I guess no behavior should shock any of us, but today when my husband's care facility called to say they had caught him several times peeing in the corner of public rooms I have to say I was caught off guard. Technically, I don't think this is incontinence because he obviously feels the urge to go but is just choosing inappropriate places, despite the fact that he has his own bathroom. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I have arranged a meeting tomorrow with the nurse to discuss this as well as recent changes made to his medication. They have added seroquel last week, so I'm not sure if this odd routine will end once the medication fully kicks in and he feels less anxious. I'm not even sure if Depends would work at this point.
While my husband was at home, he peed everywhere. Mostly in doorways or trash bins. He would pee in the kitchen drawers and once peeded on all the shoes in my closet. I had to lock EVERYTHING. When I would catch him in the act, he would deny he was doing it. After he went to the care facility, he wore Depends all the time. I think this is very common, regardless of medications. I feel for you, and for him. Alzheimer's is horrible!
Yes last summer when I had him in respite he peed everywhere but the toilet. I had to pay for carpet cleaning. When he went to the ALF last August he was peeing in waste baskets but now he seems to know where the toilet is and the behavior has gotten better. He does wear depends all the time. I think it is pretty common.
My DH lives in an ALF and several months ago began to go to the bathroom in inappropriate places (common areas, other residents' rooms, closets, etc). We already had him in Depends because he was having some problems with incontinence. The ALF recommended that I buy some "onesies". This is a long sleeved shirt (polo shirt or sweat shirt) sewn at the waist to sweatpants. There is a zipper down the back of the shirt, so he is unable to disrobe to use the bathroom by himself. Although he didn't love the fact that they had to totally undress him so that he could void, he has gotten used to it now and there are no accidents.
I ordered them online from Buck & Buck (around $50) but some residents' family members have made them.
Sometimes restrictive clothing isn't enough. A friend of mine bought some for her husband and he managed to get out of it (he was defecating everywhere). She then got a wrestling outfit to put on top of it and that did the job.
Yes it's common. My husband will pee anywhere if he has to go, so we (he has a live in aide) try to take him to him to pee about every 1.5-2 hours. He's in depends now because he is incontinent sometimes, but I refused to have the NH put him in depends when he was there for rehab because he wasn't incontinent at that time. I requested they take him to pee every 2 hours and they did. They also had to limit fluids after 6 pm.
Don't be disappointed if the meds don't work. It may be due to agnosia (a symptom of dementia when the person can't identify objects). For some reason, this urinating problem seems to be prevalent in males. My husband did it only once (that I know of) using a heating register in the floor. I was advised to put him on a schedule, as LFL described. Think of it as the opposite of training a toddler--you just don't give them the chance to have an accident or urinate in the wrong place. Of course, those hours roll around fast--I used the kitchen timer to remind me.
My husband has also peed 'beside the toilet, in the waste paper basket, etc. and I assumed it was the 'visual' thing. I put black electrical tape on the toilet rim (seat and lid up always) Its temporary, can be cleaned and seems to work. He is now peeing where he should be.
try a black toilet seat,worked for us. When he went to the NH he wouldn't use the toilet so I told them to get a black seat and they had no problems. I read that AZ people cannot see white. Of course, everyone is different.