I'm not sure if what my husband is doing is pacing or not. The TV set is always on. I'd turn it off, but he likes having the sound and the company. He will get up and just stand there sometimes. At other times he is in other rooms. Maybe looking out the window. Or not...
I'm not sure if it is just that he needs more physical activity. Because we have had flu and colds over the previous month and he is still coughing he is not going to the gym as he used to do.
He is not sundowning. All of this activity actually slows down as the day goes by.
Starling, my husband does exactly the same thing unless I can get him busy doing something with me. He also likes the company of the TV whereas prior to AD he would listen to the radio or read. It's so much worse this time of year when he can't do anything outside and lack of physical activity is a real problem. We recently bought an exercise bike which he does use several times a day for a short time but it's better than nothing. In good weather he will find things to do outside. Hurry spring!
Hello, my DH started to pace and it is getting to the point when he does it for hours on end. And he does like Starlings husband does. He looks at things like he never saw it before. Furniture, pictues you name it and he acts like he is seeing it for the first time. How long did this go on Starling?
In my husband's case it continued until he started taking his long walks every day.
My husband's case is weird. He is a solid stage 5 - has every symptom. He has some stage 6 symptoms if you go somewhere that has lots of verbal symptoms to check. Otherwise not. But he not only can walk for an hour or two, he can go very far away and come back on his own every day. He is still doing some pacing, mostly in the late afternoon, but nothing like he was doing. In his case it really was a need for exercise.
There are other people who have discussed pacing of the kind you are talking about. It was an end stage event. Talk to his doctor.
My husband doesn't pace yet, however, I painted the kitchen the other day & I bet he ask me 5 times when I did it. Every time he would say how much he liked the color.
I dont think pacing is particularly end stage stuff. my DH has been off/on doing it for yrs. lately its more routine and starts around 4-6pm like sundowning but no aggitation just walking. we arent on any meds for alz or aggitation at this point- plus i can see he does it too when he has a need. food or bathroom then he settles back down most of the time-wierd! funny how you get to kn ow their dispositions after so many yrs of watching their every move. divvi
DH folds his hands waist high and just kinda wanders around. I'll stop and look at the calendar and just stare at it and then ask what day it is. Then he wants to know the date. He'll go look out the window for a minute or two and then back to the calendar--what day is it--what's the date? He'll do this for about 30 minutes and then he stops. I don't know what it is. Generally in the early part of the day. I think he's a stage 5.
I think pacing changes as the disease changes. I'm pretty sure that what my husband does isn't what frand's husband was doing during his last week. It also didn't last hours and hours. He just gets a need to move around that is stronger than what the rest of humanity feels from time to time. And it always happened as specific times of the day, and still happens in the late afternoon.
I think it is the same thing as the more intense pacing that happens later in the disease where they can't settle AT ALL for hours at a time. But it is definitely less intense, and physical activity earlier in the day definitely does help.
Thank you all for your replies. My DH is in late stage six. He doesn't want to go for a walk. I sometimes take him to the mall, just to get him to walk some. He walks real slow and sometimes shuffles. He doesn't always pace at the same time every day. Sometimes he does it mornings and then other times late afternoon into late evening. His eating habits are also affected. I noticed that he doesn't necessarily want to eat at the regular mealtimes any more. I hate to waste food, so now i wait until he tells me that he is hungry. I will ask him also in between, since I hate for him to be hungry and he forgets to tell me. I don't know anymore, this disease is just so crazy.