Hi -- my 94 year old mom is having to get up multiple times during the night to go to the bathroom; she's already fallen twice doing this. Her doctor said he could prescribe a drug to reduce urinary urgency, but it's an acetylcholine receptor inhibitor (Detrol), which evidently can make her dementia worse. Anyone else in this position, and what did you decide to do?
- Bedside commode.
- Vesicare.
- The danger of getting up in the middle of the night when the elder is half awake will be a huge fall risk as they are unstable on their feet.
I have stopped liquids after 18:30-19:00.
He goes to the bathroom every two hours (even if he does not feel the urge).
Have you considered putting a portable toilet near here bed?
It is a difficult position to be in-especially with quality of life. Consider carefully the pros and cons of the drug.
sending prayers your way.
The pull up briefs worked well for my mom with similar issues. A challenge you may face could be an initial resistance to "peeing in her pants".
I'm impressed with your and the many problems-solving responses to her issue.
Well done, All!
R27
So it's like many drugs, we weight the risk against benefit.
Questions to ask is would it be easier to let her use disposable briefs so that she doesn't have to worry about making it to the bathroom and thereby falling? What stage is her dementia and does she have any other health concerns. If her longevity isn't by much, then maybe it could be worth it. However, a newer way to treat urgency is by using botox for it. You might look it up and gain some info on it and ask her urologist about it.
Or is it possible to convince her that "overnight incontinence brief" (whatever brand you choose to use) will absorb all the urine so she does not "have" to get up?
I would rather she soak her nighttime undergarment, the paper pad, the sheet and the quilted protective underpad than get up in the night to go to the bathroom alone! Who knows if she would remember that she has to use a walker. I can wash sheets and pajamas a lot easier than pick her up off the floor (which I can not do!)
Mom now would sleep all day if I let her. I don't know whether to wake her up to go pee and change into a dry undergarment or just let her sleep. Sleeping until 2pm really messes up the meal and medication schedule (although she is hardly eating anything anymore)! One part of me thinks she would not be sleeping if her body did not need the sleep. The other part says she must think she has nothing to get up for. Listening to her moans, groans, talking, yelling and loud snoring while she sleeps makes me wonder if she really is getting any quality sleep.
Oh the situations we deal with on a daily basis as caregivers!
I had may "floods" after changing my Husband, getting him back in his chair or into bed and not 30 minutes later there would be a "lake" under him.
I will add that....does she also urinate frequently at times other than when she sleeps or is it just during sleep or naps? I ask because, if you're not positive it's a bladder issue, you might see if having her sleep at an incline helps. Check with her doctor of course, but, I know of multiple people who have to get up to urinate a lot during the night. Turns out, it was sleep apnea or hypopna (shallow breathing) during their sleep. For some reason it causes you to pee like crazy. Not during waking hours though. Going on Cpap stops it, but, I'm not sure your mother at 94 would be a candidate for cpap. But, sleeping inclined, might bring a little relief if that is the cause. Just something to consider and ask her doctor about.
My philosophy has become 'palliative care' at this stage of the game because it seems to me that medication A creates issue B, which worsens the whole mess we started with! That's where we're at with my 93 y/o mother's treatments. We had to take her OFF blood thinners for serious bleeding issues which caused a stroke and now a possible DVT. The treatment for a DVT is blood thinners......see where I'm going with this? :(
My mother is up multiple times at night with urination issues herself; either peeing every 2 hours and/or saturating the overnight Depends, the disposable 3' chucks AND all the bedding. She's also fallen 40x over the past 5 years in AL and MC. There's no easy answer here, I'm afraid, and if there is, I sure haven't found it!
Good luck!