All my mother does is sleep all day and night. Is this normal?

My mother is 88 and sleeps all day and all night. She still eats, but mostly sweets foods. Her doctor seems to be disinterested in her quality of life and just shrugs this off. I am taking her to a different doctor next week. She is on anti-depressants. My niece, a nurse, noticed that she is eating ice. She suggested we have her checked to see if she is anemic, as that is a sign of anemia in pregnant women. She takes no vitamins or minerals at all. So she could be low on B vitamins as well as low on iron. She has always been very active, but it is difficult for her to even walk now. I read yesterday that some researchers believe that what we accept as "old age infirmities" may actually be the result of chronic and total lack of exercise. So all you caregivers out there, keep up your own health and fitness for your future golden years to be sure they are indeed, golden.

My 90 year old Dad only sleeps and eats. Both my parents have dementia so am frustrated. Yes we should stay active as caregivers. Hope we all can.

My dad is also 90 and only sleeps and eats as well. He has Alzheimer's and his mind is going quickly.

Maybe she is bored? My husband 87 years sleep 23hours a day.
I wake Him up make Him big breakfast /4 slices bacon, 2eggs and 1 slice of bread,Orange juice. Back to sleep. Lunch whole chicken breasts or steak etc,,,
back to sleep.Evening Fish and potatoes or snietzel and potatoes..etc..Eat a lot never gain weight and He need to gain, 5'7"and 140lbs. Than if I go for grocery the minute I`m out of garage He is up in computer and TV watching porn and all kind dating sites.Than I feel like slave,He is addict.When He can be on porn He is happy otherwise He is bored and sleep and sleep. Is this normal?

my mum is 38 and all she does is slep all day she gets up at about 4 in the afternoon im so angry i can never have my friends over or anything and shes always on facebook is this normal

clostarxx, it might be normal for her.

Are you her caregiver? What are her impairments? Why are you living with her? It would help to have a better overview of this situation.

My mother is 91 years old..she went to the dr and turns out she is getting over a uti..He said it's almost gone,but the he prescribed some antibiotics..she went to bed at 8pm yesterday evening(Tuesday)..,she's still asleep now and it's after midnight Thursday..she urinated in bed this morning at day light ,and I tried to get her awake but she says she wants to get her sleep out ..she has sleep apnea but not dementia or ahlzeimers..she's been asleep now for over 24 hours..this has NEVER happened before..i'm scared and I woke her up a couple hours ago and told her maybe I should call an ambulance..she insisted she has no pain and just wants to sleep..what can I do and why is she sleeping like this?? will she wake up on her own and get up..she ahsn't eaten or had anything to drink in over 24 hours..i don't understand what's happening?? could it be the medication?? at least she's using her oxygen as she sleeps thank god

troybse, Many insurance companies and/or clinics have nurse helplines you can call 24 hours. They listen to the symptoms, ask questions, and then help you determine if the situation needs attention, and if it does if it can wait until normal clinic hours or should be handled by ER. I have called ours many times and found it very helpful.

What insurance does your mother have? Do they have a 24-hour-helpline? If not, what hospital would you take her to? I have also called the ER, described symptoms, and asked if I should bring the person in. I think you'll feel better with a professional answer than waiting for a knowledgeable person to happen by this thread.

Does Mom seem to have a fever? I guess what would bother me most is not drinking anything. (But that is not a professional opinion!)

My mom slept 20 hours each the last two days. Not unusual for her to sleep 1030 pm to 12 noon. Is this a red flag for something. She has Alzheimer's but is a happy and pleasant person.

I'm a caregiver for a friend with parkinsons and msa. She is deteriorating fast it seems today is the worse. She hasn't woke up all morning , 7 hrs now. No pain, but when I try n wake her, she wont, she opened her eyes once but then back to sleep. Should I be doing something else's? Should I try and wake her?

