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Hi,I am taking care of a wonderful women,and I fine that if I get her up early and keep her busy all day,she will go to sleep by 9pm and sleep till 7:30am.I believe even for me that if you are active you will sleep through till 7-8am.Good luck every one.And Many Blessings.
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I wonder if dementia and depression go hand in hand? My mother suffered from depression before the dementia surfaced (hers was only short term memory loss), she has always preferred being up all night - usually watching tv or reading - and then sleeping all day. I suffer from depression and when not taking meds religiously I stay up all night and sleep during day. My thought: when by yourself there is no expectations or demands from friends and family --- I also still prefer working a graveyard or late evening shift so i can sleep all or part of the day. Just wondered if there was a connection.
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Plus I should add that my mom has memory issues from Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus so I could explain everything until the cows came home but she wouldn't be able to remember why she needed to stay awake during the day so she could sleep at night. I had to manage her staying up and sleeping because she could not.
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I meant to say, "get up", not "get it up"......lol
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My mom (mild to moderate dementia) moved from my house to assisted living a month ago. Her biggest complaint? Having to get up early for breakfast. When she lived with me she was in the habit of staying up late watching TV and sleeping in until after 11 am most days of the week. When I'd go into her room and get her up and tell her it was time to join the world she'd say, "Why? What am I going to do when I get it up." Now, she's up at 7 a.m. for an 8 a.m. breakfast with the other residents (she's made a couple friends) and she's actually surviving! ;) She's socializing, walking a lot more, and actually helping other residents get around by pushing them in their wheelchairs.......this is great! It's like she has a purpose and reason to be up. She may never get used to getting up early like she did before she had dementia when she lived on her own, but she's dealing with it. That, and she really likes the place!
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Same thing here w/ my Dad. I have found that like Whipped & some of the others here noted that making him stay awake during the day is the only way he will be tired enough to sleep at night. He wants to eat & nap every 2 1/2 hours all day long. Says, " I need to rest". When I explain that his naps are keeping him up at night, he either doesn't care or doesn't understand/agree. So, I wake him & give him something to do to distract or dissuade him from giving in to the urge to nap. He has always been a narcoleptic type,as I. We may seem hyper to others. But, in truth we are the opposite. We are fine if we keep moving. However, once sitting for more than a couple of minutes, The eyes become heavy and sleep comes extremely easily. When I have had to work nights, I would even be okay with some coffee. But, no amount of caffeine in the world would be enough when I would sit down to write. So, I would often get up & grab a broom, walk the halls, or other seemingly odd tasks at work, over & over as needed to maintain my alertness to complete my paper work. Just a little FYI on Narcolepsy for you to know. But, for most folks, it seems, staying awake in the daytime & having something to do to help tire a person is the answer if you can get them to do comply. blou
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My mom started sleeping during the day and awake at night. I work full time and her caregiver (who she loves) was just sitting around reading a magazine during the day while mom slept. I pretty much cured it over a weekend. My mom had been going back to bed after breakfast. I did not allow that and every time she headed for the bed over that weekend I told her she needed to stay awake. I explained that I was not going to pay Ella to sit there while she slept and she did not want to lose Ella. Also, and very important was that I gave her an Advil PM at bedtime. She's 92 and in pain anyway so the Advil part worked for the pain and the PM is basically benedryl so it helped her to sleep. Ella kept her awake during the day and I gave her an Advil PM at night. Mom said she was getting the best sleep she ever had. Great result for me.
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Shouldn't let your dad roam around unattended at night or anytime else. He could burn the house down. You should take the knobs off of the stove just for that reason. Supervision is the key at this point. Things will only get worse with dementia not better. Prepare yourself and your house for this. Good luck it is a very tough road.
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Starshine 14, I agree. My dad is bored with everything, us and all those around him. He loves people and when he goes out, he likes taking centre stage when given the opportunity. He was surrounded by a lot of people his whole life. He comes from a big family and married again into a big family. His own, me and my sister have small families and we just don't even have the same 'connection' and interest as he has had. He also lived in a busy environment surrounded by lots of activities, unlike us. Bored....definitely, without doubt.

When he first came to live, he also hardly ever slept.
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Yes, there is a biological, physiological reason for the staying up at night. Her melatonin is depleted or very low and she will be awake at night. Increase melatonin in a pill form and she will sleep at night. Sleeping in the daytime is not good as the sunlight (through eyes) increases her melatonin. Try that and see if you can reset her biological internal clock.
