My husband has suffered from nightmares all of his adult life. Most of them are throw backs to his pre-teen and teen years, living through Japan's invasion and occupation of his homtown (Fuzhou, Fujian Province). In spite of talking incessantly about those terrible times, he has never experienced a lessening of the trauma; in fact, he seems to feed on it, never letting it go. Sometimes, he is asleep in a comfortable chair and cries out loudly. I know he is caught in his dream (sometimes I am caught there also) and can't escape. All I can do is to gently awaken him by touch, murmured words that he is having a bad dream. After a few moments, he is aware of the real world and tells me the story of his dream.

I am hoping Aricept will lessen the severity of these dreams, but only time will tell.

Being in the medical field (but not a physician) for nearly 30 years, I was in and out of rest homes and nursing homes quite often. One could always hear someone crying out in anguished tones. In my ignorance, I thought someone was in deep physical pain; maybe that was so, but from the sounds emanating from my own house now, many of those sounds were probably dreams holding their sleeping victim in an inescapable embrace. They wished to flee, but they (like my husband) could not move.

Sechang

I hope you and your Husband are able to make the trip to china and have a wonderful time. This must place quite a burden on you if the possibilty exists that you will need to follow through with his wishes to be cremated.

Please ramble on, I feel like I know both you and your Husband a little better because of it. You do have beaitiful children.

Vicki

Sugarlips

Sechang, my husband has had those types of night mares for years.Always striking out at someone.I have had to quietly wake him or I may have felt the brunt of the striking.With in the past 3 weeks he has changed from night mares to dreaming.Actually has a conversation that is heard.He is able to remember the dreams.My mother has night mares, day mares , that awaken her to a bad state that she continues for the remander of the day.That is why she would awaken at night she would have a night mare an holler for mother.Since we have been on the melatonin she has had no problems at night. My husband also has the prblem with the runny nose.Sometimes you might think he had a faucet attached it runs so much.We tried a special medicine to dry it, it worked but made the throat so dry he was having difficulty swallowing.Many times it is severe when he is eating.

Good morning sechang...

Those nightmares can certainly make for rough days. Hopefully, both you and your husband enjoyed a more restful turn last night. How are you today?



"Dream as though you will live forever. Love as though you will die tomorrow."

SECHANG

SO sorry to hear about your husband's nightmares. Hopefully the extra Darvon will help. My husband does not suffer from AD, but has had many emotional conflicts in the past few years and often cries out in his sleep, as well as "lashing" out at some unknown "bad guy."

You ramble on, lady. Ramble on. To hear of the legacy of your husband and the life you have both lived was very touching.

I hope you both have a more peaceful day today.

~ Janie ~

J is now taking an additional Darvon, 5 times daily, with his doctor's blessing. But I told J it may be too much. He awoke from a poor nap complaining that he couldn't sleep because of all the noise. In his dream, there was all kinds of shouting. Then it switched to a really grisly nightmare (?noonmare) and he was furious with his second daughter. It woke him up.

Other than that he has had a very rational day. So we took away the extra Darvon at 5 PM. He also took a walk this afternoon, but it was very short and he was totally exhausted and slept again until dinner. I was hoping the lengthening day would wake him up a bit more; but he is probably sommolent from all the drugs, mild congestive heart failure; chronic renal failure which has been ongoing for years, and lack of good sleep. I really hope he can make this China trip ... it will be his last trip, if at all. He is beginning to tell me that if anything happens to him in China, he is to be cremated where ever we happen to be. And we can dispose of his ashes as we choose. But I know he wants his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean so he can become a part of the whole world. Since he was born in Hong Kong, grew up in China, educated in Chinese and English schools, American universities; married a foreigner, produced bi-racial children of beauty, talent and kindness and traveled with me throughout the world for many years ... he considers himself to be a man of the world already. Sorry, I'm rambling again. What funny twists and turns our lives take.

Edyth: I do give him Aricept at breakfast because another side effect is insommnia ... like we need more of that! We are in our third day with this drug and so far, there have been no other undesirable side effects.

One of the side effects of aricept is nightmares. You may want to try giving the aricept in the morning or try either Excelon or reminyl.

Edyth Ann aka Bubblehead aka Queen Bubble
AOL IM EdythAnn12
edythann@netzero.net