Sundowner's Syndrome
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- psu1999
- nursebecky58
- feistyfemale56
- Tranquility
- drawls
- linberg73
- harmony777
- newcare
- dkelley62
- Lampie
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» psu1999 - Sundowner's
Hi,I am just starting to do some research on sundowners. My grandmother is almost 90 years old and they are telling us she is a "sundowner". The problem is she has not been diagnosed with Alzheimers or Dementia. She was hospitalized with pneumonia and congestive heart failure at the time of onset. She has been home for over a week and the mysterious behavior has continued. Some days are worse than others. Our family is desperate to know about this disease. If anyone could direct me to some information I would be very thankful.
-- posted by psu1999
» nursebecky58 - Re: Sundowner's Syndrom
I am a Hospice Nurse for an elderly lady who I believe has Sundowner's Syndrome. She becomes a different person in the afternoons and through the night. We are trying 5mg Haldol in the afternooons to see if this helps. Will keep you posted.-- posted by nursebecky58
» feistyfemale56 - Sundowner's Syndrome
As a nurse who has worked in long term care for almost twenty-five years, I can surely attest to the reality of Sundowner's Syndrome. As a 3-11 shift person, it seemed the day shift nurse and I were discussing different people altogether when it came to some of the resident's behaviors.It does seem that those persons with dementia-related problems experience the most pronounced symptoms, but Sundowner's sometimes is seen is people with no known diagnosis of dementia.
As you've no doubt noticed, sitting a person down to watch TV does little to nothing to ease their evening anxiousness. Depending on the level of confusion, or lack thereof, will determine what sort of approaches you might want to try. A simple, repetitive activity such as knitting or weaving potholders on a loom, or even walking on a treadmill or out of doors...these are just some suggestions.
Our docs most often used a mild anti-anxiety agent when non-medication approaches didn't work.
This is definitely an area that needs more study on a large scale. I wish family members and caregivers the best in their efforts.
-- posted by feistyfemale56
» Tranquility - Re: Sundown syn.
Hi Leveta,I have heard of other instances where loved ones (with various illnesses), of any age, get day and night confused. This could be due to changes in sleep patterns, medications, etc... However, the research I have done on Sundowner's is linked with dementia (Alz/Strokes). This may be because it is more common in those who do have a dementing illness.
If a loved one does not have dementia, but is experiencing Sundowner's, they can still try some of the tips to help them settle down, such as low lighting, less activity in the evening, and keeping to a routine in the evening.
I hope this has helped.
-- posted by Tranquility
» drawls - Dementia/Sundowners
My Mother-in-law lives with us and I take care of her. She does pretty good during the day, but tends to wake me up at night with "chest pains". After visiting the emergency room various times and being hospitalized twice, the best the doctors could come up with was anxiety. She does have congestive heart failure but Nitroglycerin tablets did nothing to help, but one of the doctors prescribed clonazepam. When I give her one of these, she goes right to sleep and does not seem to remember having problems the night before upon waking. Could she have a form of Sundowners syndrome?-- posted by drawls
» linberg73 - Sundowner's Syndrome - Could it be medications?
My 73 year old husband developed this when he was hospitalized for Atrial Fibrillation 8 months ago. He had an operation 1 week ago and the systems were there again. What I am interested in knowing, could medication trigger Sundowner's Syndrome. These are the medications he has been taking since AFIB.Famotidin,Coumadin,Metoprolol,Prinivil,Lasix,Diltiazem (please excuse misspelled words).If anyone else has been taking these medications, maybe the doctors should be aware.
-- posted by linberg73
» harmony777 - Re: Sundowner's Syndrome - Could it be medications?
In response to Sundowner's Syndrome - Could it be medications? posted by linberg73:My mother just got diagnosed with Sundowner's this week. She has had several medial problems over the past 3 years. (Massive stroke, pacemaker, open heart surgery, etc.) She is onCoumadinn as well as many other drugs. She was taken off theCoumadinn two days ago. We are hoping to get some relief from the Sundowner's.
Last night we left the lights on and that seemed to help. I would appreciate any medicarefsfs. so I can become more informed about this syndrome.
Best of luck and God Bless !
-- posted by harmony777
» newcare - Re: Sundowner's Syndrome - Could it be medications?
In response to Sundowner's Syndrome - Could it be medications? posted by linberg73:
I'm the caregiver to an 82 yr woman. I've noticed that when she is on a high dosage (80 mg) of fluid pills (reduce fluid due to congestive heart failure), she has more episodes of confusion. The first time she was not on potassium supplements and the evening confusion and weakness were extreme. After the potassium supplements and reduction in the strength of the Lasic, the Sundowners episodes were greatly reduced.
Thought I would share as another lead for investigating possible medication triggers. Good Luck to everyone.
-- posted by newcare
» Lampie - WHAT HAPPEN TO MY MOM?
Happy,Smiley,never meets a stranger,Friendly personality decribes our Mom,now all that is gone in just a matter of days.My Mom is 92 years old and has always been a talkative, smart, always knows driving directions even better then I do. Tells jokes and likes to make other people laugh. She loves being the center of attention. She still has all her memory intact. Only physical things wrong with her are congestive heart failure, hearing loss, (wears hearing aids) loss of some eyesight by early stages macular degeneration.
Since last June we started to notice a slight change in her, She stopped calling me on the phone..which was not like her at all..I do know she hated having to depend on her children (4 of us) to take her places,do her shopping,taking her to doctor visits and so on. She was always driving in the past and never needed any help from anyone until her vision put a stop to her driving. This has been 3 years now.
Last Thursday morning at 2:30 a.m. I got a phone call from my Mom...and OH MY! this was so unlike her..she started talking about not having any medician or nylons to take to my sister's house when she was suppose to go there to babysit their dogs while she and her husband were gone for 2 days...(which my Mom did in the past all the time over the years)Mom starting saying Oh My!this is a tragedy what am I going to do...I'm going to have to call the police..I just don't know what to do..OMG she kept saying over and over. She said Don't you understand this is a tragedy.
Well I must say I tried to stay calm and talked to her in a soft voice to try to get her to tell me what she was talking about..it was very confusing...then she wanted to talk to my husband..told him the same things and then hung up the phone. Within 5 minutes my Sister called me and asked if Mom had called me..finding out Mom had called all 3 of us girls in the middle of the night. My Sister was there with her at this time and took Mom to hospital to find out what happen to her. Mom was so worried and anxious..and just not making any sense at all.
WHAT HAPPEN TO MY MOM?
After tests of all kinds were done on our Mom..they said she did not have Alzhimer's or dementia, or signs of sroke, but blood level was very low..starting her on B-12 shots for next 4 weeks,and she was very dehydrated. The tending Neurologist said it was Sundowners.
The Mom we have now is nothing like our Mother..she sits and worries..(something is on her mind that she will not tell us.) She is saying she wishes she was dead,more off the wall things she is saying still happening like the night she called all of us. But sits quitely most of the day and you can tell she is being torched by her own thoughts.
When night time comes she gets up in the night to get dressed for a doctor visit..which she did have with her family doctor that next day. BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT???.
Mom is still getting confused about her medicine,which is not like her at all. And she worries about people will think that she is crazy, she don't understand what has happened to her and either do we. How does this happen to an outgoing person like my Mom? And still remembers more then any person I have ever met over the age of 30. She was amazing to everyone she met.
My Mom is gone is just a snap.Is this really Sundowners? Can anyone here help me get some answers as to what is happening to my Mom?
BTW..her family doctor said she was just depressed. There is more wrong here then just depression,the things she says sometimes just don't make any sense at all.
-- posted by Lampie
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