Guest guest Posted September 21, 2003 Report Share Posted September 21, 2003 > At night, my mother has trouble sleeping because she believes that my father has put her in another person's house. Does anyone have any practical suggestions on how to approach someone who does not want to sleep in their bed. Her physician has been reluctant to prescribe her anti-psychotics and he is at a loss as to what medications she should be on. We are contemplating changing neurologists. Her physician is reluctant to prescribe antipsychotics because they can cause serious side effects in LBD patients. HOWEVER, there is a class called " atypical " antipsychotics which may help improve your situation. There is also a class of drugs called AChE inhibitors that may help. Here is a link which I found to offer a really clear description of drug choices. Maybe you can print it out and bring the page to the doctor. Click on the link that says " Treatment and drugs " at the top of the page. http://www.alzscot.org/info/lewybody.html If that doesn't get a response from the physician, you might want to find someone who is more up to date on treatment. LBD was pretty recently recognised as a separate dementia with a distinct treatment. My Mom has suffered from dementia and it is only very recently that we've discovered that LBD explains alot of the oddity of her medical responses/conditions over the past 3 years and NO ONE ON THE MEDICAL STAFF mentioned the condition LDB. Anyway all that being said, one of the things that seemed to help her early on was when I brought her a very realistic stuffed cat to keep her company when she was in the hospital. She was in quite a deranged state of mind and thought the cat was real. She talked to it all the time. Her situation improves, then declines, improves, etc. So now, sometimes she knows the cat isn't really real but she loves it and we keep it on her bed. It seems to provide a great deal of comfort and security at bedtime. And yes, she still thinks it's real on certain days, it seems to be even more helpful when she's having that hallucination! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 2003 Report Share Posted September 21, 2003 Hi Dede, When my mother tells us she wants to go home I usually take her for a tour of the house and she'll recognize a piece of furniture or knick knack that brings her back to us. Is it possible for your dad to do this with your mom at night? Is there something she really loves in particular that she can bring with her to bed to make her feel better? Perhaps a framed photo by her bedside, a stuffed animal - Mom loves these? Courage Hallucinations >At night, my mother has trouble sleeping because she believes that my >father has put her in another person's house. Does anyone have any >practical suggestions on how to approach someone who does not want to >sleep in their bed. > >She has the same problem with the shower, she thinks that it is in a >public location and that people can see her. > >My approach has been to aknowledge that she sees these things and >then distract her with another topic of conversation. However, I do >not live with her and my father is having a hard time at night. He >is losing a lot of sleep at night and I am concerned for his health >as well as my mother's. Her physician has been reluctant to >prescribe her anti-psychotics and he is at a loss as to what >medications she should be on. We are contemplating changing >neurologists. > >Thanks in advace for any advice you can provide. > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 2003 Report Share Posted September 21, 2003 Hi Dede, When my mother tells us she wants to go home I usually take her for a tour of the house and she'll recognize a piece of furniture or knick knack that brings her back to us. Is it possible for your dad to do this with your mom at night? Is there something she really loves in particular that she can bring with her to bed to make her feel better? Perhaps a framed photo by her bedside, a stuffed animal - Mom loves these? Courage Hallucinations >At night, my mother has trouble sleeping because she believes that my >father has put her in another person's house. Does anyone have any >practical suggestions on how to approach someone who does not want to >sleep in their bed. > >She has the same problem with the shower, she thinks that it is in a >public location and that people can see her. > >My approach has been to aknowledge that she sees these things and >then distract her with another topic of conversation. However, I do >not live with her and my father is having a hard time at night. He >is losing a lot of sleep at night and I am concerned for his health >as well as my mother's. Her physician has been reluctant to >prescribe her anti-psychotics and he is at a loss as to what >medications she should be on. We are contemplating changing >neurologists. > >Thanks in advace for any advice you can provide. > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2003 Report Share Posted September 22, 2003 Hi, Dede, The hallucinations are really hard to deal with. My dad went through the not wanting to sleep in his bed thing, too. He always thought he was somewhere else. He often is reluctant to shower also because of all the people that are there. I just calmly reassure him that the people are gone, and there is no one else there except us. As far as the sleeping in the bed goes, I try to show him familiar things in the room that belong to him so he might understand that it is his house. Of course, there are times when no amount of reassurance will work. When I was at my wit's end, my dad's neurologist put him on Seroquel. It really made a difference. He has been sleeping well ever since. I will be thinking of you. Let us know how things are going. Take