My mother has dementia and recently she had a UTI and a foot infection that caused her to be sleepy during the day. She was treated for both infections and has been cleared by her medical doctor. However, unlike previous UTIs this time she has not been able to bounced back from the sleepiness. She will get up in the morning and complete her ADL's but as soon as we sit her down in her chair she will fall asleep and sleep all day if you don't attempt to wake her. This is very concerning.. Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas on how to keep her awake during the day would be greatly appreciated.
My father also slept a lot in his last year on earth. He was nearly deaf and didn't interact with people. He sat in a chair looking out the window and ordering from catalogs when he was awake. He went to bed at 5:30 and slept well at night.
I have a feeling that nodding off during the day is very common for people late in their life. Getting up and about is too hard and there's nothing that many really want to do. It may seem wasteful to people who are younger, since they are sleeping their lives away. Older sleepy people don't see it that way, so I don't worry about it.
Has anyone suggested what type of dementia your mother has?
How long has she had visible symptoms of dementia? What "phase" would you say she is in -- early, mild, moderate, advanced, severe?
What kind of activities did Mom do during the day before this latest uti? What is her favorite thing to do?
How long ago were the infections declared "cleared"? Have you discussed the excessive daytime sleepiness with her doctor?
How many total hours (out of 24) does your mom spend sleeping or napping?
Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is a tricky situation, and the more info we have the better answers you will get.