What type of sleep aid can I use for my mom with dementia who's having trouble sleeping?

If hospice is taking care of her, can't they give her something to help her sleep?

The Mayo Clinic has a health section on Alzheimer's and there was a comprehensive article on SLEEP DISORDERs (AZ00030). Please do a google search for the complete article. We also talked to Mom's doctor about using MELATONIN to promote healthy sleep.

I am going to include some of this article, in hopes of helping you. I would ALSO talk to hospice care and get their input, as they should be experienced with this situation.

How to promote a good night's sleep
Sleep disturbances can take a toll on both you and your loved one. To promote better sleep:

■Think light. Exposing your loved one to a few hours of bright sunlight in the morning may improve his or her sleep at night. Light therapy with a specialized light box may be helpful, too.
■Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine in soda, tea, coffee or other products may contribute to sleeplessness, and alcohol can contribute to confusion and anxiety. If your loved one insists on having a drink, offer a soft drink in a familiar cocktail glass or serve nonalcoholic beer or wine.
■Manage medications. Find out what time of day your loved one should take his or her medications — morning for drugs that have a stimulating effect, and evening for drugs that make your loved one sleepy. Note that sleeping pills are generally discouraged for people who have Alzheimer's. These drugs can increase confusion and the risk of falls.
■Encourage physical activity. Plan your loved one's days to include walks and other physical activities, which can help promote better sleep at night. Taper your loved one's activities as the day winds down, however. Physical activity close to bedtime may leave your loved one too energized to fall asleep.
■Limit daytime sleep. If your loved one needs a nap, make sure it's short and not too late in the day. Have your loved one nap on the couch or in a recliner rather than in bed. If you think staying in bed too long in the morning contributes to nighttime wakefulness, wake your loved one earlier.
■Establish a bedtime routine. Do the same things in the same way every night, such as brushing teeth, using the toilet, listening to soft music and rubbing your loved one's back. If bathing or dressing for bed is difficult, do it earlier in the day. It's also important to create a comfortable place for sleeping. Make sure the temperature in your loved one's bedroom is comfortable. Turn on a night light. Place security objects, such as a favorite blanket, within easy reach.
■Treat underlying conditions. If you suspect that an underlying condition — such as sleep apnea, depression or pain — is interfering with your loved one's sleep, consult his or her doctor. Treatment may lead to more restful sleep for everyone.

My husband has Frontal lobe dementia. I discovered by giving him a Tylenol pm before bed usually keeps him asleep till morning.I would check with you Dr. first because you don't want to mix drugs.Wish you well
Scottie

Please speak to her doctor about this problem, I would not suggest you give her pain medicine to try and induce sleep. By doing that, it could just give her more anxiety. Sounds like her mind is racing and not slowing down to rest. Please contact her physician and they sould help you along with hospice.

my mom does well on trazodone which was prescribed to her by her dr. I give it to her before bed and she has been sleeping through the night.

manyblessings, how are you doing? Of course you need to go to the dr, or just call him , but I went thru the same thing.First of all, depakote is our savior am/pm . Its not a sleeping pill, sctually they use it for seizures but my mom never had those, The neuro uses this as his first line of defense with dementia related agitation. With her on this, she is sleeping thru most every night now. We tried the trazodone, it caused confusion, tylenol pm worked sometimes and sometimes klonopin. (note, you cannot combine trazodone and klonopin, it is deadly, as your dr) For us, 3 depakote sprinkles daily and no naps works. They do not want o be aggitated either, its frustrating for them and us, been there, its horrid!! good luck

That's been my world for the past year. I still can't believe it's a problem the medical field can't seem to manage. My mom was given Lorazepam (1 mg) which would put her to sleep but she was up and running wild 3 hours later. When she went on hospice (she's off now) her nurse said I could give her another one around 2am. That helped a lot but our answer came when my brother who has terrible (untreatable) insomnia told me about an herbal remedy called "Knock-out" (melatonin and valerian mix I think) which has worked. Occasionally she still gets up around 3 or 4am then I give her the Lorazepam. Her doctor didn't seem to thrilled about an herbal remedy but it's worked and he hasn't come up with a better solution. Good luck. I know how exhausted you must be!

