My Partner has Dementia, Postural Hypotension, and Coronary Artery Calcification, he is prone to falling over due to the Postural Hypotension, he is high risk for having a Heart Attack or Stroke, and his Diabetic Blood Sugars are way too high, which makes him snappy, but he refuses to exercise to bring his Blood Sugars back down for fear of falling over, the Diabetes Nurse has even suggested him doing Chair Exercises, but he refuses to do them, he sleeps a lot during the day, which in one way is good for me, because then I can get Shopping, and pick up Prescriptions while he’s sleeping without having to worry about him falling over while I’m out, (he does have a Fall Alarm, but he refuses to wear the Pendant/Bracelet call Button, so I’m paying for a Service that he refuses to use), but it’s also really bad for me, because he’s sleeping so much in the day time, he refuses to go to bed before 3am, while I need to be going to bed at around 11pm because I’m exhausted by then, but if I go to bed at 11pm, then I can’t sleep because I’m worried that he will fall over or have a Heart Attack while I’m sleeping, meaning that I would not be able to help him, I’ve tried keeping him awake more during the day in the hope that he will then go to bed earlier, allowing me to get more sleep, but even on the odd days that I managed to keep him awake, he still wouldn’t go to bed before 3am.
I have tried to talk to him about this, but because of his Dementia he doesn’t understand why his sitting up watching TV until 3am is a problem, but the lack of decent sleep is starting to take it’s toll on me, I am just so exhausted all the time, I am getting between 3 and 6 hours sleep a night, which is nowhere near enough, and I have started to get snappy with him, simply because I’m so tired.
Does anyone have any suggestions how I can solve this problem without resorting to putting him into a home because I really don’t want to have to do that, but I can’t carry on Caring for him without proper sleep.
