How to deal w/ a clingy parent? I can't have a moment alone. If I need a minute to lie down, she's yelling out, "Are you in your bedroom? What are you doing?"

User 70,
I know what you are talking about, my mom does the same thing. I can’t leave the room for a second before she needs something or has to use the bathroom. I’m not expected to need any rest at all. This doesn’t leave any time to take care of any of my own needs.
She doesn’t do it to any of my siblings, they come and go as they please, which makes it necessary for me to set up plans in advance to have a day away about every 2-3 weeks. They act like I don’t have a life and never had a life of my own before this. It makes me angry at times, because they seem to think I don’t matter and my needs don’t matter.
I hope things get better for you and all of us caregivers

Called my Dad to see how things were. After a few minutes can hear Mum's calling out where are you? 😔

I feel for you. I agree it's an anxiety thing.

I would put a video & timer/alarm to go off in 5mins. (Used to do that with my kids. I'm having some quiet time. In my room. Alone. If you interior - I'll start the timer again). Increase to 10, then 20 mins. Sadly, I doubt this would work if dementia... but may?? if anxiety/depression. Have a digital clock she can watch.

I'll be looking for suggestions too.

Just looking at your profile you have been Caregiving for a while. There's a post from 2012 where you are burnt out.

How old are you and Mom. Is there Dementia involved? Is money a problem? If not there are nice ALs. If Mom needs 24/7 care maybe its time for a nice NH. You can't do this anymore.

user70, this behavior is called "shadowing". Knowing what's it's called will help you source information on how to work through it. In my search I found that it occurs from a place of fear, anxiety, insecurity of your LO, seeing you as the one thing they feel safe and certain about and can understand in their increasing jumbled world. Suggestions to deal with it is to maintain a routine. It was suggested to use an egg timer when needing a bathroom break: start the egg timer and hand it to your LO, tell them when it goes off you will be out of the bathroom. Also suggested that you start them on a "meaningful activity" while you're gone, like folding towels, sorting nuts and bolts, coloring, etc. When you come back out praise them for what they did. I'm sure there are other ideas. Hope this helps you.

What struck me in the "How to handle a clingy senior" article was "...It’s best not to make a big deal out of temporary absences, as they can be upsetting for a dementia patient and those in the later stages will likely forget your absence before long. Just ensure that your loved one is safe and supervised when you are not present. Because dementia is different for every person and the symptoms usually fluctuate from day to day, you’ll probably have to work on addressing additional issues like emotional outbursts or incessant phone calls as they arise..."

Hopefully someone will be along soon with some advice, in the mean time here are a couple of articles that might be useful:

https://www.agingcare.com/articles/elderly-parent-follows-around-the-house-141132.htm

https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-handle-a-clingy-senior-163600.htm