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Thanks for your detailed answer, Countrymouse! I try to keep him at least mentally active. I listen to what he tells me and I totally believe him when he says he's too tired to do something. From what you say, and the fact that I take his complaints seriously, it's a good thing he sees the doctor next week. My mother had multi-infarct dementia (which is now called vascular dementia) and I saw her progress downhill in steps, probably as each new mini-stroke robbed her brain of oxygen. Don's dementia may look quite similar.
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Bonstance, tired and out of breath even after very brief exertion often means poor heart function and possibly fluid in his lungs which again would tie in with his vascular dementia. And, again, he may have had a 'cardiac event' - causing damage to the heart muscle and a further step down in how well his heart is pumping blood - without its being noticeable. Your doctor will be able to check that quite easily.

Has your husband ever had an echocardiogram? Is he taking medications for heart disease or high blood pressure?

Regular gentle exercise is a good thing, so encouraging him to walk around as much as he would like to is the right idea. But at this stage you want to avoid overdoing it, which could stress his heart. When you go for a walk it helps to have a rollator with a seat so that he can take breaks whenever he wants to. A little and often is best.

"Poor heart function" as a description doesn't really explain how it makes a person feel. If your body is only getting, say, half the blood supply it used to it's like a car engine being starved of fuel. You feel extremely tired, bone tired, because your cells are literally not getting the energy (from oxygen) that they need; and this affects everything from how alert you are to how well your kidneys function to how long your muscles can work for.

Any mobility is good and you want to preserve it as long as possible; but don't think of this as the result of your husband's being idle and somehow lacking in motivation. It's the other way round - he lacks energy and motivation because he's not well.
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He gets tired and out of breathe easily. He is a joy to be around but is quite adamant about not wanting to exercise. I try to take him for a short walk every day, if only to get the mail (a few blocks) and get him out of the house. I have an appointment to take him to the doctor next week about the excessive sleep. Our bodies were made for motion. I wonder if he is lethargic because he leads a sedentary life.
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Prolonged sleeping is very normal after stroke; which in turn is closely related to vascular dementia. Strokes can be almost unnoticeable in themselves - you wouldn't necessarily have realised what was happening.

It might be a good idea to report this change to your husband's doctor and ask whether the doctor feels investigation would be helpful (probably only if it might suggest a change in treatment, that is). A CT scan might show any significant recent damage, but it wouldn't catch a TIA in the act and smaller changes mightn't show either.

Are you worried about anything else, or just the excessive sleepiness?
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