Is your loved one with dementia sleeping a lot (too much)?

My Brother who has dementia due to brain surgery and radiation treatment, progressing for 15 years now. He now sleeps for what seems like two days straight and then can be awake and active for one day. I know it’s normal progression for later stages, but it’s concerning for nutrition. has anyone else experience this?

Hello, @donald1967 I'm sorry to read of your brother's health issues. It is a tough journey for sure.

I know every patient is unique, but in my wife's case, she slept quite a bit post-brain surgery. Her neurosurgeon told us that the brain tries its best to 'rewire' itself during sleep and not when the patient is awake so the brain craves sleep during those times. So she, too, went through those alternating periods of sleep and wakefulness.

Not sure this helps at all, but it was our experience.

Are you his caregiver?
Strength, Courage, & Peace

I have dementia and my sleep patterns has changed to sleeping more, close my eyes all the time while sleeping.

Hi Donald,
My 62 yo husband was diagnosed with dementia 2 years ago and in December 2022 he was starting to sleep all the time. I just felt it was a "stage" he was going thru so I just let him sleep. I would wake him up every so often to give him his meds and to make sure he stayed hydrated. He was only interested in eating 1 meal a day. I wasn't too worried about it, but it made it difficult for me to sleep because that's when he would be awake (6pm - 4/5am). 3 days before Christmas I was awakened by him at 730am with him having a seizure. This had never happened before so you can imagine how freaked out I was. After being admitted to the ER he was given a Covid test and it was positive, which was very surprising because we don't go out of the house much...mainly to grocery shop and to the local vets club once in a while, so it was very surprising to me that he contacted it. The only symptoms I saw were him just being tired and sneezing alot..nothing else.We already had a dr. appt to see his neurologist and she said him sleeping so much was probably due to him not feeling well (covid). She suggested he start a very lose dose of Melatonin( please don't do this without dr, permission) at normal bedtime to get him back on track to be awake during the daytime. She has always told us its okay for him to sleep 8-11 hours a night but that he needs to be awake when the "world is alive and moving". She also said it's okay to nap throughout the day but for me to wake him every 2-3 hours and get him up to get the blood circulating and fresh air. The Melatonin as helped tremendously and it only took 1 week to get him back to his normal sleep patterns. I've heard and read that sleep helps dementia patients cuz it rejuvenates the brain. Im not sure if this helps with any of what you and he are experiencing but just wanted you to hear my experience about the sleeping.

Hi, we are having a no sleep problem. So far, we’ve seen his primary, his cardiologist and neurologist and his pulmonologist next month. So far his Furosemide and Lisinopril are on hold. We could try taking Aricept during the day and see if that helps. He sleeps all day and all night, with interspersed days when he is awake 3-4 hours. He does manage bathroom breaks and eating but says he is in a daze most of the time. He has had 2 procedures recently with anesthesia and wonder if this has made him sleep more.

Thank you!

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Wishing you much peace, but this is all hard, so hugs too.
My husband S is not sleeping too much. On a good night he sleeps about 6-7 hours with one time up to go to the bathroom. We use an OURA ring to analyze sleep scores.
But on a bad night he is up in the middle of the night brushing his teeth and washing his face taking off his PJs and getting ready for the day unless I catch him and get him back in bed - not necessarily sleep. These incidents happen when he is worried about getting someplace. The other night he got about 2-3 hours of sleep and felt terrible all day and took a short nap.
He is not on any prescription medicine only supplements and at night melatonin and l-theonine.
He has had two clinical sleep studies-very mild occasional apnea but the sleep doc we saw recently said no devices but he may need a drug to help stay asleep and manage anxiety at night.
S is in the early stages. My friend, whose husband is 10 years ahead of S w dementia does sleep all day if he could.
Sleep is so darn important for us too. May we all get enough rest in peace🥰🙏🏻

I do not have dementia but have been very sick over the last 6 years with heart bypass, stroke, leg bypass, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. I am doing well now but so much trouble sleeping and nothing helped! I now take liquid capsules of Valerian herb by Gaia herbs to help me sleep and wake up fine.

Interesting, how long have you been taking Valerian root?

I wonder about this too. My wife has Alzheimer's along with "paranoid ideation" and the Quetiapine (Seroquel), taken am and pm, helps the paranoia and hostility, but she sleeps 10 hours at night and takes a two hour nap in the daytime. Sometimes she takes two naps. But I haven't looked into this with the Dr since she panics if I am not with her every moment of every day, and her sleeping gives me an opportunity for some alone time. This has been going on for about 8 years now. I often wake her up if the nap goes on more than two hours. I don't think I am a terrible caregiver, but sometimes by the end of the day I am spent. Caregiver burnout, they call it, or a new term I ran across, "compassion fatigue. I empathize with you and what you are going through.
I also think that the after effects from anaesthesia can cause all sorts of lingering issues, as I have experienced some personally, including loss of taste and smell for many months.