Expert: Paula Damgaard - 2/9/2005

Question
My grandmother has just been diagnosed with AD.  Have you had any experiences with "sundowning" or hallucinations?  

Answer
Hi Mary Katherine,  If I answer your question as you wrote it all my answer will be is yes. I am assuming that you want to know something about sundowning or hallucinations.  

Patients who sundown, for reasons we are not sure of, experience more confusion and disorientation as the sun goes down, hence the name.  Ways to prevent this are to keep the house lite up as much as possible, keep the activity level up until you want her to go to bed.  Then when it is time for bed make sure that you put her to bed, covering her up and making sure the room is warm and cozy.  Otherwise if she wakes in the night due to kicking off her covers and is cold she will get out of bed, not really sure why (if she was normal she would be looking for blankets, but due to her dementia she doesn't know she needs them) and then starts to wander.  

Patients who hallucinate are doing this because of the disease.  As long as the hallucinations are not hurting her or bothering her it is best to just let her have them.  Whatever you do DO NOT try to talk her out of them!  They are real to her and the best thing you can do is go along with them, do not argue with her, it will only make her agitated and someone is going to get hurt and I guarantee you it will be you!  Dementia patients tend to be strong as horses!

There are drugs which can help if needed for these.  They don't make the hallucinations necessarily go away, just let her have them easier.  But again I wouldn't start these unless the hallucinations are bothering HER.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any other questions.  Take care Paula