Alzheimer's, Sleep, and Patterns

"With Alzheimer's disease it is all about establishing patterns of behavior. Whether it is the pee pee war, poop war, or sleeping you have to get into a pattern. You have to establish a pattern of behavior that is conducive to accomplishing a mission...."

Every so often I receive an email asking for advice on the Alzheimer's patient and sleeping. Some dememtia sufferers get up frequently at night, and others stay up all night.

When I receive these emails, I am immediately concerned. There is a very high correlation between sleep deprivation and depression. In the case of the Alzheimer's caregiver, the combination of stress and not getting a good night's sleep can lead to depression. This helps explain, in part, why 40 percent of Alzheimer's caregivers suffer from depression.

In this most recent email, our reader explains that his mother is staying up all night. The first solution the doctor offered was to put his mother on antipsychotic drugs. Yikes. Fortunately, our reader has his eye on the ball and has learned that the combination of Alzheimer's and antipsychotic drugs in not only a bad idea -- its dangerous.

See...Antipsychotics, Aricept, and a Good Point Guard

I am not a doctor, and I don't pretend to be a doctor. The potential solution I am offering here is as a fellow Alzheimer's caregiver.

The first question I always ask is, is the Alzheimer's patient sleeping during the day. Usually the answer is Yes. Well, you can only sleep so much in any 24 hour day. If you get 3 or more hours of sleep during the day, it is likely that you won't sleep much at night or that you will wake up in the very early AM. In order to sleep 6 hours or more, through the night, this pattern needs to be changed.

With my mother the question I have learned to ask myself in every situation is -- what is the pattern? What is the pattern of behavior?

In the pee pee war, I finally realized I had to get my mother into the bathroom every two hours. I learned by simple observation that when my mother said those magic words -- I have to pee -- it was too late. She is older and she can't hold it in. Her pee pee muscle is weak. I'll interject here. I learned how to make my own pee pee muscle stronger through a couple of simple exercises.

Our reader explained that his mother does sleep during the day. Maybe most of the day. At night, when it is time to sleep, he puts his mother in bed and then turns on the TV. He know she is up and watching TV all night because he hears her talking to the television via the baby monitor he installed in her room.

Baby monitor, excellent idea. TV on, bad idea. Awake at night hearing mother talk and the TV on, very bad.

I don't watch television in the bedroom. I believe it is a bad idea. The bed is for sleeping. If you use the bed for sleeping you are establishing the correct pattern of behavior. If you use the bed to watch TV you are diluting the correct pattern of behavior. I will interject another tidbit here, I believe television in the bedroom is a bad idea if you are married. You can decide that one for yourself. Bed equals sleep.

After our reader told the doctor that he would not give his mother antipsychotic drugs, the doctor came up with another solution -- valium. So it now appears our reader will try the combination of Ambien and Valium. Double yikes.

First off, if Ambien doesn't work from the get go then it doesn't work. If it doesn't work, jettison the drug. Get rid of it. All drugs are designed to accomplish a mission. Sometimes they work very well for a person. Sometimes they don't work at all for a person. This is a simple fact of life. You are wasting your time, money, and maybe even hurting yourself when you try kicking a dead horse. A dead horse is not going to get up and starting running. Put the bubble up above your head. Imagine yourself kicking a dead horse. Let me know.

For some reason I will never fully understand, I wonder why doctors are addicted to writing prescriptions? You would think an experienced doctor would be asking the same questions I am asking here. What is the pattern of behavior?

Wouldn't it make more sense to first change the pattern of behavior before working your way through the PDR? The Physicians Desk Reference contains all the FDA approved drugs, a description of the drugs, and a picture of the drugs. Rather than trying all the drugs, how about this? Try reading the PDR when you get in bed. Sleep is on the horizon, trust me.

I am confident that changing the pattern of behavior is the best potential solution. Is if fool proof? Will it work every time? No. But I know that it can work because I suggested it to some readers and they told me it did work.

My advice is simple and straight forward. Start doing things during the day that engage the person suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Keep them up and moving to the degree possible. Involve them in normal every day activities like going to the store. If they have trouble walking try what I did, I get my mother to drive around in the motorized cart with me in Walmart while we shop.

Try and remember, what did the person suffering from Alzheimer's like to do before Alzheimer's? Puzzles, crossword puzzles, read the comics, art, music, going to the mall for no good reason? Try to engage them in these activities during the day.

Key word here day -- get them into some bright light. Sun is good. A well lit store is good.

Here are some simple activities. Take them to McDonald's for a cup of coffee. Ask for the senior discount. Take them for a ride in the car. Library anyone? Let them sit over near the kids section. This works wonderfully well. If they are not a wanderer, my mother isn't, this really works well on several levels.
If you want a person to sleep at night, you can't let them sleep all day. Alzheimer's or not, you sleep all day, you won't sleep at night. Simple observation.

With Alzheimer's disease it is all about establishing patterns of behavior. Whether it is the pee pee war, poop war, or sleeping you have to get into a pattern. You have to establish a pattern of behavior that is conducive to accomplishing a mission.

Whether it is pee pee, poop, or sleep in won't happen in a New York minute. You have to work on it. It takes time to establish a pattern of behavior. Here is the good news. Once you establish a good pattern of behavior it will stick if you keep reinforcing the pattern.

If you fall into a bad pattern of behavior guess what? It will persist. It will persist until you decide to change the pattern. To change a pattern of behavior to have to be committed to change. You have to be goal oriented. You have to be working toward that goal each day.

Or, you can keep kicking a dead horse.
By Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room