Hello,
I currently care for my 93 year old grandmother. She struggles with her mobility and performing her ADLs. Lately, her mantra seems to be I’m tired of being tired. Some days she can do her light exercise and get out of the house. Other days her legs don’t seem to want to work for her as if the brain can no longer communicate with the legs. She is constantly fatigued and lacks motivation - is this simply the aging process? Any suggestions?
Dad at almost 91 can only manage about 3 activities per week. Only one every other day. The activities have to be in the morning, or perhaps a lunch. The next day he is exhausted. When Dad was 89 he was walking a minimum of a 1/2 mile each day and walking up and down 10 steps repeatedly. When he was 90, he had stopped the daily walks, but still does weight lifting, but now he lifts the dumb bell without any weights on it. He struggles to get up 6 steps now.
Are you keeping track of the days when she is wiped out? What proceeds those days? A check up and labs as suggested by Snoopy is a good idea.
When was her last physical? Is she going for an appointment soon? You can stress to her doctor about how weak she is. They can place an order for home health to visit. It consists of Occupational therapy and physical therapy. The exercises will help tremendously with strength and balance. My mom has done it a few times and she is in her 90’s too.
As we age we lose muscle mass so it helps to exercise. They don’t want to because it is tiring. A good physical therapist and occupational therapist can get them to do it. My mom was extremely cooperative with the therapists.
The doctor also put mom on Vitamin B. You can ask about her taking it.
Best wishes to you and your grandmother.
Talk with her primary physician and ask about her medications and nutritional needs. While it could be a sign of her body shutting down, it can also be a sign that her nutritional needs are not being met and/or her medications need to be reevaluated.
My DH did very well until his last 6 months, after a really bad case of pneumonia. He was 96 yrs 8 months when he passed. I believe in supplements and they helped keep him ambulatory until the last 3 months when I had to assist his walking to the bathroom. He was only bedridden 3 days.
To expect a person of this age to be anything BUT tired is a bit unrealistic, in my opinion. Not to mention, what should she be 'motivated' to do, exactly? Let her alone, that's my suggestion. She's earned the right to sleep a lot and to do absolutely nothing all day long if that's what she would like.
Medications could be a cause, or depression, or something else like even arthritis. It's hard to say, without more background information.
But at 93, she certainly deserves some rest, too. It probably depends on whether this is a recent change or a more gradual one, as to how concerned I'd be. Have there been any other recent changes in her life?