Just a little side note: A few months ago I started sleeping on an air mattress on her floor. She has a child's bed rail which I've read IS A BIG NO NO because they'll hurt themselves climbing over them and I'm sure that's true. In our case however she just rattles it and starts yelling (she could slide down and around it if she was really trying to get out). Anyway, that wakes me up and it only takes a minute to give her the Lorazepam (same as Ativan I think??) and we're both quickly back to sleep. Made a world of difference to me. Sleeping in her room on an air mattress sounds awful but it sure beats chasing her through the house at 3 in the morning and trying to get her back into bed. I could never get back to sleep after wards.....

chl64, we have been thru the wandering over a year and I think its finally under control with the 3 depakote (knock on wood). Just wanted to suggest something to you. We have moms door cut in half and its locked on the opposite side. Its wonderful! She can get up but not out and her room is clutter free safe. A lot of times she goes to the door, then back to bed, or in her chair or recliner. We also have chains on the tops of off of our exit doors but she cant get out of her room, but can look out in the hall an across into our room . We had her mattress on the floor low when she had the broken hip just in case, I also was doing the sleeping on the floor before. good luck with the melatonin, it worked for my mom at first , but then she started not sleeping and I increased it and then she started having bad dreams on it. THe depakote works great, and no naps. Be SO careful on the lorazapam type drugs, my mom tried them and sometimes she was hyper on them, sometimes not, but they constipate terribly. My Mom takes a teaspoon of miralax in her coffee or tea 2x a day. good luck

Lorazepam constipates????? You can probably guess that's our current problem :( I'm afraid you're right about the melatonin mix. Nothing seems to last for very long. I love your half door idea. She doesn't seem to need the sleep. I don't care if she's awake as long as she's safe. I sure would love to sleep in a bed again!!!!!!!!!!

Hey yes , cut the door in half. I can watch my MOm from my bed for the most part she would walk around her room, give up and go back to bed, but she was safe. YES get MIRALAX in your Mom, 2 Tablespoons right away!! Its a powder. My Mom cant swallow pills or I would have her take colace stool softener daily. We are down to 1 teaspoon now am/pm but worked out way down. I also give her pills with prune pudding, do you make that? Going to put mom in bed now, be back...
Oh and by the way, I had to take Mom to the ER to be unimpacted!!! So take care of this problem before that happens ok. be right back

There is an amazing product we have used a lot called 'CALM', which I've gotten at a Chiropractor's office and at a health food store. It's magnesium, and promotes healthy sleep. You make it and drink it as tea. I believe the guy's name is Peter Gilliam (?) who makes it.

Oh, and by the way, regarding the CALM magnesium product - it will loosen her bowels up, too. Nice little win-win. :-) And so totally drug free.

i give my mother-in-law 6 mg of melatonin every night, it seems to help her get to sleep quicker, kinda heading off the sundowning and agitation. we have had her on both xelelon and aricept to help with her clarity, but they have both made her evening agitation and dementia so much worse that we've made the decision that having her more vague during the day is worth the trade-off. too many nights we've had to stop her from leaving, talking her off that 'ledge', so to speak. it breaks my heart because she's only 72, and in good physical health. i need advice on how to keep my 13 year old son from carrying too much of this burden around with him daily!

Hello again everyone ~~~ Thank you all so very much for your comments and suggestions. Since my last entry, my mother has slipped significantly. Now, she only speaks in a whisper and is very difficult to understand. Sometimes I think she is speaking Swedish from her childhood years. She is no longer able to support her weigh and is a total transfer. She eats and drinks very little, needs her pills crushed and can no longer swallow anything but puddings, baby foods, etc.. I pray God will be merciful and call her home soon. It breaks my heart to watch her mind and body torture her; she doesn’t deserve this horrible ending to her life.

She still has her days and nights mixed up, not sure that will ever straighten out. Currently, she is on 10mg of Valium (Diazepam) and Darvocet~N every evening, plus a 100mg. Zoloft daily and 0.5mg. Ativan every 4 hours. I can give her up to 6 Ativan in a four hour period, but usually two will do the trick if she is really on a roll. The Valium and Darvocet take a while to kick in, like a couple of hours, however they do help quiet her mind and body for the night. I know this sounds like a lot, but I just learned people of Scandinavian decent do not react to medications to the degree others do. So, compound that resistance with the dementia and what would take down an elephant, doesn’t faze Mom. Even at these doses, she is still highly agitated at times.

She has been in the Hospice House this week because I had a house full of family for Thanksgiving and knew I couldn’t handle all the holiday activities plus her. Sadly, she wouldn’t know the difference or be able to participate and, most of all, she never wanted to be remembered like she is now. I am so deeply grateful we have such a wonderful facility in our area to provide respite for families dealing with the stress of being 24/7 care givers to patients dying from these cruel diseases. It is like Heaven having a few days to be normal, breathe and regroup so I can have the strength to continue helping Mom find peace and give her all the love and care I possibly can as she struggles.

