Today for the third time I have been unable to wake DH from a nap in his recliner. I shake him and speak his name loud and it is like he is in a coma state. I remember his Mom doing that a couple of times when we went to visit her when she was in late stage of old age decline.
Grandson stayed with him this morning while I went for my respite. He said he slept most of the morning and a couple of times roused up with tremors and he asked him if he was alright but DH didn't answer. I told him he has been doing that some and not to worry.
DH woke himself a hour and a half later and after he ate has been asleep since.
Lois my husband is often asleep in a recliner. No amount of shaking and calling his name will rouse him. Just when I think each breath is his last he will open his eyes. He has a blank stare and does not even know I am with him. He has been like this for over a year.
My dh slept for 9 days before he passed. Once in a while he would answer a question, but never open his eyes or be "awake". My prayers are with you and your dh.
Jen, read these posts. This is Alzheimer's Disease. As TV Lisa Gibbons' said so well.... it's death in slow motion. What your John does, is what all of our guys do. They cannot help it. Just today, I spoke with a lovely woman who worried because her husband would sleep late and she'd get so angry because he "just won't get up in the morning". She, too, will learn soon that this is what this disease does to their brains. Maybe it IS better for them. Maybe they're in a better place when they are asleep and dreaming. I hope so.
According to the "chart", Sid is hovering back and forth between maybe stages 3 and 4. It's hard to tell, but he is always tired and falls asleep in his recliner sometimes for 2-4 hours at a time. I was under the impression that the sleeping was in the later stages. Anyone have a spouse on Sid's level who is sleeping a lot? I thought it was due to the 14+ pills he takes every day.
My DH is supposed to be in the mild stage and he sleeps more than he used to. He goes to bed in the afternoon and will sleep for a couple of hours. Now and then he will go back to bed after dinner and sleep for about an hour then he goes to bed at 9.00 or 9.30. I just let him sleep and then I don't have to keep explaining things over and over! I know that isn't nice to say but it's the truth. Sometimes I tell him something and then I think to myself "Why did I tell him that" because he either won't remember or if he does he will have it all confused.
As hooligan as my DH was in the past, getting into things ALL the time:) and lots of rants over that -i was also relieved in the beginning when the longer naps during the day started. i could get dishes and laundry done without checking on him every 5min. as he naps in the living room within eyesight. but now that the hrs are running into longer nap hours i do miss his hooliganism like before as it shows how much hes slipped lately. divvi
Jean, I don't know if that's the case in your household, but I think sometimes the LOs in mild stages sleep because trying to do things is too mentally challenging and so they are boring doing nothing. Hard to know what goes on in their heads, but sleep passes time.
Sometimes (sometimes???) I just don't understand this disease! My DH will never nap during the day - not ever. But...on the other hand, maybe that's why he sleeps so well at night - usually 8-10 hours, with maybe one bathroom trip. So, I guess that's the good news!
vickie when he starts sleeping alot during the day you will find yourself looking forward to them being up:) thats wonderful he sleeps so well at nite ! divvi
folly, You may be right. DH never had any hobbies other than his job he even brought paperwork home evenings and weekends. Now we live in a condo so there is no yard work involved. That isn't all bad though because he b.....d about cutting grass, trimming bushes and raking leaves...drove me crazy! He couldn't stand to see ONE leaf in the yard.
Joan, my DH is in stage 4. He sleeps about 10 hours at night and takes a 2-4 hour "nap" every afternoon or early evening. Even when he is not sleeping, he is laying on the couch and he has no energy for anything much. It is the exact opposite of how he was before diagnosed - could work all day with no breaks and never, ever took a nap.
My DH doesn't really take naps during the day although I do notice he has his eyes shut quite a bit. We get up at 6:15 during the week so we do sleep later on the weekends but here it is 11:20 and he's still sleeping. I'm just letting him sleep because I 'm enjoying the peace and quiet.
My husband has FTD and when he does sit down (he's very hyper most of the time) he will doze off for a little bit. Or he'll ask if he can lay down. I'll tell him yes and then 2 minutes later he's up saying he's now wide awake. Makes no sense to me. He sleeps about 7-8 hours a night; up around 6:30 every morning.
