We have never had any trouble to speak of, from my DW, Carol, in the evening. We called some of her early symptoms, Sundowning, but they were not always associated with the sun setting. But--------When the sun starts sending out it's first light in the morning, my DW starts talking, fussing at me, getting up and looking out the windows, and usually opens a door or two to see what is going on outside. If it has rained or the sprinklers have come on early, she gets very agitatied. Especially if it is still raining. But all this gets directed at me with ugly words, horrible looks, hitting me with her PJ"s, towell, anything she has in her hand. and quite often with her hands or feet-----stomping on my feet. I try to get her to take her medicine as early as possible because it includes 3 of her anxiety pills. but it takes a lot of patience to get her to take her pills. If it is a morning for a bath, it is made doubly hard. I havn't been able to figure out what she is mad about towards me. I try to hug and cuddle some in bed but she usually gets mad before she even gets up.
Gosh, Bill. I haven't heard of that. I've been accused of not being a "morning person", but I think she is taking it to the extreme...(Not to make light of your concern...) I wonder if her 'calming drug' has just run out in her system...and that's the reason she is so agitated. Some drugs have a longer effect than others. IN fact, one of my husband's drugs, I'm told, will remain in his system up to 48 hours. I would truly suggest you mention this to her doctor and maybe they will be able to give her an extended release drug at night that will ease her stress in the morning. Does she get up early? My husband sleeps till at least 10:30, so that usually means he has gone about 12 hours or more without meds. You are so sweet to her, and I know this is hard on you. We all know that our work is just trial and error, and what works for one doesn't for the other. I just think it's so odd that she has "Sunrising!". You have started a new chapter in our books!!!! Blessings to you....Nancy
bill i agree its probably the dosing of prior meds have dimished over nite. to avoid this same syndrome in my DH jerks i get up with him at 5am and give his jerking meds that early so they will be into his system for a while by breakfast. its working. if i waited and gave when the jerks start like dr said?? he would be jerking til they took effect. i think maybe giving her meds earlier before sunrise may be an option? but check with drs. thats terrible you have to put up with those actions, its unacceptable even if they are sick. get help to settle her down -divvi
She gets 2 100MG sertraline hcl Iin the morning and starts day with 1 0.5 mg clonazepam twice daily for agitation. This week, Dr raised it to 1 every 6 hours or up to 4/day vs 2. I usually get up for my 3rd morning trip to bathroom about 5AM. I think I will start waking her up then and just give her 1 clonazepam and hope she will go back to sleep. But she wakes up most mornings about 5:45 and for sure by 6:15. I have the alarm set for 7:00 but usually get up before then to defend myself. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. bill
When one of my Dh's meds for mood and agitation didn't seem to be carrying the load--wearing off before next dose (once a day), the solution was to add a smal;ler dose mid-day and then the full sized dose at night. Maybe if Carol could have a dose in evening or bedtime, it'd be enough to carry over and then normal dose in the am, without waking her up for it. Talk to the Dr. for sure
I agree with everyone's suggestions about calling the doctor for a med. adjustment. But I also wanted to tell you how much I understand how awful it is to wake up to anger and agitation. For a long time, before Sid's new medications kicked in, I would wake up in the morning, look over at him sleeping, and think - "What oh what am I in for today?" It alternated between deep depression and crying and anger/rage. It is extremely stressful. You deserve to wake up without worrying about "defending yourself". I do hope the doctor can adjust the meds. so Carol wakes up calmer.
One of our members - sorry- don't have her name in front of me at the moment, sent me a lovely CD of calming music. She thought it might help calm Sid. It calmed me, but I haven't tried it on him yet. He's a bit rigid (ya think???) and doesn't like change. He likes his his hard rock or 50's oldies music, and if I try to get him to listen to something else, he's not exactly cooperative. I'm still planning on trying it at some point.
Well, I did what you;'ll suggesed. I called out loca lDR and she suggested we try Seroquel 25 mg tablet at bedtime. Have been using it for the last week and it does seem to be helping the SUNRISING symptoms. She has still been waking eary 6am but without the anger I was witnessing before. Dr said I could go to 2 at bedtime if 1 tablet was not working. I guess it is suppose to work all day.
It has made me wonder about the length that most drugs last after taking. Could the Sundowner conditions really be because the drugs given for agitation are wearing out their effectiveness???? Another caregiver reported that their LO took one seroquel, 100mg, both AM and PM. Our Dr did not tell her to stop her Sertraline but I assumed that the Seroquel was to replace the Clonazepam every 4 hrs. I have discontinued the Clonazepam.
My husband paces for a couple of hours at the classic sundowning time - 4 to 6. Some days more than others. Right now, after supper at 7:30, he is being a little kid and getting into everything in the computer room / office. Taking paper out of boxes, looking at files, just pulled a bunch of CDs out of their box, but not out of their cases so far...
He doesn't take any of the anxiety meds, so that can't be the reason for the timing. One dementia drug in the morning is time released. The other gets taken twice and his has had his 5 o'clock pill.