My dh is the one that had been sleeping most every day for 16 to 20 hours. It appears for the past 4 or 5 days he is coming out of that phase and is sleeping 16 hours or less. However, he now is doing this: Sitting on the front porch for 10 mins. or so...coming in the house and sitting on the couch for 10 mins. or so....going to the back patio and sitting there for 10 mins. or so....over and over and over all day long....is this sundowning??
Also he has been paranoid for the past several days thinking our son-in-law stoled things out of our garage.
I think the sundowning is more in the later part of the day, not all day long..but each is different. My mom would get fidgety...My DH has something that I too wonder if it could be a type of sundowning..He still goes back to be about 8-9..I go much later...In the good ol days he would be asleep..but now he is wide awake most of the time, not fidgety but awake and when I come into the room he will say something like "wow you are up late" well not for me I am not..but for him to be awake...I wonder if this is caused by the snoozing during the day..I think they have a change in the sense of time and day become more like night and vise versa..and we become zombies.
What time of day is this happening-all day? Based on his "restlessness" combined with increasing paranoia I think he probably needs a med to help with those behaviors. DH's psychiatrist advised that increased restlessness is a sign of beginning aggression and combined with the paranoia it could cause aggression.
I was thinking of calling his neuro and making an appt. He is so upset about his garage stuff that he thinks is missing ....but, it is not. He was like this over a year ago and it drove me crazy. I am hoping this will pass within a few days, if not his neuro will probably put him back on Seroquel.
Dh has been doing this for months, as soon as he finishes breakfast, he goes out to the deck chair, sits there for a minute, picks up dirt one piece at a time and throws it over, sits in the chair one minute, walks down the 4 stairs and then back up, comes inside and takes off this clothes and lays down. This lasts about 20 minutes then it is back outside for the pacing and sitting up and down routines.
He also while on the chair, takes off his shoes , off and on, off and on.
This happens all day long, and this is just one of the reasons we are heading to the doctor today, for a checkup, and for me to apply for respite. I will let you know how it went when I get home later. (Also dropping off his Agent Orange papers to get in line for an exam some months down the road)
He has however not gotten violent or had big imaginings. It seems like severe agitation.
I am calling for him to have an appt. with the doctor too. He is a totally different person then he was a week ago. Looks very agitated....I don't want this to get out of control. Let us know how the checkup goes for your dh.
There are many things I can handle and I think I do a pretty good job caring for my dh and being kind most of the time. However, when he starts this stuff about people stealing things out of the garage it drives me crazy...and when he walks around like he is looking for something to hit or like he is really mad when nothing has been said or done to him....I get a little frightened. I feel badly because I did kind of go off my rocker to day and yell at him which I haven't done in months. I took a "pill" and rested awhile and feel better and trying to re-group my feelings until we get to the doctor on Monday. Thanks for your concern Dean.
Sometimes these behaviors signal dehydration, urine retention or UTI. The agitation would build up slowly, the misperceived event constant ( my dh wanted to go to the bank and take out his money) and then the anger...frightened me alot. A few trips to the ER or urologist's office and after catherization and treatment for UTI, my dh calmed down for awhile. Sometimes phone calls from family members with fiblets (bank is closed for holiday) and other distractions helped. Keeping good thoughts that you get to doctor's appt. on Monday without going off your rocker. jerseymama*