Last night I had to come down twice and put Jeff back to bed. He was walking around downstairs yelling "IS THERE ANYONE IN THIS HOUSE?" Oddly, he did remember doing this this morning. I didn't expect him to. I tried to reassure him that he would never be abandoned, there would always be someone around.
You might try melatonin, if he doesn't use it already. It is somewhat effective against REM sleep behavior disorder (though it sounds like he was clearly awake).
Then there's this: Why is it that when they're all agitated and stuck in some delusional thinking pattern, and you try to "speak Alzheimer's" and play along instead of correcting them, they still look at you like you're full of sh**? Somehow he's retaining the ability to see through my bs. Maybe I'm just a bad liar.
i wish i could move bobby to the spare bedroom across the house but he just moans and calls for me all night. he is in a hospital bed in our bedroom now. i give him 5mg of melatonin every night about 30 minutes before bed. i think it does help some but if i am not in the room until he goes to sleep he fights the bedrail and calls for me. it is so exhausting. i have the caregivers in now from 1-6 monday -friday but he calls for me alot of the time that they are here. they are wonderful ladies that try their best to do for him as much as he will let them. i hate 3-10pm nothing helps the sundowning. he is so sensitive to all the meds that are supposed to work. i get the same look sometimes if i try to play along and if it has been a long night like last night (until 2am ) going to sleep and i dare to raise my voice to tell him to lay down he just yells back for me to shut up! oh well , we do what we can. i know i would not want to go downstairs alot so i hope he settles in for you soon!
emily--when the time came for seperate rooms, I found it easier to move me than to move Steve. That way I could tuck him in upstairs, come downstairs and have some peaceful time to myself. If Jeff doesn't settle down soon, you might consider letting him sleep where he always did and moving yourself to the new territory. (Unless one reason for the move was to keep him from navigating stairs due to safety issues.) You can always switch rooms at some time in the future when Jeff is less alert.
The stairs are, in fact, a big aspect of the decision. He is well acclimated to the room and the bathroom. I see what you mean though. Still, I think I'm going to have to ride it out. I'm afraid the waking and being worried are just part of his increasing worried and delusional thinking patterns.
How sad... for both of you. My first thought was to wonder if it was because he wasn't sleeping in his room. I can understand why you would want to ride it out Emily and I hope you both have a more peaceful night.
Last night he did get up twice, but it was before daughter had gone to bed, and she redirected him. He often did the same when upstairs with me too. The difference seems to be whether or not there is a person immediately available. I am hopeful, therefore, that when it's night staff instead of a family member, it will still work fairly well.
For now, there is a room right next to his downstairs with a couch I could crash on if we're having a bad night. But we definitely don't want to return to the stair hazard, and it had reached the point for me where I just couldn't relax enough to sleep acceptably well while sharing the room.
Be aware that melatonin can cause intense dreaming. When I take it (3mg) I wake up so exhausted from dreaming. It never use to but I guess we all change.
Charlotte, that’s interesting. Every night I take a generic Tylenol PM (for leg pains) & 5mg of melatonin. I’m a dreamer (when I sleep) but lately my dreams have been more intense (but I don’t mind because they aren’t nightmares). I don't wake up exhausted, but I get tired early in the evening.