- Re: Repetitive behaviors as symptoms

[Guest guest]

A common problem with LBD is a sleep disorder called REM Sleep

Behavior Disorder. It's caused by the body not producing a certain

chemical that prevents them from moving while dreaming.

My father has it and it is very well controlled by Clonazepam. For

more than 20 years he'd thrash about in his sleep, hitting my

mother, and after their divorce, his long-time girlfriend too. She

finally stopped sleeping in the same bed.

Please talk to his neurologist, as it's definitely something that

can be controlled.

> Has anyone had the experience we've had with Mom with repetitive

> behaviors? We first noticed it several months ago and that's

really

> what got us to thinking something was really wrong. When she

would

> go to bed, she would pound her pillow, adjust her covers, take a

> drink of water from the glass by her bed, and finally lie down.

> Then about 5 seconds later she'd do the exact same thing in the

same

> order. This pattern continued for a good 3 or 4 hours before she

> finally went to sleep. Even if the water glass was empty, she

would

> still drink from it! Then once she got settled down and we

thought

> she would go to sleep, she began hollering out like she was having

> nightmares. When we'd wake her to ask " Mom? What's wrong, why

are

> you screaming? " She'd say, " I wasn't screaming! " , go back to

sleep

> and start hollering in her sleep again. One nursing home had to

> give her super-strong sleeping pills so she wouldn't disturb her

> roommates with her hollering.

>

> Also, every show on television was one she'd seen before. She

would

> watch Monday Night Football (live) and swear she'd seen it

before.

> She would watch the live local news and swear it was a rerun.

Even

> now when she watches All My Children in the NH, she says she's

seen

> it before, that's it's a rerun. We've started calling it " Rerun

> Syndrome " .

>

> If we were driving on the freeway she'd say, " We *always* get

behind

> that *same* car! " even though I'd never seen the car in front of

us

> before and I knew she hadn't. It didn't matter what the car

looked

> like, or even that it was a different car every time. She swore

we

> *always* got behind the same car. It was pointless to argue with

> her so we when she got like this we just went along with it.

>

> I guess my question is, is this a common symptom of LBD? Mom

hasn't

> been officially diagnosed yet, so I'm collecting data to show her

> doctors.

> Thanks!

> Kathy S.

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> Welcome to LBDcaregivers.

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