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I am my brother's caregiver who is living in my home, he has Alzheimer's. Needless to say, caregiving has been a challenge, brother/sister dynamics not helping. I am questioning sundowning, sleep/bedtime dilemmas? I do see he seems to sleep a lot these days, part of the disease I presume, but doesn't want to at night, fights it. I can't encourage him to get off the couch, even though he's dozing, don't dare put a gentle hand on him. I wait and let him, hope, he will go to his cozy bed on his own, keeping lights on, pathways clear, not wanting him to stumble from sleepiness. I check on him and can find he has moved to a chair, now sitting on the bed, even leaning up against the wall, sleeping, oblivious to me. I don't want to startle him, awaken him from some type of rest it seems? Any ideas on what is going on? A sleep disturbance, part of the disease? Do I do what I am doing? Really just letting him rest when and where he wants? Don't want meds, worry about falls, hate any "zombie" affect for him. Appreciate all of your answers or suggestions. Thank you 💐

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Usually sundowning is when the sun goes down 4-4:30 people tend to get their inner clocks thrown off. My mom who has dementia gets very upset, agitated wants to leave, etc. my dad who has since passed, he would sleep all day in his glider and be awake all night. As hard as we tried we could not reverse the cycle
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Very helpful info on Sundowning freqflyer. My mother starts looking for stuff at night it can be as early as 7pm till 4-5am. She looks for her passport, ring, clothes which she packs to be able to travel abroad and others. She starts banging the drawers, rambling , empties her drawers and suitcase till she finds what she wants and relocates the missing item. Meanwhile she does this she gets louder and louder and tries to get everyone's attention in the middle of the night. We try to stay away from her since she gets more agitated. My advise is to avoid caffeine intake after 4pm, stop fluid intake after 6pm, and check the medication list. If she has medications that induces sleep or make her tired then give this to her at night time. Caffeine is also a diuretic. It makes you use the bathroom and keep her awake.
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