Restlessness/Impulsive Behavior

[Zebra10]

My 64 year old brother can’t seem to sit still. He pulls and tugs at his clothing and is extremely restless. He is extremely impulsive. Trying to get up and walk without assistance. This of course leads to falls. Anyone else experiencing this? How are you addressing these issues?

[Hungryhippos]

Yes, this started with my dad about a year ago, mostly after using a particular medication. However, he had minor symptoms before as well that I now associate with "sundown syndrome". At sunset and on, my dad becomes agitated at times and it's clear to see that he's suffering from anxiety. He is not mobile enough to get out of his bed anymore but one of us family members would sit by him until the wee hours into the night, making sure that he doesn't stick his leg out of the bed and try to get out and inevitably fall. Wasn't a very practical solution, but it worked. A couple of things I found that calmed my dad down: massaging his head when he has these anxiety "attacks", and just sticking an iPad next to him with his favorite subject on repeat (a video or audiobook, etc). Try those!

[redyi]

This happened with my husband. We discovered that he does not feel pain when he falls. Eventually he was admitted to the local hospital where it was discovered he had fractures to his vertebrae ribs and hip. He is now in a care home where he can be looked after 24/7 as many of these falls happened in the night and I could not stay up all night and day. He is 68 Thinking if you this is so difficult

[lfc_elmo]

Yes, my dad experienced this a lot. Everything minute or so used to get up and sit back down. This of course has lead to falls much like your brother. As the comment above mentioned, keeping them distracted with their favourite music, show, news definitely helps.

[youliftmeup]

My husband is the same. I bought silicone stretchy tubes which help settle him down.as he grabs at anything that moves. Definitely anxious and distressed. Can happen any time of night or day. That together with everything else makes things hard so any distraction is positive

[oilman1]

My wife is similar. She often wants to get up and when you ask her where she wants to go she will reply "I don't know". Got her a lift chair to see if that would help but she is scared of the chair when it starts lifting up and will not use. Not sure if there is a solution. She also gets heavy "sundown syndrome" with big mood swings. Very difficult disease to cope with.

[WindyGirl]

I am dealing with the same thing with my husband. I have to go out In the evenings to feed some cows that we have. It takes about 20 minutes. He says he will not get up, but he tries and has fallen twice in the past few weeks. I guess I am going to have to hire someone to feed. He says he wants to out to help me or some other “good” reason in his mind for getting up. I thought after the first fall that resulted in stitches, he would not try again. But I guess he really has no control with this disease. It controls him instead. I just have to remember that and alter my routine. So I obviously have no words of wisdom for you, other than knowing you are not alone.

[Tippyleaf]

My husband was restless and impulsive he was prescribed Quetiapine an antipsychotic med which helped a little. We also had a basket of fidget toys ( eg Rubik cubes and puzzles) they were really useful and helped calm him.

I have heard others on the site recommend weighted blankets too. Hope you find something helpful

Love Tippy xxx

[Martina_MP]

The restless phase lasted about a year with my mother. That is of course going to vary for each individual. It went along with frequent night awakenings and trips to the bathroom, but also during the day, needing to walk around, and when on the toilet standing up and sitting down repeatedly, every few seconds. She never fell with a caregiver, only when I was the one with her. We gave her as much supervision as possible. When she couldn’t walk any more she would still try to get out of bed. But eventually she just couldn’t move as much.