My Mum is a healthy 91 and has been active all her life. Mum has also been taking levothyroxine for decades for low thyroid. My Mum had a test 10 months ago and the doctor went by the TSH and lowered her dose from 100mcg to 75mcg. Mum started to get confused and low energy. I am also hypothyroid and have transferred onto NDT and feel so much better and I more knowledgeable about the hormones now. Mum was never tested for the T3 hormone which provides energy and my endocrinologist said that the older one gets and more difficult it is for the body to change the T4 hormone which is what levo is a synthetic version of. So the T3 hormone depletes in the body as we age causing less energy, fatigue and brain fog associated with hypothyroidism. Just before Christmas this year my brother took my Mum a large Christmas cake and she started eating mince pies. My brother also gave her a large box of chocolates for Christmas. I noticed that on Christmas Day she was confused and very quiet and since then has had days when she sleeps all day and is confused then a few days when she gets up, isn't so confused. She told me she had just been eating cake and chocolates when I am not visiting and when I visit when she is sleeping I give her good nutritious food, vegetable soup, eggs, superfood smoothies, she takes her supplements I give her for low thyroid and then is a lot better the next day. Mum was finally tested for T3 in October 2015 and she was well below the minimum, I rang the surgery and they said everything was fine no need to see the doctor. But when a few weeks later I picked up the printed results I was horrified to see her T3 so low. I spoke to my private endocrinologist who said she was T4 toxic and she wasn't converting to T3 giving her confusion and fatigue. He said 'I wonder how many people in care homes are actually having hormonal problems and are told its just their age, its a disgrace to the elderly'. I am still waiting for an NHS (English system) endocrinoligst to see her but I am taking her to my private endocrinologist on 20 Jan 2016. We all need to fight for the elderly just sitting there, they can't fight their corner, we have to be pro-active and get something done, perhaps all this dementia is just brain fog from low hormone levels, adrenal dysfunction, low cortisol. I give my Mum supplements for high blood pressure, cholesterol, low thyroid and her other results were good, two weeks ago we walked a mile, went out for a meal, had meaningful conversations and she didn't repeat herself once. So if the brain has deteriorated how come the highs and lows, it all points to hormones. My friend has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and is exactly the same, if she overdoes it she is in bed for one or two days with fatigue and brain fog. I have two children, my husband walked out on me, I had a heart attack, and I am fighting for my Mum, we have to. Good luck, and don't take the first answer you get, ITS HER AGE!!

Each case is different. My mother sleeps more and more, but, she has advanced Alzheimers and I have managed to get her at home hospice. It's not just the sleeping, but other changes as well that inspired me to look into hospicr. We are using Connecticut Hospice and they are great.

Seems every time I go visit mom lately she is asleep in her recliner. Today I sat down and watched her for about 15 minutes. Every so often moms lips would move, not talking in her sleep but more like she was talking to someone in a dream - then she would smile. Mom looked so happy, I let her be and left.

my mom has dementia she is 78.there are 4 of us takeing care of her,takeing our turnes,in the past 2 weeks i have noticed she went from watching her certian tv programs to want to sleep all the time. up hour sleep 2 hours. i had to make her go shopping with me today,when we got home she put her jammers on and went to bed

I strongly agree that definitely is an excessive amount of time to be sleeping, and I would definitely bring that to a doctor's attention ASAP. This is definitely abnormal unless the person is currently undergoing the dying process. If this is a medication reaction, then this definitely needs a doctor's attention because we were never designed to sleep excessively.

i called my mom who is 98 and it was around 2:10pm in the afternoon. She answered and told me she is just now waking up. I noticed the tv was on. I think that is sleeping a lot or just plain boredom, I don't live.near her so I can't tell. Is this normal

I strongly agree with the sleeping out of boredom idea, this can strike anyone at any age, I clearly understand. People can do any number of things out of boredom when they have nothing to do due to lack of money and resources. This is only one among many reasons why people refuse to give up driving, (and I don't blame them). When you're bored and live alone, it's easy to find something to do, but it's easy to do it in excess. It's one thing to sleep more during illness or injury, but it's another thing to sleep more just because you're bored and lonely. This is why everyone at any age needs a social network and something warm up activity to keep them going

Mom is 85 years old she is always tried sleeps all day not eating well and always cold

My mom is 98 she is always very sleepy, she doesn't like to go to bed ones she gets up in the morning, she dresses and sits on her recliner chair tries to watch TV or even do iPad but she keeps falling sleep doing those and she eats ok. Reason for being sleepy?? Please help

There can be any number of reasons for why someone sleeps all the time. The dying process is one of those reasons. When someone sleeps a lot and they don't eat or drink much of anything, of course they can get cold because they're always still and not exercising but also not eating can also make you cold. No nutrition can also cause your body to start malfunctioning here and there, and you're mine can also start malfunctioning. Dehydration is one of the major factors for fatigue. One time I discovered this for myself because I started feeling fatigued and even sleepy. It can be very hard for many people to choke down the recommended amount of water each day because sometimes plain water just doesn't taste that great all the time. That's when people start skimping on water. When you do this, at some point you'll start noticing your body starts performing differently and you'll start feeling tired. That's just your body's way of slowing down to save energy to stay alive. Your body does the same thing when you're not eating and you start feeling weak. When you sleep a lot though, your body slows way down and you're just not hungry or thirsty if you're consistently tired a lot. There's no way you'll even be hungry and sometimes not even thirsty if you're still sleepy enough to head back to bed and go back to sleep.

