Mom is getting no sleep. What should we do?

This is difficult, to say the least. I hope there are more meds to try? I'd google what to do in this situation as well as natural methods to bring on sleep. Melatonin, lavender. chamomile tea, exercise, etc?

How long has she been without sleep? Or is she catnapping during the day?

Dear "Momsonlychild,"

After reading what your mom has been on, it just goes to show how everyone responds so differently. My mom had been having difficulty sleeping for quite some time when she used to live in an ALF.

After she nearly died from severe dehydration and COVID in April, she was no longer able to walk or dress herself so we moved her to a new facility in their memory care unit. Her lack of sleep caused her to be agitated with the staff and she kept getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom even though she was wearing depends. Then the falls kept happening because she was too weak to walk without assistance.

Since she is now on hospice and the facility staff was getting frustrated with her agitation, they wanted me to have hospice do something. So my mom ended up on the low dose of Trazadone and for her it's worked great. The original order was for it to be given up to 4X a day which they never had to do. A couple of times they had to give her a second dose but, now she just takes it at bedtime. I know Ativan has been around a long time because when my dad was alive back in 2004, that's what he took - I don't think it was effective for him because he had a lot of anxiety issues.

I'm sorry you're not able to find something that works for her - that must be exhausting for not only you but, her as well. I hope you will be able to get some good medical advice - I wonder if a Pharmacist would be able to make some sort of suggestion that you could then ask her doctor about. Worth a try since it never hurts to ask -

MOC, I sent you a private message.