People always confuse themselves between Sundown syndrome and Alzheimer’s. Both are very different things with diverse symptoms. What is the difference between early signs of Sundowners and Alzheimer’s? Alzheimer’s a terrifying disease that is also known as dementia that causes brain cells to wash away during the time. Eventually, it destroys memory and creates confusion in mind. It can’t be cured and can last up to lifelong. Moreover, you can give specific treatments to slow up the process of dementia.
Let’s help you understand, what is sundowning? it is not a particular disease that can harm you but it can maximize the symptoms of patients of dementia and harming them more with sundowners dementia. This group of symptoms is also known as sundowners as well as sundowners dementia.
One more thing, there is a particular reason why the name “Sundowners”. As it is based on timing and will affect dementia patients’ in-between late afternoon and early evening. Read the full article to know more about what are the early signs of sundowners and how to deal with it.
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Symptoms Of Sundowners
What are the early signs of sundowners? The main problem is it is highly indistinguishable in the early stages of it but, when it hits the peak, you can surely see behavioral changes in patients that includes the following:
- Anger and Anxiety
- Pacing and Restlessness
- Fear and Delusions
- Insomnia and Hallucinations
- Crying and Depression
The timing plays a vital role in this sundowning eyes, as time progresses, the condition of the patient’s health could worsen.
Early Signs Of Sundowners
You might see the traits like yelling, pacing, mood swings in patients. Don’t forget it can still happen to older people who don’t even haven Alzheimer’s. Although, the possibility of these behavioral changes with people who are suffering from dementia. As the numbers show that, 1 out of 5 people suffers from Alzheimer’s would probably get sundowners dementia.
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Checking Of Sundowners Dementia symptoms
The worse thing is that you can only determine if one has sundowners syndrome or not through the recurring portrayal of symptoms. There are no tests that you can do to check if your loved one has this syndrome or not. So, How To Tell If Someone Has Sundowners? You can use your smartphone in this method.
- Download a journal app on your smartphone and list all the signs with the happening of the timing.
- Note if any same patterns appear in their daily lives.
This is the only way to check if someone has sundowners’ dementia.
What Stage of Alzheimer’s is Sundowning?
Well, it can be a difficult question to answer because sundowners dementia can happen at any stage of Alzheimer’s. If we follow the researches, then it probably can happen between early to mid-stages. As the effects of sundowning would less in the early stage but, it can be worse in the middle stage of Alzheimer’s.
How do you deal With Sundowners?
These are the list of things you should do if your loved one is experiencing sundowners dementia.
Things You Should Do:
- Do not raise voice in front of them, don’t forget to make sudden movements as well.
- Check if the room has appropriate lighting, and make sure it stays as it is.
- Provide them with a peaceful environment when you see the symptoms.
- Ask necessary questions but, don’t overwork it.
- Do meditate with them once in a while.
- Set a daily life routine for them, so they don’t feel anxiety.
- Don’t tell them to do things that out of their comfort zone.
- Play with them during the day, so that they feel tired afterward and can sleep during the night.
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In this process of helping your beloved person, don’t forget to take care of yours too. You can always reach out to your friends to fill in for you sometimes, or you can always hire professionals to take care of the patient. We hope this article helps you to understand about early signs of sundowners and how to deal with it. Feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.