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For five nights in a row, my mother falls asleep at 5pm and shortly after, wakes up and lies awake all night screaming that she is lost in the park or forest or lying in a ditch or swamp. She screams for people to help and is talking to the people she thinks she sees. When I come to her, she is lying with her eyes open, begging me to bring her back home and put her in bed. She insists she is still outside and lost. I've been giving her Ativan (.5mg) and rozerem (8mg) every night for the past 5 nights, but last night it didn't work at all and she kept screaming non-stop until morning.


Has anyone have any suggestions or have experienced this?


Background information: she fractured her spinal cord over 2 years ago and has been immobile. She spends the day sitting in a wheelchair and watching TV. Her dementia had slowly been getting worse over these 2 years, but she never screamed during the night. She was never confused to this degree before.

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Has she been checked for a urinary tract infection?
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josiez Mar 2020
Thanks for this idea! I called the doctor and she said it's possible and I should just give her some cranberry juice. She refused to prescribe any meds.
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I had the same thing happen with my SO last year. His cardiologist convinced me to have him taken to the ER. Long story, his body was retaining CO2 and his blood was not carrying enough O2 to his brain, thus the screaming, hallucinations and wild dreams. I can tell you that it was frightening.
Now, he is bed bound at home, he still confused at times and he often yells at me. He is confused, the docs know why and there is nothing they can do about it. He just went on hospice care three days ago and they are a Godsend.
After having hospice present me with care options, I hired an agency CNA to sit with him, so I can get my eye surgery tomorrow.
Now, this seems like a waiting game. Perhaps if I used the agency CNA once a week, I could get out of here and perhaps I would have an improved attitude.
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josiez Mar 2020
Sorry you are also having a rough time! I called the doc and she said there could be many reasons, but shrugged her shoulders about what to give her. Told me to give her anything I want.
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These are night terrors and very real to them. With my Mom I woke her up, made her open her eyes and told her to go back to sleep. I was a sleep walker and u can have opened eyes but still be asleep. Make sure she is really awake. If a dream it should go way.

There is medication for night terrors.
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josiez Mar 2020
Thanks for your response! She is awake when this is happening and is in a loop where she is telling me she's in the forest/swamp/lost. Even during the day she'll talk about how she was forest/swamp/lost the night before.
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The doctor said it was possible she had a UTI and for you to just give her cranberry juice? Are you kidding me? If she has a UTI, it's not cranberry juice she needs. She needs a culture and antibiotics if it is positive. Sounds to me like you need a new doctor for your mom.
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