Hank,

Talk to your Mom's doctor about Risperdal.  Several of us here have parents
or LOs that are taking it.  It is a psych med, which, as my sister says,
counteracts "funny thinking" (not the ha-ha kind of funny).  It also has the
side effect of inducing sleepiness.  It may or may not be appropriate for
your mother.

My mother also has similar behavior to your mother - won't sit down for long
and paces around (actually, by now, it's more like shuffling around) all
day, and many times, all night too.

- Jennie

Some frontal lobe dementias my cause strange reactions to drugs
that would calm folks with other types of dementia.

The effects of sedatives are variable depending on what kind of
dementia the patient has.  If her primary care physician is not
helpful, you should get a referral to a geriatric psychiatrist
who has experience in dealing with agitation in dementia
patients.

Hank Watala <hwatala@optonline.net> is alleged to have said:

A glass of wine does wonders for my Mom at bedtime.  It seems to make
her overall calmer and happier and sleep better.  The trick is getting
her to eat enough so it doesn't make her sick.  It seems like so many
of the meds they give Alzheimer's patients already have nausea or
stomach upset as a side effect.  I think you've got to be careful what
you pile on -- I always ask "will this improve her (or my) quality of
life today?" rather than worrying about prolonging the misery.

In the case of making my life easier -- I finally got her off cigarettes
because I was afraid she was going to burn the house down, plus she
could no longer be trusted to go outside, and I've already got heart
and lung problems.  So one day she ran out, and we didn't go buy any
more.  This is one case where it made her life more miserable, and may
be prolonging the misery -- she has COPD, which seems to have eased
somewhat.  But I'm so glad they're gone...

So, when making decisions like adding medications, be sure to figure
the caretakers into the equation, too.