hi all

Message 12 of 42

I care for my 85 yr old mother who has alzheimers. she had hip replacement surgury in june. after the surgury she said this wasnt her home and I had to put locks on doors cause she tries to leave. I was told this is sundown syndrome. she will do this anytime during the day and at times it goes non stop for up to 30 hrs. I get a little help from my sister on weekends. does this sundown thing last for a very long time? this winter will be awful without help from my sister when roads are bad. someone told me to tell her to say "later" to her when she wants to go home but I can tell you that doesnt work with mom.any suggestions on what might work when this happens. when mom was on antibiotics she wouldnt be like this till they wore off. any websites out there with info on this??

posted by CLOUDDANCING

There are some interesting articles on the Internet about sundown syndrome. These two had some treatment suggestions that go beyond drugs:

US News & World Report, Sundown syndrome view link

and

Caring.com, What to Do When Someone Shows Signs of Sundown Syndrome view link

Hope they help.

Ri for EonsTeam

posted by EonsTeam
over 2 years ago

I don't know whether or not my experience with sundown syndrome is typical or not. My husband had a stroke, suffered a traumatic brain injury and had to have a blood clot removed from his brain in January. For the first couple of months, he had sundown syndrome. I don't know if it just went away or if the behavioral medication that he takes (Seroquel) keeps it in check. Best of luck to you.

posted by Laraine
over 2 years ago

Hubby and I cared for my parents in the last years of their lives - they both had Alzheimer's. Dad often took to wandering around the house and waking at odd hours. Two things that helped us were:

1) We gave him Melatonin (an OTC product) a couple of hours before bedtime, and that seemed to help boost his natural sleep-cycle. and

2) If he did get up during the night, we would give him some warm Ovaltine in milk, and promise him it would help. Whether it was the warm milk or the psychological suggestion, I don't know, but it seemed to help more often than not.

IMHO, caring for an Alzheimer's relative means you are going to earn many stars in your heavenly crown! I wish I had had access to a group like this when I was going through it.