We just got mom out of the hospital where we did a telepsych while we were there - she has an issue with electricity - she thinks everything is shocking her and my husband and I are causing it. Nights are really bad- she hates when evening comes she does not sleep well- thinks lights are burning her, etc- the psychiatrist on the telepsych said it sounds like Sundowners syndrome. She is on a small dose of Zoloft and rimadone - anti psychotic.. tonight she was yelling she was calling the police cause we have been shocking her for weeks.. she loses reality. Talking her down is like talking to a child. Anyone have similar experiences? We see her PCP on Tuesday and hoping he will admit her somewhere for a work up. So worried I will never get my mom back.
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General practitioners are often clueless about geriatric medicine, they are more family docs.
We found a geriatric neurologist who prescribed Olanzapine and Venlafaxine, and he returned to his sweet self, even as his dementia progresses. It was so hard to watch him suffer!
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i don’t know what to she will not go to the Doctors office.
Hospitals are hard places to get enough sleep. I am an RN and used to work a lot of nights. The comings and goings for vital signs, medications, and checking for responses to treatment tend to devastate good sleep. A lot of our older patients ended up having a little "hospital psychosis" with confusion, delusions, and difficult behaviors with prolonged hospitalizations.
SO, helping your mom get back to her usual routine and ensuring she gets plenty of rest at night (8-9 hours of sleep) should help. Some medications can also contribute to confusion. Other medications may help her to fall asleep and get rest. Her PCP can prescribe sleep medications and look over her other medications for side effects that may contribute to her mental health challenges.
Definitely the longest goodbye, brace yourself for a whirlwhind of emotions.
Stay patient and strong.
Time to try a different med, perhaps. Seroquel worked great for my mom, while some it does not help at all. My mom couldn't take ativan, completely the opposite effect as intended, but some have very good luck with it.