Some of you have shared how you keep track of your loved ones when they begin to wander. We moved Mom into the walkout, lower level of our home so she could have a feeling of independence in an entire area all her own. We brought her furniture, pictures and belongings so it would feel as familiar, homey, welcoming and comfortable as possible. She has a living room, dining room, TV room, kitchen, handicapped bath and her own bedroom, plus other spaces. When she arrived, she was doing fairly well, but did need assistance at times when she wasn’t upstairs with us. Our first step was the clip on alarm at night, which meant to hear it, I had to sleep down there with her. After a while this got old. Next we progressed to a sound monitor (like a baby monitor system) so I could hear the alarm while in my bedroom two flights up. That worked for a while but found I was running downstairs for no reason as sometimes the alarm pulled off while she was simply wiggling in bed, resulting in both of us needlessly loosing sleep. When Mom was still mobile but slipping, what we found worked wonders, while maintaining the integrity of our home, was to reverse the locks on all doors leading from her area. This gave her mobility and freedom, yet kept her in a safe environment. Finally, we purchased two video monitors and placed one in her bedroom and the other in the hall leading to her bathroom. I stopped using the clip on alarm and pinned the sound monitor to the down comforter, so every time she wiggled the rustling would wake me up, but it didn’t disturb her. I could also see if she was getting up or just readjusting in bed. When she was up, I knew if she was wandering and agitated or just making a potty run. I know this may sound terrible watching her, it was the only way we could keep her safe. I get enough exercise running those stairs every day and this saves unnecessary trips that only disturb her when, in reality, she is perfectly content.

One last little story. There is an open area where stairs lead to the upper floors. We needed to find a way to keep her from climbing them, wandering the house in the pitch black at 3am, like she was doing for a while and possibly going outside. Thinking an old mattress turned on its side would do the trick nicely, as it just fit across the opening. We tied it to the closet door handle on one side and to the locked freezer door handle on the opposite side. Well, this little, frail, old lady, who couldn’t remember how to pour a glass of juice, figured out where to find a pair of scissors, cut the ropes and head up stairs. That was when the hall video went in and all sharp objects were promptly removed. It’s absolutely amazing what they can do!!! We certainly learn how to be creative protecting them, don’t we? Now that she no longer has the ability to move on her own, I still use the monitor in her bedroom to keep an eye on her during the night. I waken every time she moves, but this way, I can see if she is moving to reposition or if she needs me to come down and take her to the bathroom or help her in other ways. This system has saved my sanity and allowed me to get a few hours sleep. Sorry to have rambled so long, but when I saw doors being cut in half, I thought I would share a few of our less drastic solutions.

Thank you all again for each and every suggestion, I will try them if our current solution begins to lose its effectiveness. I pray Mom doesn’t have to suffer much longer with this insidious disease and she will soon be at peace, released from this hell where her mind has her imprisoned. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you as you too traverse Dementia Mountain with your loved ones.

please look into natural sleep aid ALTERIL, ingreidences are melatonin, triptitphan (think turkey) and valerian. Works great for dad a mod/severe dementia individual. Be aware it works quickly. also ck w/ doctor re any interactions. None with dad, but err on the side of caution. GNC,Walgreens carry it. Hope it helps

Thank you all so very much for your comments and suggestions. I greatly appreciated every one of them and I am certain they not only helped me, but many others.

Sadly, I lost my mother Dec. 11. I deeply miss her, but glad she is finally resting peacefully and with those who have gone on before. I am grateful her torture has ended and, once again, she can think clearly and no longer has to deal with the horrible confusion. I wish you all tremendous peace, strength and much joy, as you continue caring for loved ones who struggle so with this horrific and ugly disease. Blessings and love to all.

SS:

Trazodone is very popular with my clients (MICA). It keeps them from ambulating throughout the night.

BLESSINGS:

Talk with her doctor first. In this great pharmaceutical country of ours, no doubt there's a pill out there to alleviate her discomfort ... and yours.

-- ED

Sorry to hear you lost your Mom. I just got a notive Darvocet was RECALLED, I hope that didnt contribute to your moms death. Did you hear of it, we got the recall from Caremark.
Now God is taking are of her, that is a relief.

