Now I Get It

We are in the process of dealing with what is called "Sun-downers."  I did see signs of this earlier which meant that after dinner Scott was tired and had had enough.  At that time I made the decision that I would not plan anything that would take us away from home in the evenings.  In the information I have about this they describe the symptoms as: agitated, restless, irritable, confused, disoriented, demanding, and suspicious.  The first five I see daily but he isn't suspicious although I have heard that that can happen.  Some of the things that sun-downers do is yell (not yet--and I can't ever see him doing that), pace, hear or see things that aren't there (definitely is happening) and has mood swings.  The information I read said this is very common in moderate to advanced Alzheimer's.

A couple of hours in the evening was doable and it didn't really seem like a big deal.  The problem I am now having is that for the last week 2:00 in the afternoon has become the beginning of his sun-downers episodes and from that time until bed time he is almost beside himself.  It is painful to experience the agony he seems to experience and the worst part is that I have not found anything that helps.  His attention span is very short, watching television doesn't seem to make a difference now because he can't follow the story line.  I even asked him to color a picture for Ava and Caleb from some coloring books we have.  He did it but the minute he finished he was again pacing and complaining that he didn't know what was the matter with him and wanted to know why I wasn't helping him.  I don't have any answers and we will just keep doing what we are doing.  I sometimes feel that if I can just write it down I can set it aside and get back to dealing with whatever comes my way with a smile on my face.  I am watching it, but sweet Scott is living it and that is so much worse than my personal discomfort.