Why is Mom awake all night?

i am seventy four years old and have had insomnia off and on for fifty years. when i was young and worked outside the home it was a problem but now that i don't work and have no children at home it isn't as troubling. there's no fighting it. i sleep when i can and get up when i can't. any time of the day or night you'll find me doing research on the internet, working on hobbies, writing poetry, writing books, reading, designing miniature houses, and working on my collection of dollhouses. i have designed and built a five by six foot Victorian dollhouse that's on my kitchen table, and a a three by four foot mid century modern ranch style dollhouse that's on my coffee table, and have started plans for the twenty first century dollhouse i want to build. sometimes i wash the dishes that i was too tired to wash the day before. i am in no way demented and i take no medications. in care facilities why not put all of the insomniacs together at night and have a night nurse aid or activity director with them and let them stay up. let them sleep during the day and stop fighting it. many people are in nursing homes simply bcs they are incontinent and in my opinion are otherwise not sick or disabled if they aren't drugged into oblivion. anyone in long term care is certainly paying enough for their care.

There are better ways of caring for the aging population and our country is quite young at this. Never in the history of humanity has the elderly been put away to age away from familiar loved ones except once industry became the way a society is designed. Now our families are isolated and we have to hire one single caregiver instead of sharing the work of caring for a loved one with the whole family. Insomnia happens when we find ourselves with the reality that we can live years and years trapped in boredom. HUmans use to have vitality and rich productive lives until the very end of life. They were useful. Grandparents had kids to care for our vegetables to gather or meetings with other friends. Watch Blue Zones to see how to age gracefully. This night waking and roaming and peeing is NOT the way to age. Dementia is not the norm. Usually if you test the urine, it will be positive for a UTI. If you give electrolytes and or coconut water and change the diet, you will see immediate improvement in the behaviour and personality. Sometimes the person will become independent again. I am going through this right now and experimenting so I know first hand that the symptoms of dementia depend on many factors. There are 30 things you have to do all at the same time to reverse Alzheimers. THere are university studies that are duplicating these activities and protocols and are doing so with success. .

My mom is 81 and she has had a terrible time trying to get to sleep and staying asleep. She is now taking a sleeping pill (Restoril) 30 mg and 5mg of Melatonin. It seems to work the best with the combination.

I hope that you and the nurses are in contact with the doctor. They need to try a different med, or a different combination of meds. Are they given her an actual tranquilizer, or are you just using that as a generic term for any med that calms her? There are specific sleep meds; there is melatonin, there are anti psychotics like Seroquel which have powerful sleep producing effects in many people. Find out what the doc is prescribing and ask for her/him to review its effectiveness.

If my moms seroquel was not given before she started to feel afraid, it was useless and she stayed awake all night. The doctor suggested a half a pill at 8pm and the other half at 9 or 10. My mom would say there were people in her room all night. Slept with a light on many nights but we were fortunate to be able to keep mom home so we have more control over the situation. As the years progressed, we would just get into bed at 8, but still split the dosing of the seroquel because mom became harder to move with the medication in her. I found that talking about what she was seeing really did help. Made it a point to acknowledge what she was seeing because it was real to her, telling her otherwise just upset her more. Did everything I could not to give more then one seroquel because she would be too groggy the next day. Good luck, this one is not easy.

My Mom has had insomnia for decades (she's 95 and in her own home with CNAs during the daytime). Because of history of falls, she can't/won't take sleeping pills. She has to get up during the night to use the bathroom (she can do this on her own). She has the luxury of sleeping late in the morning, though the CNA arrives at 9 am. Lately, the CNAs tell me she's been reporting dreams about her parents (deceased, of course) and when she was younger. I think this is normal aging. She knows if she goes to bed too early she'll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to get to sleep for hours. Before she had a few falls that required a NH stay and then home care, if she couldn't sleep, she'd go downstairs to the family room and read for several hours or watch late night Tv I have the same problem, but at 64, I've been taking Zolpidem and other meds for frequent insomnia.

You know, lack of physical activity can actually make you experience insomnia. I know this from experience, on some nights I have actually had to get up and do something physical such as a walk or bike ride in order to get to sleep. You may try putting the patient on a treadmill to try to burn off some energy before going to bed, because physical activity really does work.

Google the words "reverse Alzheimers" you will get your answers. In the meantime, go to the local health food store and pick up a newsletter and get a nutritionist and an alternative or integrative or put in the words longevity or anti-aging medicine.
You can reverse at least 50% of the symptoms and get a doctor that knows how supplements interact with medications. My dad went from 8 medications down to 4! And we are out now sipping lattes at a fashion show! They are forgetting but can function better than before. No nursing home for my folks!

Hooray for those who allow elderly to stay up all night if they need to. I remember when I was young wishing I didn't have to sleep. I live with my 89 year old Mom & when she panics because her vision is almost gone & she gets disoriented, she gets sundowners syndrome. I do my best to help her get oriented again & if she prefers to stay up until she realizes her internal clock says it time to sleep, I put her in front of the TV & let her stay there & tell her I will be sleeping in my bed. I wake up periodically to check on her since I am retired, I know I am ABLE to loose some sleep & catch up later next day. Sometimes when I check on her, she has already gone back to bed. I hope & pray when I am old & needing care someone will do the same for me. Don't think I am perfect or my situation is perfect. I still get frustrated & angry, but usually ending up eating my thoughts & words in those moments. My thoughts & prayers are for caregivers everywhere, including nursing home, assisted living, & other caregivers. If you do it as a job, I appreciate your special calling. I hate commercials that lawyers put out making nursing home employees look neglectful. I'm sure there might be a few, but anyone who cares for someone elderly knows it can be, at times, stressful. Blessings on those who do care!

I know Mom is up at times and she is safe gated in. 3 sets of steps in my house. If I don't get my sleep at night I cannot make it up during the day. Just as I get to sleep the phone rings or she calls for me. She has woke me from a dead sleep to ask where her clothes are or to tell me its time to get up. This is usually 4 or 5am.