I am so sorry for your loss, but relieved that her suffering is over. I am hopeful you have friends and family to help you during this transition. God bless you!

Thank you all for you kindness and hugs, they mean a great deal and help heal the soul. I was given 62 years with the world’s most fabulous mother and am blessed with a wonderful family and beautiful friends. Tonight I was out with a group of very special friends who lift me up with their love and support. I will carry many cherished memories of my mother in my heart forever, yet, my spirit is beginning to sing once again knowing she is at peace and I still have much joy and life left to experience. I truly have many gifts to be thankful for in my world. I hope all of you will know and receive these same gifts from the loved ones in your care and from family and friends as you grow and travel along the difficult pathways of this complex journey to peace. I wish you all many blessings.

Manyblessings, I am so sorry for your loss. I know that even the assurance that your mom is in a better place/state can't always take away the pain. My prayers are with you.

I've been slow to post on this topic because I've been enjoying my newly found rest. Since my mom's bladder infection has been treated she is sleeping like a baby. It's been a long year. As I was going through her things this morning it came to me that in reality I had had two problems with her at night- insomnia and agitation. The insomnia problem was a hard one but much easier to deal with when she was calm.
When she was on hospice a harpist was sent to play for her. I was amazed at the effect it had on her. I had tried new age music, various dvd's with rain sounds and waves etc. None of them had worked. But this music was different. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't have a melody, any kind of tempo really or any kind of pattern to it. The harpist said it was based on the chants of Gregorian(?) monks. I asked her if it was something could buy and she said she would get me a cd but she never did. After much searching I found Paul Baker's "The Tranquil Harp" which was pretty close and it did the job. I even loaded it on an ipod for her when she got crazy during the day (it put me to sleep- I couldn't listen to it).

It was last March that I was searching for it. Maybe there is more available online now, I don't know but it's something to consider. It really helped us with the agitation part of her nights which was much worse than her simply being awake. Sorry I didn't think of it sooner...I haven't slept in a year :)

CHL64: I agree with the 'harp music' as a relaxation. The Ipod idea is great (if they will wear it), and also a PILLOW SPEAKER works wonders (even for me).

Pillowsonic has an inexpensive pillow speaker that will attach to almost any device with a standard 'plug'. It helps for those with hearing deficiencies, since it doesn't disturb anyone else in the room. Even for the caregiver, this speaker allows you to relax, yet still have 'one ear open' to listen for them.

God Bless.

My 87 year old Grandma has dementia w/Lewy bodies & has NOT slept in days! She will scream out in the night...AHHH, in a high pitched tone all night long and a little less, but throughout the daytime too! She does not have control of this! We took her off the Trazodone, thinking this was being caused by the extreme vivid dreams from this med, but now she is still doing the screaming thing. She is more talkative during the day, (a good thing), but we have even tried tryptophan (was suggested for aggresiveness in dementia patients) but, she's not aggressive, but wasn't sure how to get her to sleep. We've also tried benadryl, tylenol pm (same thing), and the trazodone 100MG even! The 3 CNA's we have around the clock caring for her, are at their wits end with her not sleeping at all at this point! I called her doctor and he told me to call physchiatrist!!! WTH, he IS her PCP, why can he not suggest something? She takes Xanax 1mg. 3 times a day and they give her a 2nd one as needed to help her sleep and it does NOTHING! Does anyone out there have any problems like this that could help us out w/any suggestions? It has been 6 days since her last 5 hours of sleep that wasn't interrupted! We are going to a neurologist on Monday, will ask then, but suggestions are welcomed, please help!

