Mom has been getting up several times at night to go pee but she barely goes at all. She has end stage rheumatoid arthritis plus mild to moderate dementia. She needs help with everything since she barely has any strength left. This leaves us caregivers very exhausted. I think she might be anxious about wetting the bed as she did once so she gets up every time she feels anything. She wont' wear depends and my dad wants to get her a sedative so she just sleeps better and wont' have to keep getting up. I've read that sedatives in the elderly are kind of hit and miss and they often have adverse side effects. Has anyone had experience with any particular one? Thanks.
RA is so painful - it would help her if she didn't have to get up so often. But she likely wakes up from pain, as well as the feeling of a full bladder. Please do talk with her doctor - and give him or her all of the facts.
Carol
Sleep aids cause Mom to have weird dreams and eventually they become ineffective. I, too, am concerned about side effects. (I just had a bad reaction to an antibiotic myself and it took a week to recover) At this age, it is just to hard for them to go through that.
Also, I have found naturopaths to be very helpful. I hope you have one in your area.
good luck....you all need your sleep.
does your mom have a bedside commode in her room? Why back when mom was still aware the need to go to the bathroom she would be up and down during the night. I bought a potty chair and placed it right beside the bed. It did help with the getting up and down. I guess it was a security to know that it was right there beside bed if she had to go instead of going down the hall to the bathroom and the fear of not making it in time.
I am not a fan of sleep aids, but I did try some OTC. Oh my... it made my mom ballistic, and she began to sleep walk. With the dementia, sleep walking is totally not safe. So, we discontinued that.
Does your mother take Namenda? I was told by a doctor that Namenda can cause restlessness in some who take it at bedtime. So I started giving it to mom at supper, I did notice slight improvement during the night. Maybe ask the doctor if any of her meds could have adverse reaction and make her restless. If so, just give them to her earlier in the evening.
With the depends thing. When I first introduced the thought my mom was floored. So, I would take the depends and put them on the inside of the underpants and pull them up at the same time. I felt bad tricking her. But it work also. Mom eventually got used to them and I no longer had to disguise them inside her underwear.
Hope some of my suggestion might help! Its all trial and error.
As Lilliput suggested, I'd give natural remedies a shot. Also, see what you can do to put her on a schedule complete with activities so she can burn any excess energy and still go to bed at a pre-set hour.
Doctors don't always know better. Some sleep aids can put a person in such a deep state of sleep that next day s/he's wondering if those dreams actually happened. If the individual suffers from dementia dreams/hallucinations might become his/her reality.
A seemingly "harmless" pill designed to help the person relax can easily turn into Nightmare on Elm Street. The individual might be afraid to go to sleep, begin to entertain the idea you're trying to kill him/her, or both.
Still, consult with her doctor before you try anything.
-- Ed