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I would say that treatment of sleep disorders in persons with dementia can produce improved cognitive function and reduce caregiver distress. Treatment of sleep disorders in persons with dementia should include consideration of a broad spectrum of factors that can affect sleep and wake cycles, including caffeine consumption, the effect of medications, and mood. Agitation and delirium can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and treatment of OSA can produce complete resolution of symptoms in some cases.
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Hanforda and Figueirob (2012) J. of Alz. Dis. discuss sleep disturbances as common in persons with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia (ADRD), resulting in a negative impact on the daytime function of the affected person and on the wellbeing of caregivers. The sleep/wake pattern is directly driven by the timing signals generated by a circadian pacemaker, which may or may not be perfectly functioning in those with ADRD. A 24-hour light/dark pattern incident on the retina is the most efficacious stimulus for entraining the circadian
system to the solar day. In fact, a carefully orchestrated light/dark pattern has been shown in several controlled studies of older populations, with and without ADRD, to be a powerful non-pharmacological tool to improve sleep efficiency and consolidation. Discussed their study are research results from studies looking at the effectiveness of light therapy in improving sleep, depression,
and agitation in older adults with ADRD. A 24-hour lighting scheme to increase circadian entrainment, improve visibility, and reduce the risk of falls in those with ADRD is proposed.
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I feel so bad for everyone going through the rigors of lost sleep. I don't have the answer but I can tell you my 95 year old mother also can't sleep at night but dozes all day, BUT she wishes she could get a good night's sleep. She says her problem is "things" keep her awake all night pinching and poking her and threatening her well being. She sometimes thinks something is giving her an electrical shock so is suspecious that someone in the household has wired her bed. As people age their brains usually shrink and the mnd just doesn't work the same. I just hope we can learn how to preserve ourselves intact until the day we die. As someone once said, "growing old is not sissys."
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They are bored with life and you, imo. Husband here does the same. His hearing is bad (working on hearing aids, and hoping he'll use them). BUT when we are out among people he can be life of the party. I think they need their friends around. No friends, go to the senior center and library (they have all kinds of free programs).
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I'm going through that right now. Except she just doesn't sleep period! Can't get her in bed til almost midnight and she doesn't want to go then. Then in the day, she NEVER even dozes off. How she goes, I have NO idea! I had to wake up early to wake my husband and daughter for work. Thank goodness for alarms on cell phones, they had to get themselves up, because I was zonked from staying up so late........I don't even think she sleeps when she goes to her bed, other than dozing a bit. Her doctor even gave her a sleep aid and told me if this doesn't help, give her two. What a joke, her dementia is stronger than the sleep aid!! Everything we do for relief or to ease it, seems to make it worse. The strange part of this whole thing is she went from sleeping 20-22 hrs a day, to NONE and going to bed at 6 p.m. and now it's midnight. Has anyone experienced this? Thanks!
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If your mother hasn't been evaluated for medications for this condition, you might want to talk with her doctor ahead of time and then take her in for a visit (assuming you can wake her up enough). Been there, done that and meds were the last resort for the safety and wellbeing of my own mother (AND me as caregiver).
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I highly recommend daily activities for them, see the local association for adult day care in your community and they may be able to help. I have seen them change in a matter of days.
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Gold! My dad does the exact same thing. Sleeps all day, fidgets in and out of both kitchen and bathroom. Checks the weather at night. Have left front door open during the night. Up to mischief most of the time. Eats and open the fridge door all the time. keeps my sister awake. Exhausting. I take him out for 3 or 4 hours, but reverts back to same habit. And leaves tv on loud in his room. On and on!
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Teenagers do the same thing. It's all about brain function. The classic phase markers for measuring the timing of a mammal's circadian rhythm are:
melatonin secretion by the pineal gland (or taken as a supplement)
core body temperature (night setback thermostats help)
plasma level of cortisol (helps raise blood sugar levels during stress).
Ambient light is also a factor, and modern living with electric lighting has a way of throwing off the rhythms too.
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cant help you with the whys of this really but i guess it just makes sense if you are up all night you will want to sleep all day and it seems to be a things many seniors do….my mother goes to bed at 8, she will get ready for bed in pjs as early as 3 30pm…anytime after midnight she is dressed for the day…in and out of bathroom all night, doing her hair, emptying trash cans…she comes down for breakfast by 8am…she can be asleep in the living room chair by 9…the only thing that somewhat helps is waking her all day long…i got tired of verbally doing it so i bought a school hand bell and ring it…she has broken her hearing aids so many times ever her hearing aid dr was shocked…the final straw was when she dropped one on her floor and one of my dogs chewed it to shreds..the bell she hears and it saves me from yelling…i asked her dr about a sedative but he says that will increase her chance of falling from being groggy …he did however say I NEED ONE…no sh**!!
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