Doctors couldn't help us. My mom's med sheet was almost a page long and I realized that a lot of it was to counteract side effects from something else she was on. Bottom line to me was this- there is no "cure" or "treatment for ALZ or dementia- they just manage symptoms. They were not making her better. I took her off all of them (some I had to ween her off slowly). I don't know if she was better but she certainly wasn't worse. Her doctor wasn't thrilled but the only thing that could have helped her- an antibiotic for her raging UTI wasn't on his list so screw him. I soon realized that I needed sleep- not her. Everything I was doing was more for my benefit. Someone early in this post suggested a safe room and they sawed their door in half. The first thing I did was make the room adjoining my old room "safe" (I'd been sleeping on her floor on an air mattress for a year). No furniture except her bed and a recliner with a nightstand between the table and the wall. The nightstand had pictures, fun jewelry and purses (which she loves) and picture books. I put princess posters on the walls (at 86 she's into Disney). I also hooked up a webcam so I could see her from my bed. I don't have tools, skills, or help so I couldn't saw the door into or I would have- I put up a series of child gates that locked on my side so she couldn't undo them. She could see over the top. She had a floor lamp (behind her chair so she couldn't knock it over) which had subdued light. On it went and on went the harp music. She got an Ativan at 11:00. IF it worked- great. Sometimes I gave her Sominex but it's supposed to sometimes cause agitation in the elderly so I varied it with natural ones too (SleepMD or Knock-out was good). If they didn't work however I realized nothing was going to work. Giving her ten things wouldn't work if the first one didn't. The harp music calmed my mom but if it didn't so what? As long as there wasn't anything in there that was going to hurt her (there wasn't) screaming never did (it drove me crazy...did I mention I had an ipod too???) I figured she'd just exhaust herself to the point she'd collapse but she never did. It was amazing- she could go a week with literally no sleep in a manic stage. If she was calm but just not sleeping she would make and remake her bed, sit in her chair, yell at me over the gates, play with her purses and eventually go back to bed. I just had to realize that she wasn't going to "stop" and act normal. It just wasn't going to happen. Her needs weren't my needs. I wish I had of read that post 8 months ago. Thankfully my mom is much better. She had an undiagnosed urinary tract infection for more than a year (NO FEVER OR PAIN...be careful. Just cloudy pee that smelled bad which her doctor and hospice nurses blew off). Since that got treated her craziness has completely gone away (knock on wood).
Honestly I don't think doctors do know. Their advice is based on some law of averages. Medicine is not an exact science and I always got the feeling that when they saw 86 and Alzheimer's on her chart it was like..."Eh". She's not 25 and no one's gonna sue. I tell ya. I'm rethinking this whole care situation. Look how many posts and and suggestions there are that come from patients and their experiences with how many "specialists". I'm convinced there isn't an "answer".
I'm just going to try to keep my sanity and keep her comfortable and safe.

I just read my post- in case you're wondering why I had a table in her room I didn't. Her nightstand was between her recliner and the wall so she wouldn't trip and fall onto it - sorry :)

CHL64: I don't know how many times I have posted in the past day, but one common thing I see is UTI's.... undiagnosed and diagnosed. Antibiotics clearly are not the answer! It didn't work for my mother and it doesn't seem to work well for others here.

The BEST (personal, NONdoctor) advise I can give is to use a powder called D-Mannose as a DAILY regiment to prevent UTI's.

I can tell you from personal experience that this helped my mother TREMENDOUSLY, and can't stress enough how much it helped her attitude NOT to have a UTI!

My heart goes out to all of you still fighting this fight. My journey is over with my mother (she has passed). God bless ALL of you.

thanks MiaMadre- just ordered some D-mannose. Hopefully UTI's don't become our next nightmare...

Manyblessing, sorry for your loss!!

