My husband sleeps about 14 hours at night, barely gets thru brunch and is nodding off again. He sleeps in his chair the rest of the day and sometimes on the sofa. Noticed that he doesn't talk that much, simple answers to questions and seldom initiates a question. He can walk, get to the bathroom(depends) and and feed himself. He takes about 2 hours to eat a meal. He plays with his napkin and what ever he can find. He is responsive to a positive and happy attitude, which is very important.. I have found this makes him co-operative in getting things done. He isn't taking any meds to make him sleepy, so is this a progression into another stage of Alz? The lack of verbal communication has taken me by surprise. He can talk, but just doesn't? His questions are the same ones, where is the dog? where is my wallet?do you need any money?...He doesn't seem to understand TV and thinks the thins seen are really happening, so we watch TCM. Could this be the beginning of him loosing his verbal skills? At 89, he has always been in good physical condition
I've noticed the verbal decrease with my cousin, who has severe dementia. She's in a wheelchair, but I haven't noticed her being sleepy during the day, although, she has tried to lie down on the bed a couple of times. I've asked the staff at Memory Care to put her down for a nap, if she appears sleepy.
I'm not sure if they are able to tell someone they are sleepy, so I suppose they just fall asleep in their chair?
Does your husband do that?
Almost all of the other residents in Memory Care with my cousin are also verbally limited. My cousin used to be the most proficient in conversation on the Memory Care wing, but that has faded. I don't think there are any people with good conversation skills in the unit any longer.
The only things that she said on her own initiative yesterday was, "That DRINK is good!" (referring to her Diet Coke that I took her) And "I like it here. It's so nice." She also said, "I walked up to the edge and looked at the toys." I have no idea what that was about, but said it was lovely and maybe she could do it again, which made her smile.
She can answer yes or no and I don't recall, but other than that she just stares into space or looks around the room or at some object. If I didn't keep engaging her, she would wheel out of the room as if I wasn't there. Her attention span is just very low now. She's soon to be 65.
Isabella, when did your husband's dementia begin?