My DH is in stage 5/6 and I'm his only care giver. There are no family nearby. All live out of state. Now that it gets dark so early he is ready to go to bed by 5:30 and he wants me to go too. There is no way I can go that early. I have tried to go and get up when he falls asleep, but that didn't help. He must have a build in radar that lets him know when I'm not there anymore. So he gets up and he gets highly upset, there is no living with him after that. Right now he is in the Den pouting. Has anyone out there gone through this? Is the problem solvable? When he goes to bed at 8 he falls asleep right away,but wakes up again about 10:30 or 11:00 and wants breakfast. He wakes me up and tells me to make coffee. This is going on for three weeks now. Sometimes I can get him out in the den to sit in his recliner. When he falls asleep, I go back to bed untill the next round.
Carma, My husband is mid 6. With it getting dark early he want to go to bed 6-7 pm. I tried keeping him up later, but the last 2 nights I let him go a little after 6. He didn't wake up until 9:30 am. We have slept in separate rooms for the last 2 1/2 years, due to me not getting enough sleep. For us this has worked. I have my room (old master) all set up with computer, TV etc. I stay up late. After he goes to bed it is my time. It is what keeps me sane. barbarakay
My wife M is in stage 6. We are in our 70's. She is totally confused by 5 - 6 pm and goes to bed. I give her the daily medications and talk her into a bath each evening. I tell her I must stay up late and finish other tasks if I am unable to go to bed with her just then. I get up around 2 to 5 am and start on my day. I wake her at 6:30am and we have breakfast together. If she awakens earlier, I tell her that she may sleep longer and she returns peacefully to bed. For me, its kind of like when I worked at an electric power generating station and worked a week on days, a week on evenings and a week on nights.
I'm new at this; my spouse is still pretty early along the AD road. But I would think there are some medicine that would help you with his sleeping problem. In fact, I would go to his doctor and beg. Ask loudly and persistantly for some medication help. You need sleep. And he needs you to be rested and at peace. If that means giving him sleeping pills of any sort; do it. And good luck.