mom hasn't slept in about 8 mths. she doesn't nap during the day!! She is full of anxiety. She is awake 20 hrs a day!! None of her doctors will give her anything to help relax her. I give her NO caffeine,she has reg. eating times. I get her out of the house several times a week to go to shopping but she never tires. She paces ALL DAY long! I take her to a local PCH to get some respite care( sometimes day visits, occasionally overnites) At first her overnites there was great she would sleep(I at first thought they gave her something? ) But once she got used to the layout of the land there she no longer sleeps there as well. Since the PCH owner knows my family she is doing respite care as a favor for me for a small fee. Which is helping my sanity some but since mom is NOT a patient there I feel bad cause she has the aides chasing her all nite!!
At home I have installed baby gates, locks up high on doors, baby monitors. I have removed everything from her room except bed and nightstand, put locks on her closet doors, she had a rocking chair in her room until last nite at 5am she was rocking in her chair and pounding it off the wall. I have tried music, a nice warm bath before bed. but she won't relax. She fights sleep!!! She does take a low dose Klonopin 2x/day. I have even gave her 2-3 at nite to see what happens NOTHING!!! Mom has taken Klonopin for YEARS I think she is immuned. I tried a sleep aids however it made her anxiety worse at nite!! I have pleaded with drs (Neuro, PCP and Psych)to help her. one dr thinks that increasing her paxil will help. I however finally admited to him that I weened her off of paxil a 1 1/2 yrs ago. Mom would cry all day and seem to be in despair. Also get this her PCP had her on a diuretic 2x/day. Mom weight on average 85-90lbs and DOESN'T retain water.One doctor wanted her to go on Serequil(not right spelling sorry) But I refused due to commercials I have seen, and web articles about not to give it to dementia patients. I think that because I am younger and asking for valium or xanax for mom they think I am the one whos trying to score pills. In the area we live there has been many drs in trouble for passing out scripts. Which makes other doctors leery!! This woman anxiety is so bad that you can feel her heart beating thru her chest most of the time. She digs at her skin. will actually dig the flesh off. She looks like she has a skin lesions. I do clean her sore daily so she won't get skin infection.My husband thinks that I need to start recording moms nite time actions and take it to the doctor for proof!!!! To be very honest, maybe I shouldn't say it I have even thought of turning to the web black market for help!! But I know that is wrong and I don't want to get in trouble. I am tired, I KNOW she is tired I can tell in her actions, her mental awareness. I am afraid if I can't get anxiety undercontrol she will have a heart attack or stroke!!
UTI's I have also been reading alot about. I took mom to doctor last week, Dr said she didn't have an UTI but I think I need to persue the issue a little more. She never has pain or complains but at times her urine is cloudy and always smelly. I know mom has a spot in her lung but her neuro dr. who found that assured me that the dementia will kill mom before tumor would. well that was the last time she was there!!!!!! Maybe the spot in her lungs is getting worse? Cancer??? At the time spot was found her PCP told me he felt it wasn't cancer!!
Another thought of mine is Dental infections?? I know that dental problems can also reek havoc on your body if untreated.moms breathe is RANK even after all the hygiene daily. I guess I have to do some investigations
Prior to 8mo ago mom sleep okay, still anxious though but she would relax to sleep for longer periods at a time.
I took notes of everyones suggestions and meds. I guess it doesn't hurt to try !!!!! I recently changed mom supplement insurance. So she now has a broader selection of doctors!!

Have any of the doctors done a complete blood profile INCLUDING a T4 AND T3? Both are important!! Or checked for a tumor on the adrenal glands. This almost sounds like an over active thyroid issue or adrenal problem. I have Grave's disease and before I got treatment, I was much like your mother. I thought I was losing my mind, couldn't sleep or sit still and I would walk and walk and walk until I would collapse, but still my insides felt like I had all ten fingers and toes stuck in a light sock on the most horrific carnival ride imaginable. It was awful! I went to the ER numerous times because of chest discomfort and I though my heart was going to give out it was racing so fast. BTW, absolutely NO ONE in the ER even recognized that I had Grave's Disease, just looked at me like I was some sort of nutcase woman having a panic attack. They told me my heart was fine and that was all they could do so go home and deal with it. Thank Heaven I had a doctor who knew I wasn't making it up and didn't stop until we found the problem. If your mother already has dementia, I can only imagine what she........and you.......must be going through! It has to be a total nightmare.......if only you could get to sleep to have a nightmare instead of living it. I would definitely get her into an endocrinologist for testing. IMHO, it certainly sounds like there is more going on with her than dementia and so called Sundowners. Don't give up, keep searching for a good doctor who will work with you and your mother. You may have to go to another town or larger, more enlightened medical facility to get the help you need. If it does turn out to be Grave's Disease or adrenal issues, he will definitely need medication to get this under control and possibly surgery. However, Grave's Disease is controllable and I feel 100% better now that I have mine under control. Just a thought, because it sounds like you have covered most other bases.

Good luck, keep us posted. I hope you find an answer soon before you both loose your health under the strain. My heart goes out to you, and all those caring for a loved one with dementia, it is one of the most difficult and heart wrenching gifts of love you will ever give.

yellowfever and manyblessings: My Mother was just taken off zolpidem tartrate,--Ambien--for sleep, and detrol, a bladder control med. Now, she takes 75 mg Seroquel at night, instead of 10 mg ZT with 50 mg Seroq!!! Since last Friday, she is alert, her normal personality is back, she is sleeping better--without the sleep aid, and with only 25mg Seroquel more. She is happier during the day and NO MORE PACING AND FREAKING OUT IF YOU GET UP TO DO SOMETHING!!! I had to find a GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRIST!!! Please do this and not rely on family practice MD. They are not certified in geriatrics, most of them. I hate to tell you what my Mother's "geriatric specialist" prescribed for her: something I suggested!!! NO--I am NOT A DOCTOR!!! Please take the time to Google "best geriatric psychiatrist.." in your area. Everyone is happier and more rested in my house, and it is a BLESSING. Good Luck!
christina