Before his mental breakdown and then the VaD, my Dh, slept about 4-5 hours at night and took a 1-2 hour nap most afternoons. Everything he did was in hyper-drive. Washing down the grill hood, walls and ceiling of a little restaurant, his helper only needed to rinse and wring rags, and couyldn't keep up with him. I would tell people he hyper-worked, hyper-played, hyper-ate and hype-slept. Now he's solidly in stage 6 and he sleeps. He sometimes claims he hasn't been sleeping when he comes out of the bedroom--just resting, but I can usually tell--just don't argue. He is still able to be up if he wants/needs to be, but as soon as the want/need is over he crashes. He is up ther longest between about 2 and 5-6 am. He sleeps from 6-11:30 am; 12-4:30ish; 5:30-6 until about 7:30-8pm. Sundowns until about 10-10:30, then back to bed until 2ish. But if I have to go away--he's up.
My DH is starting to take more naps during the day; nearly always a morning nap. My problem is at night. He sits in his chair and always goes to sleep with the TV on. If I let him get sound asleep I have real problems getting him up and into his PJ's and into bed. Leaving him in is clothes is not an option since he always has to have the depends changed before bed. If I get him out of his chair too soon and get him ready for bed he won't stay in bed. After I get him to bed I usually have some "me" time. Once in a while I actually manage to time it just right; not too early or too late.
This is the one I was thinking about, divvi, but reading the others you and LFL have brought up helped also. Seems this is just the progression of the disease. DH is sleeping almost 12 hours at night but is up every two or three hours going to the bathroon. Trying to count my blessings that he's still using the potty instead of wearing diapers. But it's been a long time since I've had a good night's sleep. I'm up with him every time because he can't find the bathroom or the commode even though it's right off the bedroom with a night light on. By the time I finally get back to sleep, he's back up and the motion detector alarm is going off again.
Dazed, you've written my life also. Alan has also been telling me "it's time we got ready and went home". We ARE home! I don't know what to say to him.
Dazed the last few month's of DH's life, he did the same. Would sleep 12-15 hours but up every two and I had to help him also. It is so exhausting when you don't get a good sleep. I'm still having trouble sleeping all night. I keep waking up every 2-3 hours as I did before with him. Hope this doesn't last forever - for you or me!
Oh yes, Carolyn. Every evening he wants to go home. I tell him we are home and he acts surprised. Then a little later he asks to go home again. Sometimes after he's in bed, he will say "Are we going to stay here tonight" or "We should have gone on home."
Vickie, so sorry you're still on the same night time schedule even after your DH is gone. Do you think it would help if you took something to help you sleep through the night until your body readjusts?
For me, this "Take me home" pleading seemed to be the worst part of my journey. I wrote a song about it..........It's on my website......... but here are the words.
TAKE ME HOME
As I sat by her side in the evening, I held her frail hand in my own, I heard her soft voice gently pleading, Please dear please take me home.
Take me back to my daddy, Back to the home of my own, Take me back to my family, Please dear please take me home.
Over and o'er in my memory, Turning my poor heart to stone, But I know that the moment she left me, At last she had found her way home.
Not that it makes any difference, but I see that I didn't print out the middle verse of my song..........Is there any way to edit a blog after it's already been entered.....? ...........I think I'm getting too old for this stuff......GeorgieBoy
You're definitely not too old, GeorgieBoy. You sign in, then go to the "edit" in small print that is written at the top of the post you want to edit, click on "edit", and add the middle verse where it belongs.
Thank you mary75*..........I did the edit......You old timers here never cease to amaze me. I have learned so much from all of you..........Not only about this horrible experience we are all going through, but about computers in general................GeorgieBoy
Vickie* I lost my Ozzie in Aug, not long before your lost your DH...yes the sleep issues is a biggie for me too. Worse yet, I still awaken a the hour he began to slip into his last agonia....and can't get back to sleep for a hour...At first Friday would be sleepless as it was the day I took him to the hosptial, the same on Sat and then on Sunday morning, at 7:11 the doctor called to say he had suffered a Cardiac Arrest and would not survive...I got to the hospital by 7:25 and he was gone....so the Sunday mornings still haunt me. Because of the sciatica I had to sleep in my recliner and when I was finally able to go back to bed, I could not go to sleep...he was not there so I am still in my recliner..at least I can fall asleep there. Add to that how sleep deprived we have become from the stress of caregiving, is it any wonder it takes us time to readjust to sleep? First we worried about caring for our LO and now we worry about estate issues and hour our income may be affected or how much we have lost financially, and how we are going to put our lives together again...just know you are not alone.