My 86 yr old mother is sleeping a lot. She has health concerns as well, she had a pulmonary embolism last year which has not gone away, actually she is accumulating more blood clots. She his on a heavy dose of blood thinner. She has very poor circulation in her legs and in a lot of pain at times making it difficult to walk. She is quite depressed and im just not sure what to do, we are with her almost every day of the week. Is there more that can be done?

my mother is 88 years old she has a cyst on her pancreas that the dr is watching. She also has dementia, her eating habits have change she isn't hungry, she sleeps a lot she will be up for 30-40 then wants to go back to sleep and will sleep for another hour to hour in half then up for 30. Dr says this comes with dementia ?? Has anyone else had this concern with their mother or father

From what you describe, the dying process is the first thing I think of because people in the dying process sleep far more than they used to and far more than everyone else.

Being cold all the time sounds to me like a lack of healthy fats in the person's diet, and definitely lack of circulation if the person doesn't move around much to keep the blood flowing to like it should. Both of those will definitely keep the body feeling cold.

Another thing that was mentioned here is spot on about lack of nutrition and dehydration. Not eating well and even eating less is accurate about the slowing down and malfunctioning of the body. The person who mentioned this before was definitely right because the body will start slowing down and you'll be so low on energy you'll sleep much of the time.

Dehydration is another threat to life, we need a certain amount of water to survive. Without enough water, the body will quickly start slowing down before shutting down. The poster who mentioned dehydration was also spot on about dehydration because yes, the body will slow down in order to stay alive, that's definitely correct! You can live about three days without water if you drink none at all. Your body is constantly losing water when you breathe and with all other bodily functions because your body is always working doing something. Your body needs building blocks to function properly and stay alive. Without those building blocks, your body will slow down and you will start noticing how your body starts malfunctioning and you may start sleeping more.

You'll probably want to get the patient checked right away and have some blood drawn to check for 'nutritional anemia'. One test you can do right now is a gentle pinch test on the back of her hand. If the skin does not return to shape for its slow to return to shape, that's a big red flag, she's dehydrated. Another sign to look for is how hard it will be to draw blood at the hospital. One time my foster dad was in the ER and it took about 45 minutes just to even get blood out of him. He was definitely dehydrated because of how awful of a time they had even getting any blood from him. He was hospitalized and restored to health before being discharged

My Mom goes through too much sleep - when she sleeps too much her muscles get weak. Getting her up, sitting her up, walking with a walker, moving her feet to help push herself along in a wheel chair - all these things help rather than just letting her sleep. What does she like - plan an activity she looks forward to. Do her nails, put makeup on her, anything that makes being awake interesting, joyful and more fun than sleeping.

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My Mother has been paying insurance of $1,000.00 per month for 14 years to have amenities of assisted living to her facility. They changed the name of their Assisted Living section to Personal Care which I understand is requires less care than Assisted Living. Her friend has paid $1,000 per month insurance to an insurance company and she has round the clock Nurses Aids. When my Mom needed Nurses Aids round the clock it was at a rate of $25.00 per hour which would be over $200,000 per year. Her insurance policy will provide a Nurse if she needs car 24 hours a day but not a nurses aid. Was this a rip off?

My 94 years old is complaining of tired and sleeping a lot

Is this normal

My 92 year old hypothyroid Mum was like that this spring. Wouldn't eat, just wouldn't get up, said she was enjoying her doze. Therefore she wasn't drinking either. I found her at 11am stuck on the toilet, cold, slurring speech with all the lights on. She had obviously been there for hours. She was treated for dehydration as she was shaking and weak in the hospital but sent home the next evening. At 4am I was woken by her fall alarm and driving over found her on the bathroom floor. This got help, doctors, carers coming in, physio, check ups, endocrinologist who immediately pointed out that the usual doctor had let her calcium levels creep up and she was prescribed cinacalcet to reduce calcium levels in her blood. We got her a wheelchair and walker. She pushed the wheelchair like a walker and when she got tired I took her for a wander. I took her out every day and she got stronger and stronger. The carers got breakfast and I went round to give her a good lunch and another carer gave her an evening food. She is now better than she has been for a long time, her calcium levels are improving, she is keeping herself hydrated and her thyroid has been increased. So do get the hydration sorted, check the T3 levels with the thyroid and check the blood calcium levels as too much causes memory problems. Today we walked 1.5 miles and Mum stormed up a hill without stopping. I am sure the doctor had given up on her and couldn't be bothered to do anything. Don't give up. Mum stays up for 12 hours now, might have a nod off in the afternoon for a few minutes. Her short term memory is sadly deteriorating, some days better than others and some days you wouldn't know there was anything wrong. Get them checked out and don't be brushed off with its their age, what do you expect! Good luck...x

My friend is only 53 takes stillnox sleeps from lunch 1pm will not do anything she is wasting away does not eat

I would like a medical opinion about my husband. 80, and engineer who retired at 72, has numerous medical problems, and sleeps 18 hours a day. Is this normal?