003. In my dreams, she's alive and healthy. I had intense dreams also right after my mother and sister died fairly close together.

Ambien is another possibility. Two of my family members and one friend said they had very unsettling dreams when they took Ambien, which is why they didn't take it after realizing it caused disturbing dreams.

My mom woke me up frantic telling me I forgot the baby. Don't I hear it crying? She hears babies a lot. This would not have been so bad but she has been in the hospital and broke her pelvis and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at a special psych. Unit in the hospital. I was staying at her house in my old bedroom and for a 1/2 second I forgot I was 55 and my kids were grown up and I was married! Funny but really scary too. My Mom also had a bad U.T.I. abd in the hospital and skilled nursing unit was the first time I ever saw her crazy sleep disturbances. She would also sit up in bed and yell. New meds. Helping so much now. Hang in there.

Alzheimer's patients sometimes hear things that are not there. Singing, band music, someone crying for help, etc. I have read some will go outside their home looking for the person who is crying for help then when they turn around nothing looks familiar to them any longer so they just keep walking and end up getting lost. This has something to do with the auditory section of the brain. My own mother heard a man singing tenor a lot. Fortunately, this stage didn't last long.

This is normal for Alzheimer's... Usually stages 5-6. My mom would tell us there was a little boy who was lost and we needed to help him. I would call his mom and dad to come pick him up...all would be well until next time he was lost ;-). I think it is best to just acknowledge their concern, and find a fiblet to address it. I do agree with earlier person, tell the doctor and check for UTI. You are a wonderful wife.