Issues with sleeping are sometimes common with care recipients cr with dementia the following are tips for caregivers working with crs who have sleeping problems

Try: It is important to have the cr examined by medical providers at the onset of problems treat pain with an analgesic at bedtime if approved by physician try vitamin e for ‘restless legs’ also discuss with doctor stopping or changing diuretic medications that may be contributing to this problem for sleep apnea breathing difficulties characterized by heavy snoring help person lose weight if obese see doctor and discuss eliminating sedatives that may be contributing to this problem have an evaluation for depression done if early morning awakening e g waking regularly at 4 00am is a problem antidepressants given at bedtime may help sleep have all medications carefully evaluated for side-effects use psychotropic medications to take the edge off agitation use only under the supervision of a physician in some older adults with dementia these medications can have the opposite effect by making people more agitated use otc sleeping medications only as a last resort be aware that their effectiveness is only short term but may be helpful in establishing a more regular sleep cycle however sleeping medications may add to confusion on waking

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

Information: n/a

References: Mace nancy & rabins peter 1999 the 36-hour day baltimore the john’s hopkins university press robinson anne spencer beth & white laurie 1992 understanding difficult behaviors ypsilanti mi eastern michigan university

Keywords: Dementia sleep

*This information is listed as a Tip and is not explicitly medically licensed

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