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Is your spouse sleeping too much?

Caregivers: Dementia | Last Active: May 19 10:10am | Replies (25)

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@chris20

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.

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Replies to "I wonder about this too. My wife has Alzheimer's along with "paranoid ideation" and the Quetiapine..."

Well, here it is a week later and his sleeping is now kinda wonky. Some days he's up by 10am and others its 1pm. I also like the opportunity of alone time while he's sleeping but i have to remind myself to go in and wake him up at some point...to take his meds, eat and to just enjoy the day. Im fortunate in that he doesn't panic when I'm not with him every moment of the day, but he needs to know generally where I am when we're at home. But I know at some point it may get to him panicking.
As caregivers we are doing the best we can and I feel your fatigue as well. We are all experiencing different levels and phases of this journey and i'm glad that we can get advice and support for each other. I have a hard time getting to in-person support group, and am so thankful for this site. Thank you for sharing.

8 years? You are a saint. No guilt for you! Only kudis! You need her naps to give you the strength to carry on. Do you have any help?