Senior Health: What is Causing Your Elderly Loved One’s Sleep Issues?
Senior Health: Has your elderly loved one mentioned that they can’t fall asleep easily at night?
Maybe they lay in bed thinking about a bunch of things. Your elderly loved one might be experiencing sleep issues after they fall asleep, too. These issues might include a range of problems. You should learn about the things that commonly cause sleep issues in the elderly. This would be a great place to start in helping your loved one sleep better for good senior health.
Senior Care in Daleville AL: Senior Care
Medication Side Effects
There are many medications that elderly people often need to take. Some elderly people are on 5 or more medications. There more medications your elderly loved one is taking – prescribed and over the counter – increase the chances of them having sleep issues. If your elderly loved one’s sleep issues are moderate to severe and they believe medications are the problem, this should be discussed with their doctor. It is important for you and home care providers to remind your loved one to never stop taking medications with the approval of their doctor.
Sleep Apnea
Another reason for sleep issues in the elderly is sleep apnea. Your elderly loved one may not think they have sleep apnea because they didn’t have it when they were younger. However, people’s bodies change as they get older. This is a condition that can develop over time. If your elderly loved one snores a lot or has trouble sleeping, you may want to see if their doctor will perform a sleep study. This is the way that sleep apnea gets diagnosed. If sleep apnea is the problem, your elderly loved one might be prescribed a CPAP machine to help them sleep better.
Nocturia
Many elderly people experience nocturia. This is when they have to get up in the night to go pee. If you or a senior care provider notices that your loved one is constantly getting up at night to use the bathroom, this could be the problem. If they only get up at night to pee every once in a while, this isn’t likely the cause. However, you should still schedule your elderly loved one an appointment to discuss this with their doctor. There are different treatments for nocturia. If your elderly loved one has this condition, once the proper treatment is found, they should be able to sleep better at night.
Senior Health: Conclusion
These are some of the things that commonly cause sleep issues in the elderly. Not being able to sleep well can affect people in many ways. Just think about the times when you don’t get enough sleep. It is important to help your elderly loved ones find the reason for their sleep issues, so the proper solutions can be implemented and she will enjoy better senior health.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Senior Care in Daleville, AL, please contact the caring staff at Wiregrass HomeCare today. Call us at 334-539-5900.
Sources
https://medlineplus.gov/