My DW seems to be in a trance a lot. I will say her 4 or 5 times before she will look at me and as soon as she does look she will go right back into it. Sometimes I will ask her to do something and she will say ok but then does nothing but look down. It is as if she can hear me but doesn't hear what I am saying.
I guess it is part of sun downing but it seems to starting earlier and earlier during the day. At first her sun downing was for only an hour or two now it can start in the middle of the day.
Has anyone noticed their LO sun downing earlier and earlier as time goes by?
She has also started not wanting to take her meds. I have been able to talk her into taking them so far. When she just refuses to take them all together I am not sure if I should trick her into taking them or just except that she doesn't want to and just live with it as her choice. I know her brain doesn't work right now but that doesn't help. I used to think that as long as she is happy it was the right thing to do to get her to take them not matter what I had to do to get her to. But now she is crying a lot and I am not so sure she is happy anymore.
I don't know what all this means. In my heart I want to keep her taking them but in my brain I am not sure it is the right thing to do. Even after all that has happened I still love her so much it is hard for me to be objective when it come to Kathryn.
There are times when I look at her and think she could be back on the bench and then a few seconds later I can see there is no way. Sometimes I don't think she is doing all that bad.
Hospice and the doctor both say that she is declining very fast and don't think she will last the year but I don't see it. The problem is maybe I don't want to see it.
Do you think the physical problems come on at a much faster rate once they start?
I started out talking about the trance like state and my mind just started drifting.
As far as the trance like state goes that is common from what I have read. My dh is getting more of the lost looks and yes the sundowning does increase, at least in our case they have. My dh paces most of the time he is awake. The main time he sits is when he is eating or not feeling good. He is not verbal so when he sits down for a few and I tell him to stay there he does. It is so sad when we watch them go down so fast. As far as I know the physical problems do come on fast once they come on. My dh has progressed really fast on this journey. I will be praying for you JimB as I know this is so hard. Take care of yourself and just go with the flow.... The trance like state could also be seizure activity going on. If that is what is going on it is complex partial seizures. My dh is also having seizure activity and it is increasing. But check this out first, not trying to scare you, just giving some information you may need. I hope that is not the case tho..... Have a great evening.
I would say sundowners is comming earlier and stronger. Instead of trances my wife goes into the past talking with her father. She speaks more clearly then, than when she is awake.
My dh also has seizures and they are getting worse all the time. The dr. increased his old medication and put him on another med. also. Now when he does these seizures during the night he makes strange sounds also. He also does this stare thing when I am talking to him and he doesn't have a clue what I am trying to tell him.
Is this trance thing...sundowning?? My dh does not do any pacing.
My DH's sundowning is starting earlier,sometimes not long after lunch.Usually it starts with him wanting to go home, but he can't tell me exactly where home is. Then he starts wanting me to call his parents to see it they are okay. His Dad is dead over 50 yrs. and his Mom 7 yrs. The other day,friends took us to the cemetery (2hr,drive) to see their tombstone,surprising he remembered where it was in the cemetery,I took photos of it so we would have them at home.It has seemed to help him realize that they're gone.His words also don't seem to make much since as the sundowning goes on.Funny how most of them follow the same pattern,what a disease?
Anchor20, Lloyd went through a phase when he didn't want to take his Depakote so I smashed it up and put his in his ice cream. Loves ice cream. If YOU think she needs the medicine and that it is helping her, do whatever is necessary to get it there! JudithKB, Lloyd has had 3 major seizures since April 2011. His happen during the night and he makes the strangest sounds, too. The doctor tried Keppra and the effects were horrible. Then his neurologist stopped his Aricept because he said it could bring on seizures. If Lloyd has a seizure during the night, I just hold him as close as possible until it is over and reassure him. I said "close as possible" because you need to be close enough that he can't hurt you if he thrashes. His first seizure I called an ambulance and the ER screwed him up to the point that he will never be as good as he was before that seizure. Never, NEVER leave them alone with medical people who think they know more than you do in an emergency situation. In Lloyd's situation, they did far more harm than good! When it comes to our LO's, WE are the experts!