My 91-year-old invalid mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. I care for her at home. Her physician is unresponsive, and I am desperate for some answers. Her dementia has increased, and her cycle times of rest between episodes has decreased.
She will babble incoherently for 12 to 24 hours and suffers from sleep deprivation. Is there any medication that can ease her into restful sleep or periods of quiet? She takes Valium when she’s especially “wild,” but it does not always help her to sleep.
If her physician is truly unresponsive to your request for help, try to get another physician. Caring for an elderly mother or father with dementia is a hard job. The all-too-common lack of medical support makes it that much harder.
Caretakers are susceptible to burnout and depression if subjected to overwhelming and continuous demands on their energies. Agitated, restless insomniac patients wear themselves and their caretakers out. For that reason, it’s a good idea to try to normalize sleep patterns and control troublesome behavior.
Try to understand behavior problems in terms of the environmental and social context. Are they set off by certain stimuli that could be modified, such as visitors or TV shows, talking about emotional subjects, or too much caffeine too close to bedtime?
Besides adjusting such environmental factors, you can try a variety of drugs that are helpful for sedation and behavioral control. These include antipsychotic drugs, such as haloperidol (Haldol) and risperidone (Risperdal); the antidepressant trazadone (Desyrel), which can be used a sedative; and benzodiazepines, such as lorazapam. (Keep in mind that benzodiazepines used alone can sometimes lead to a worsening of symptoms.) Usually, some fiddling around with timing and size of doses is required. That’s why the participation of an interested physician is essential.