This is a recent change. The past few weeks mom has been having night terrors. At first I thought she was having very realistic dreams but.. that's not the case. There's people in her room trying to take her away, trying to poke her and tell her bad things. It was so bad last night she wet herself for the first time ever. An hour plus later, new sheets and cleaned mom, she cried herself to sleep. I spent the remainder of the night crying...
She has a doctor's appt today for the sore swollen ankle (which is almost gone) and I'd like to give her something mild to help her sleep but I am not willing to go the seroquel route again. Any recommendations aside from knocking her out with hard drugs to ease her at night ?
Anyone tried a diffuser with essential oils?
Has she been taking other meds, perhaps anti-inflammatory ones, for her swollen ankle? Sometimes the combination of meds can cause weird side effects.
I would ask the doctor about it today though.
Lavender and cinammon are calming. Boil some water and drop a bit of cinammon in it, or just have her sniff it from the container. I often take a bottle with me when I go to the hospital for ER visits.
I don't have a diffuser but if I did I would use natural fragrances. Herb Quarterly is an excellent source of suggestions for calming herbs and essential oils.
There are lavender pillows and if I remember correctly lavender eye pads that can used as calming and sleep inducing agents.
As I recall, geranium and rose oils are also calming agents.
For today's appointment, you could also try playing a CD of her favorite music.
Does she have these nightmares before doctor appointments or other perhaps upsetting activities?
Do you know anyone who can bring a pet over before bedtime so she can pet it - pets are calming therapy as well.
Has anything else changed before these night terrors started?
If you mean supplements, melatonin, or calcium/magnesium/zinc at bedtime. Warm milk is always good, with a little vanilla creamer in it.
It might be that, although delayed, the ankle injury precipitated this uncertainty. It would compromise her enough that it could affect her mobility, thus eventually necessitating an institutional placement.
Nothing has happened to her or changed as far as I know, aside from her ankle. She's calmed down concerning dr appts as well. No ambien and the seroquel quadrupled the hallucinations.
I did give her some ibuprofen but mostly soaked it in lavender epsom salt. We also use lavender bubble bath.
8 little bottles of pure essential oils arrived yesterday so along with those, music warm milk or dry red wine will be my next mode of helping her sleep. Oh, one of my dogs sleeps with her every night on the pillow next to her. She really gets comfort from her.
Will look into the lavender pillow. I might want one myself!!
Will ask the doc about melatonin along with what she already takes. It is just so heart wrenching for her at night which makes the day more challenging.
I'll PM you the name of one source I've used for the herbal packs. If you've ever had a problem with those annoying grain moths, you might want to keep any herbal bags in the refrigerator until use as I've found that the rice and grains in the bags can sometimes be attractive to those moths.
the lavender oil I rub on the bottom of her feet, inside of wrist and temples. I forgot to mention she's been VERY clingy and will not let me out of her sight and ask permission to go to the bathroom. Something is def going on.
I think one of those annoying grain moths was buzzing over my head last night :(
Look, I know most of her symptoms are par for the course....she.s a great lady,, yet even she knows she's mean,.
I am going to try the homeopathic approach before we do the heavy stuff. Gosh... (nice word) this is just wrong....
Perhaps you should consider another doctor who's more receptive and doesn't want to just dope her up. That's what we've done in the past.
But, yes, go for the homeopathic approach, as long as it's safe - I wouldn't use some of the Indian herbal treatments because the ingredients may come from India and could very well contaminated and unregulated. Despite having been assured that the FDA monitors emerging market nations, this issue was raised in a congressional hearing and it was clear that these markets are essentially unregulated, not because they're ignored by the FDA but because of the geographic issues, time limitations, etc.
I wonder if the clinginess is fear - fear of aging, deteriorating, of being alone, of what the dreams portend or mean, of the uncertainty she's facing at this time of life?
I guess what I have to get through my head is no matter what medicine she takes, it won't undo what's done. Really, what I'm trying to accomplish now is just some peace of mind for her and yes, me also.
As far as the oils are going.... keeping my fingies crossed. No night terrors now since my last post. Although she's switched it to day terrors :/