My 93 yo mother is in a SNF (skilled nursing facility) because she broke her leg on 9/28/18. About Dec 2018 to current date she is having nightmares just about every night. Tossing and turning constantly happened Nov 2018 and was complaining she wasn’t sleeping then. Anyone know why this is?
She is taking medications that she was before she went in besides they did add 1 additional and that is Furosemide (Lasix) and there is no side effect that says anything about giving nightmares with this RX.
Anyhoo - I use to have really awful, violent, brutally bloody nightmares- the stuff your worst serial killer can’t even imagine.
They started when I was an adolescent - I have no idea why and where my mind even comes up with
some of the more twisted stuff.
I believe these nightmares to be the root cause of my life long insomnia. As a young teen I was scared to death to fall asleep.
Okay - so anyhoo, again.
One morning I was telling The Donor - my first husband - about one of my nightmares and he comes up with “You’re sleeping too hot.”
Huh? According to him being too hot while you sleep is the cause of nightmares.
So being desprate - I gave it a shot. Lower room temp at night, windows cracked when possible, lighter sleeping cloths and switched out all sheets and blankets for a simple light weight down duvet in a cotton duvet cover.
And guess what? It worked. I’m not completely nightmare free these days but I have had a hugely significant decrease in them.
I gotta say - this was one of a very few positive take aways from that dreadful nightmare of a marriage - but a big one.
Given your mom is in a new sleeping environment - check out the heat possibilities. Is the room warmer than at home? What about the bedding and pjs? Is mom in a cast? If so, I bet that gets hot... hey, it’s worth checking out,
Lasix is a water pill.
An anti-anxiety med may help, if the first one doesn't help, try another.
Or maybe a UTI? Have her checked.