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Mom had a great day this Wednesday. She was alert, her memory was tack on and she walked with a skip in her step. It was remarkable. Then on Thursday it all went wrong. By the end of the day she couldn't really walk. I had to put her to bed 5 times. Each time she would get back out in a couple of minutes and sit there in a chair. She was tired. She would be snoozing in the chair. But she wouldn't go to bed. The day after that, she was backed to normal. Not amazing, but not terrible.


What happened? I know she didn't get as much sleep that night as she normally does. She didn't really get as much sleep that terrible day either. It's like she over used her alertness on Wednesday and paid for it on Thursday.

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My Mom experiences this cyclical pattern too. She will be functioning in what has become her “normal” self... eatiing and sleeping ok, funny, singing, can converse, just with small ups and downs. That goes on normally for a few weeks. Then one day her alertness spikes, lots of insightful questions, memory noticeably better, not tired, no naps, eating and drinking at 100%. Too good. I can predict after a day or so of this “peak” performance, she will crash and need to sleep for a couple of days, only waking up to eat. Then back to her normal. I have not been able to pinpoint why the behavior change.
You may want to track if her meds have been administered consistently, and if her sleep at night is consistently good. Other than that I don’t have any other suggestions. But I’d be interested to know if your Mom repeats this cycle.
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You aren't the first person to post about cyclic behaviours, examining changes in sleep and diet and activity makes sense but I don't think they tell the whole story - unfortunately with dementia there often is no normal.
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