My spouse is a 87 year old man that had a stroke nine years ago. Recently his mobility has gotten much worse. He cannot dress himself, bathe himself and can barely walk using his walker. A year ago he didn't use a walker. Over the past several months he has started waking up in the middle of the night to ask questions. Some of the more memorable ones go like this, "Mary, Mary....I don't think I am breathing." Me..."are you alive? " "yes." Are you gasping for air?" "No." "then I think you are breathing." "Okay." ...Sometimes he insists I get up and check that the clocks are correct as he is sure its much later than 3 AM. No, its 3 AM. I am exhausted all the time now, which puts me in a pretty bad mood. He goes to bed at 8 and gets up at 4. He might wake up three or four times a night. I haven't talked to his doctor about this yet. I've just started seeing things that resemble dementia very recently, like creating a scene at the doctors office etc. Any ideas?
You need to make sure the doctor understands that the frequent night-time waking is creating problems for YOU, his caregiver. If your husband has a good doctor, he/she should be able to work around your husband's answers. Just make sure you get the facts to the doctor ahead of time. I wrote my comments out and gave them to the office manager when I checked in and asked her to make sure mom's doctor saw them before mom's appointment. Good luck and please keep us posted.
Do you have a cell phone? - if so record a few incidents & show dr. at app't - I agree to document a few & let dr. read it all before app't - I have got mom to do things by saying that she previously agreed & 'remember?' - don't do to often but when you need to get him to app'ts etc. - if he is reluctant about dr. app't then put a large bandaid on somewhere like a leg or ankle when dressing him - then say 'we're going to have this checked out by the dr. like you asked' so that he thinks it was his idea so more co-operative
2. Medications do help. My mom had a lot of anxiety. Things stabilized about 3 months ago when she started Aricept (slows but does not stop the progression of Alzheimers), Trazodone (a nonaddictive anxiety drug often prescribed for sleep as well), and Lorazapam (anxiety). I am very anti-meds, but when I saw firsthand some of the things going on, I knew this was not the "normal" anxiety you or I might have, and that the person (my mom) deserves some peace and relief from the chaos going on in her mind. Best wishes!
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