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My father has always dreamed but as he is older (91) diagnosed with dementia/alzheimers he sees his dreams more vivid and realistic. he sometimes doesnt realize they are dreams when talking about them. he feels that they actually happened. I, myself, dream almost every night and thank God I do. I love to dream, even if not always good. He has been on Aricept, low dosage for about 5 days so not sure if anything unusual yet to describe.
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My mother also has vivid dreams, even during the day when she nods off in the rocker. The hard part is trying to make her understand that it was a dream, she will continue for an hour thinking it was real.
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Oh yea! Two nights ago there was a fire that only mom could see. According to mom, I set it to. Telling her there was no fire only made her more hostile and she pulled out her "I hate the way you treat me. Me telling her she might have had a bad dream only added fuel to the fire so to speak! LOL! Neurologist wants to try ant psychotic med for PD dementia but I've been reading that anti psychotic drugs don't work well for PD patients and may have side effects. This journey is far from over for her and me
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Some say there is the dimension of physicality (third dimension), as well as the dimension of thought (4th dimension and higher, depending on the quality of thoughts). Some also say there are beings who live in these alternate dimensions -- souls who have passed on, as well as spirits who were never in the physical. Additionally, our thoughts can take on their own forms, if we feed them enough energy. When we are in a state of mind in which we are between dimensions (such as when we are near death's door), some say we can participate in these alternate dimensions, while we are still in the third dimension.
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MaggieMarshall, your right you need your sleep. Its hard when they are dreaming and talking in their sleep, we are up with them all night. ( In your case remembering her dreams) And during the day, they can go to sleep, but again, we must stay up! Get some well deserved sleep and I hope your mom will be able to as well. Hugs
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I've been reading up on medication that might cause these types of effects. One such article "Definition of Drug-Induced Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly":
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Just a follow-up to my original question. Great answers here. Especially from SLPearson. Your post was very helpful.

My "problem" with mom's vivid dreaming and talking in her sleep is that I wake up on and off through the night listening to her dialogue and then can't get back to sleep. (Well, THAT and sometimes it's a bit creepy.)

I am useless without sleep. Yesterday, I was a walking Zombie. Not crabby with mom - never am - but crabby with Tom who is my Angel Without Wings.

I've solved the problem, though. I am now closing her bedroom door so that I can't hear her. If she cried out for HELP, I think I would. But I'm willing to take the chance that I'd miss that as well. If I'm going to care for mom comprehensively during the day? I simply must get rest. I'm not going to ask myself to do the impossible.

If I get overly stressed, and lack of sleep will do that, the whole pyramid will come tumbling down. We can only do so much.

Thanks again for the great comments. It's wonderful to read that others have experienced the same.

*hugs*
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I find this topic of significant interest. Over the past several months, my 87-year-old Dad has reported these types of experiences, yet has been diagnosed only with mild age-related memory loss (not Alzheimer's). He is still very much on his own and physically active, plays pool and his driving is still 100%.

Dad frequently awakens seeing figures in the room, and tells them to "get the h*ll outta here." This morning he said he saw a dog walking on the ceiling. I have asked him if he feels any sort of a sense of danger or ill-will from these visitors, and he says no; he just gets up and goes about his day. So I don't make a big deal out of it.

We mentioned these occurrences during our latest visit with his psychiatrist, who didn't seem concerned, and suggested they might be hallucinations.

What doesn't add up is that he's still of sound mind, balancing his checkbook and doing typical tasks with no problem. He doesn't seem to be "on his way out" so to speak.
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My FIL reports "much better dreams" much more vivid since he started taking Arricept about 2 mos ago. I'm thinking if he likes 'em it's all good!
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Self dialogs can be most entertaining.

"delusions that are frequently observed in Alzheimer's patients include beliefs about theft, the patient's house not being his home, a spouse, is an impostor, belief an intruder is in the house, abandonment, spousal infidelity, and paranoia." ~ alzcompend.info

Hallucinations vs. Delusions in Alzheimer's
{quote} It is important that Alzheimer's caregivers understand the difference between a hallucination and a delusion. Each of these symptoms can affect your loved one in different ways:

Delusions.Delusions are false beliefs caused by the deterioration of cognitive processes in the brain of the Alzheimer's patient, and are often influenced by misunderstandings or misinterpretations. Patients might think they are being followed, or might accuse a family member of stealing from them or plotting against them.

Hallucinations. These involve false perceptions, and are also caused by changes in the brain due to Alzheimer's. Patients can literally "sense" - see, hear, smell, taste, or feel - something that isn't there. They might see and talk with old friends who aren't there, or watch ships floating through the sky outside the window, or smell foods they enjoyed as a child. {end quote}

It is difficult for us carers to accept LO's mind is damaged by Alzheimer's Disease. Not only is memory damaged their ability to process thoughts is impaired while awake or dreaming. This is true for all stages, we never know until the damage is revealed
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Pshew, my mother sure did, and they were doozies! They were often about me yelling at her, what!?! When I asked why I was yelling at her she would just shrug and say, "you know I can't remember". Near the end though I did get to kill an intruder in the garden and save her life. Finally, I wasn't yelling at her! It could be the medication, but my mother was taking very little (namenda). My father also had vivid dreams. He had congestive heart failure, (plenty of meds there, linospurinol (sp?) seems especially nasty) but no dementia. Maybe when you just get so debilitated and nothing in your body works your mind just takes over and entertains you. I read somewhere that one persons mother woke up just before she passed and said "Oh the places I've been!". I am sorry to say that it seems to be one of the many end of life events we will all go through if we are lucky enough not to die of a traumatic event. I do wish there had not been so many attempted murders in my Mom's dreams though. No one knows all the details of a parent's life, but wow, dreams like that have to make you wonder. Try and enjoy the bread arguments Maggie, I think your Mom is just sorting things out.
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Maggie it may be her mind going back over things from the past or it may be that the spirits of those who have passed are visiting her as perhaps her time is drawing near. I'm not a religious person, if anything I'm a spiritualist, and I do believe that those who have passed return to comfort and prepare someone for their journey.

My mother, in a nursing home, is very close to her time and for the past few months she's been seeing and talking to dogs, cats (always a great animal lover), her mother who passed in 75 and my father who passed 15 years ago. None of these encounters or maybe delusions frighten her. In fact they seem to give her comfort. So long as these dreams or delusions don't frighten her I'd leave her alone. She doesn't remember them anyway.
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