care, Piper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2003 Report Share Posted September 22, 2003 Coyote, You bring up a good point about the confusion of LBD patients in unfamiliar settings when they are even confused at home. Last December my dad had to go into the hospital because of a blood clot in his leg. He had never been in the hospital before except to have cataracts removed. He was so confused. He thought he was in jail. He would rip out the IV from his hand trying to get out of there. We could not leave him alone for a minute while he was in the hospital. I spent eight of the nine nights with him that he was in the hospital. The one night my mom was there, the nurses tied my dad's hands to his bed. I went ballistic when I got to the hospital the next morning about that. Since he already thought he was in jail, can you imagine what was going on his mind when they tied his hands? I don't think anyone in the hospital had ever heard of LBD. Okay, I have ranted enough! Hugs, Piper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2003 Report Share Posted September 22, 2003 Hello, this has been a major problem for us with my mother. It is good the physician is reluctant to prescribe medications since their side effects can be lethal. We have been lucky to have a psychiatrist (MD) for my mother that has tried many medications. The one that is approved for LBD is Seroquel. My mother is taking 100 mg of this nightly. This still did not help keep her " under control. " She would become very difficult, insisting that my father take her home, or whatever else she was thinking about. She would become very aggressive and hostile. My father in the past was her primary caregiver until he died from a fall in May of this year. We now have a 24/7 caregiver for my mother who is a God send. My mother has always been a somewhat frightened person and needed to lean on one person, so a nursing home is out ot the question for her. Before my father's passing, the psychiatrist said to try her on Haldol. It has done the trick and my mother is just as sweet as ever. He informed us of the side effects and contraindications but stated WE also needed to have a life and be considered in this disease process. She is taking 2 mg at night. Her caretaker is giving her all her pills after she goes to bed at night (crushed) in pudding. She has difficulty walking with the medications and becomes very sleepy. The next morning when she gets up, she is so pleasant (confused yes, but manageable). I am not advocating anyone else give this drug to their love one but we were desperate and really wanted my mother to stay at home. We are watching her very closely for any side effects. Good luck to you on your journey, > At night, my mother has trouble sleeping because she believes that my > father has put her in another person's house. Does anyone have any > practical suggestions on how to approach someone who does not want to > sleep in their bed. > > She has the same problem with the shower, she thinks that it is in a > public location and that people can see her. > > My approach has been to aknowledge that she sees these things and > then distract her with another topic of conversation. However, I do > not live with her and my father is having a hard time at night. He > is losing a lot of sleep at night and I am concerned for his health > as well as my mother's. Her physician has been reluctant to > prescribe her anti-psychotics and he is at a loss as to what > medications she should be on. We are contemplating changing > neurologists. > > Thanks in advace for any advice you can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Kathy: My parents were excused from Mass every Sunday, I think it happens at 75 or 80 years old, but they liked to go to Mass and did almost every Sunday, unless it was too rainy. I took them to my church last summer. My dad was walking very badly but he would not use other than a cane. You should have seen the line to take Communion! Everybody was lined up waiting patiently for him. I was very embarrassed. I had not been to Mass with them since Christmas, and then he could walk at the regular pace. I asked my mom about it and she said: " Every Sunday is the same " . Very matter of fact. I was flabergasted! I said, " well, the people in my parish are very nice and patient " , she said " They do the same thing everywhere we go " . She felt it was normal and natural, but I had never seen anything like it! Any way, he went to Mass up until he was bedridden and received Communion. He continued to have visits by the priests when he was in the hospital and received Communion until he could no longer swallow. Thanks for your empathy, writing that ugly story made me cry. Hugs, Josie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 Thank you, la. It took a lot out of me to write it, and then I was crying with my daughter . She wasn't here, she was in summer camp at the time, and didn't know about it. I forwarded the email to her, but she hasn't read it yet. Now I have to go and fix up the house a little, she has a friend coming over and I haven't been very good keeping up with the mess... Many hugs, Josie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 11, 2004 Report Share Posted January 11, 2004 Josie, That did not sound like an " ugly " story to me. If people are patient with your father and he got to participate in his religion, that is a beautiful story. Mom went as long as she could. And I always walked up with her and she took as long as she needed. THere were some who couldn't walk up and the pastor had Communion taken to them in the pews. That is what Religion is all about, isn't it? Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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