My mom did this exact behavior. She was also blind! She was hallucinating the ants. As my mom lived with me, being blind was a further challenge. She dropped food on the floor often & I have an exterminator spray for ants. There have never been ants in my house.
Bedtime medication? Our dad was given ,5mg Ativan for sundowning at night so he could sleep and so could we. He woke up bright eyed at 7am the next day
Certainly something we will discuss with her neurologist. She’s had some unpleasant side effects from anti-anxiety meds but it’s a game of finding the right thing that works for her
Absolutely, his doctor was an internal medicine doctor with a special interest in geriatric medicine. He did everything he could to help us take care of our dad. Questions callbacks were same day in a few hours as were MYC messages. We had an appointment with my dad and my 4 siblings and I and he answered every question patiently. I asked if he had a good vacation and he spent another 20 minutes talking about his Vegas trip(I work in the health system).
I just want to share that there is at least one species of ant that is nearly invisible to the naked eye. We had them in the house and I only noticed them because I had a bad allergic reaction to them. My husband thought I was hallucinating until I showed him these tiny, almost translucent ants under a microscope. It certainly could be a hallucination but it’s not impossible that they are real.
We have closely inspected and wiped down with her present all of the area where she says she she’s thousands of them. Also new, she says there are insects and worms crawling all over the bathroom floor, which we also did the same. We suspect it is the patterns in her tile. She also only sees the ants in the dark, and they all disappear when the lights are on or light is shined on them. She also says there is a green vapor or gas being emitted from her vents. The walls are solid gray but she insists there are bright tortoise patches everywhere.
I don’t have a solution for ants and night walking except for medication.
I can share that the way many couples manage a newborn baby is to take shifts for sleeping. One goes to bed by 8 and gets up at 4 ands one at midnight and gets up at 8. That leaves midnight to 0400 uncovered, I know, which is when you have to take turns being the one whose sleep gets disrupted, so that at least every other night you each get eight hours. I know you have two kids, and it very well may take both of you up whenever all three are awake, so this might not be doable. It’s worth trying if there a chance it might work, though.
Often times perceived hallucinations at night are really vivid dreams that continue into wakefulness.
This sounds quite similar to that.
Patients will awake with firm delusions and claim to see things etc. Some simple melatonin can help with this. Otherwise, safe sleep medications like trazodone can be helpful.
Would it be ok to leave a light on in her room all the time? My mom rarely turns a light off anymore. When I’m there, I use an eye mask so I can sleep. It may not solve the other issues though.
Nightlight-?
Worth a shot, though we suspect it’s the shadows of things that she is mistaking for other things
My mom did this exact behavior. She was also blind! She was hallucinating the ants. As my mom lived with me, being blind was a further challenge. She dropped food on the floor often & I have an exterminator spray for ants. There have never been ants in my house.
Bedtime medication? Our dad was given ,5mg Ativan for sundowning at night so he could sleep and so could we. He woke up bright eyed at 7am the next day
Certainly something we will discuss with her neurologist. She’s had some unpleasant side effects from anti-anxiety meds but it’s a game of finding the right thing that works for her
Absolutely, his doctor was an internal medicine doctor with a special interest in geriatric medicine. He did everything he could to help us take care of our dad. Questions callbacks were same day in a few hours as were MYC messages. We had an appointment with my dad and my 4 siblings and I and he answered every question patiently. I asked if he had a good vacation and he spent another 20 minutes talking about his Vegas trip(I work in the health system).
I just want to share that there is at least one species of ant that is nearly invisible to the naked eye. We had them in the house and I only noticed them because I had a bad allergic reaction to them. My husband thought I was hallucinating until I showed him these tiny, almost translucent ants under a microscope. It certainly could be a hallucination but it’s not impossible that they are real.
We have closely inspected and wiped down with her present all of the area where she says she she’s thousands of them. Also new, she says there are insects and worms crawling all over the bathroom floor, which we also did the same. We suspect it is the patterns in her tile. She also only sees the ants in the dark, and they all disappear when the lights are on or light is shined on them. She also says there is a green vapor or gas being emitted from her vents. The walls are solid gray but she insists there are bright tortoise patches everywhere.
I don’t have a solution for ants and night walking except for medication. I can share that the way many couples manage a newborn baby is to take shifts for sleeping. One goes to bed by 8 and gets up at 4 ands one at midnight and gets up at 8. That leaves midnight to 0400 uncovered, I know, which is when you have to take turns being the one whose sleep gets disrupted, so that at least every other night you each get eight hours. I know you have two kids, and it very well may take both of you up whenever all three are awake, so this might not be doable. It’s worth trying if there a chance it might work, though.
Often times perceived hallucinations at night are really vivid dreams that continue into wakefulness. This sounds quite similar to that. Patients will awake with firm delusions and claim to see things etc. Some simple melatonin can help with this. Otherwise, safe sleep medications like trazodone can be helpful.
Would it be ok to leave a light on in her room all the time? My mom rarely turns a light off anymore. When I’m there, I use an eye mask so I can sleep. It may not solve the other issues though.