T:Night Time Wandering and Psychosis Sleep Medication?	Q:My Dad currently takes <medicine>,  <medicine> and <medicine>/<medicine> for his Alzheimer's Disease. He has cycles in which he barely sleeps during the night,  and is instead up wandering the house,  tearing his bedclothes apart,  going through drawers,  opening the front door (even though he has problems doing that during the day),  and yelling for my Mom to come look at something that isn't there. (He and my Mom live next door to my husband and me.  ) His <professional_practitioner> upped his <medicine> to <num> pills at night,  but that seemed to make things worse,  so we dropped it back to one pill.  Does anyone else have this problem with their AD patient? If so,  does that person take some type of sleeping medication to help out? I'm not sure if the <professional_practitioner> figures that the extra <medicine> would make my Dad drowsier,  or if he just doesn't want to prescribe another medication.  Thanks.  <name>	A:I'm sorry to hear that your dad has AD,  but unfortunately this the nature of the beast. The night time antics. I ran into that when my Gma lived with me. My son,  who lives with us,  would take over the night time duties for me. He has told me that Gma would do some crazy things in the night. looking for food for her (imaginary) friends to opening the door etc. When she fell and broke her arm I tried giving her a sleep aid because she did NOT sleep at all. you would've thought I gave her a kid <medicine> because it did not work at all! But the opening doors at night is disconcerting. have you installed alarms on the doors? Or put some sort of safety feature on them?


A:Yes,  it's called Sundowner's and most AD patients have this. It's really tough but I'd speak with the <professional_practitioner> again and let them know what is going on -- maybe you could have an aide come in during the night to help out so your Mom and all of you can get some sleep?


A:Thanks for the responses! Regarding opening the front door at night,  we're looking at getting several simple latches to add to the inside of the door. Dad seems to be able to turn the knobs to open the door at night,  but when it comes to the latch of the outer storm door he has problems. Regarding having an aide come in during certain hours. my Mom,  age <age>,  is of the 'old school' of people who grew up taking care of themselves,  etc. and doesn't want a stranger coming into the house. I'm right next door if they need me and have gone over at night on several occasions. Its interesting. my Mom and I attend a support group one day a month with a group of other caregivers. There are anywhere from <num>-<num> people,  plus moderators. The group is all women. all women who are also of the same 'old school'. They for the most part have their husbands at home (<num> husbands just passed away),  and they take care of them with little outside help. Its just the way they were raised. The one man who visited the group a few times had put his wife into an <institution> because he no longer felt he could take care of her! (Off the subject,  I know). I do plan on visiting with the <professional_practitioner> at my Dad's next appointment,  as my Mom doesn't feel that he's really hearing what she's asking about meds,  etc.  


A:Yes,  my Dad was the same way with my Mom and would even hide things just so we wouldn't know what was happening with her. Of course we noticed! Neither of them wanted someone around all the time,  but when my Dad became too feeble to take care of both of them and the household duties,  we needed to step in and make the decision. Sometimes you have to watch out for the caretaker as well -- even though they state things are okay with them. This age group is a stubborn bunch,  but that's how they made it through so many situations throughout their lives. Your parents are so fortunate to have you next door. I was about <distance> away,  but it was tough to have to hold down a full time job,  family,  and take care of all their medical appointments,  housekeeping,  etc. So it just made sense for us to get some help. My siblings are all <distance> away and they would help when they could,  but it's just a tough situation. Take care,  and keep sharing! And,  so glad you are going to support groups. That's a great thing! 


A:Rather than an actual sleeping pill,  our <professional_practitioner> put my FIL on <medicine> to help him sleep and it worked pretty well up til the last <time_period> of his life.  
