Often yelling for deceased family members and demanding my attention. I often sleep in another room because I need to get some rest. I often have to ignore her requests because nothing that I do pleases her. I am never sure if her physical complaints are real or imagined. I often choose to let her play out her thoughts and eventually fall back sleep. Unfortunately this does not always work and she remains disruptive until morning. At some point in time I assist her in getting into the shower and then aid her in getting dressed. I give her carbidopa/levodopa and a pain medication in an effort to get her going in the morning.
Should I be exploring over-the-counter sleep aids to assist her (and me) in getting a good nights sleep?
If that is what she has, sleep disturbances are part of the disease. You need to discuss this with her neurologist or doctor who is treating the dementia. Addressing the sleep issues is NOT a DIY project, and I'd caution against using otc sleeping pills.
Sleep disturbance was the number one problem we needed to solve for my husband to be able to stay at home. (He had LBD.) His wonderful neurologist understood that and together with a sleep psychiatrist came up with a drug that solved the problem for us.
I hope you are seeing a specialist who understands Parkinson's and/or Lewy Body Dementia very well. Most internists and GPs do not.
I know that this is very disturbing for both of you. I hope that your wife's doctors can come up with something that works as well for you as our doctors did for my husband.
Keep us informed of how this works out. It is a very common problem on this site and we like to learn from each other.
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