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Her dreams always have the same people, my Dad ( who is deceased) and her sister, sometimes me. There is always "a bunch of kids, kids everywhere" . This makes sense to me because she was a cafeteria manager in an elementary school. She loved her job and the kids.
This morning she woke up, got me up, because she was covered with strings. She didn't know why or how she got that way, she couldn't get them off. She didn't know where she was at, which is common after these dreams. She has some new annoyances, like loose hair on the back of her chair and strings on her clothes. I have to get rid of little things like that.

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When your mom was diagnosed with dementia did the Dr. put her on new medication? That could be causing the bizarre dreams.

Dementia will gradually get worse. New behaviors, new fears, personality changes, anxiety, etc. Do some research and become familiar with what is normal for people with dementia and what isn't. No two people go through dementia in the same way with the same symptoms at the same time.

There are great articles on this site as well. You're definitely not alone and I hope you keep posting and letting us know how you're doing.
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If your mother isn't on meds, perhaps she should be. When dementia patients reach this stage, what seems important to me is the day-by-day, hour-by-hour quality of life. Brain deterioration shouldn't be allowed to make people suffer if it can be helped. Blessings to you all and good luck.
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My wife has had the same problem, and sequel has really helped, so take her to a neuroligist for help.
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This happened to my mum at the start. She said she had weird dreams and couldn't sleep. Then she started imagining bugs biting her. Bits of fluff became flying bugs. It's a terrible disease.
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Have you tried melatonin before she goes to bed. Seems to help my mom with the bad dreams. Also, they could be a side affect of Aricept or one of the other drugs. Mom's dreams were causing her to wake up several times in the middle of the night and wake me up after we upped her Aricept dose. The PC gave her Seroquel and that helped a lot but the neorologists said it is dangerous and has taken her off, upped the Namenda and we went back to melatonin on a trail basis. So far so good. My mom never can tell me what the dreams are about but she has repeatedly made comments during the day like you better put that aways because when all those children come over they will break it or those bad kids were here earlier. I wonder if dreams involving children are common?
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My Dad for a time, was having lots of dreams about children! Most of the time, little girls, and always involving serious problems with them, that HE was responsible for fixing, keeping them safe, helping them find their way home to their parents. Then, for a time, he would, during the day, say that a little girl had come into the house to visit with him. He always worried that her parents didn't know where she was or would be mad at him because he 'let her in' etc. Some of the other described day time symptoms came with his dementia too.... I often wonder if the dementia pt's tendency to not want to sleep and to be up all night starts with not being able to handle the dreams? I know, in my 'semi normal' state of mind (!!), when I have an upsetting dream, I frequently decide to get up, walk around, get a drink etc, to try to make it go away. Now that Dad is in a facility, is under care of a geri-psych MD and gets different meds, we don't hear about these dreams anymore. He still does not always sleep all night, but they tell me he is easy to redirect....a trip to the bathroom, a drink and back to bed....much like a child. When he is more rested, the rest of his agitation and confusion during the day has gotten much better too. Sleep is key to having the brain function at it's best.
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My mom became delirious when on too much neurontin. She saw people, talked to my sister about the people. Talked to a little girl.

Definitely talk to her MD. As we age we process meds more slowly and they build up. We have fewer surviving brain cells, and need less medication.

In the mean time, normalize the situation. Give her a duster that removes the strings (like a swifter duster or feather duster). Assure her the children will find their way home if they were able to find their way here.
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We went through this, and the next step is the dreams get mixed up with reality. She will think the dreams really happened, she won't be able to separate them.
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I think you should look up the side effects to her medication. I personally think dementia drugs do more harm than good and that people should be allowed to grow old naturally. A good healthy diet and fish oil is very important and lots of fresh air!
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Sounds like meds to me. My mother had nightmares when taking Levoquin antibiotic. But at other times she was having dreams like the ones you are talking about. They have stopped but we don't know why she was having them to this day.
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