Is he on medications? Any changes in those?

Only his heart meds and the same antidepressant that he has been on since he went there in late 2016. Only health problems he has had since being placed have been a couple of UTI's. In most of the NH where I have visited there were two types of elderly. Those that sleep and those that are hyper. Since I pay his meds each month I can see what he is receiving and the only change has been a medicated lotion for a scalp problem.

What is his antidepressant? My mother takes one at night so she can sleep, but they recently cut it in half because it was making her too sleepy during the day, and she's doing much better. She has dementia.

My dad takes a medication to keep him awake! He was way to dozy during the day. After his brain hemorrhage the hospital started the med, and the rehab has tried taking him off, but always puts him back on.

Lorazepam .5 mg All antidepressants can cause sleepiness. This they give in the evening. It should not be still effecting him at lunch time. Today when I asked he had not fallen asleep during lunch the way he did last week. I had been going at lunch time to feed him because the aides had so many people to care for and I worried he was not eating enough. I also found that when I was there he hardly ever talked. The aides can not understand most of what he was saying now but when I was not there he carried on some lively talks at lunch. Now he just talks and they pretend to understand him the same as I do.

His ability to do things goes up and down. I think it is his body gradually shutting down but I was concerned enough to ask if it was normal. It probably makes no difference but he is now 75.

So sorry for these problems. My husband passed away 6 months ago.

It's difficult, I remember with my mother. Take care of yourself (I ended up very worn down and contracted bronchitis which took me about 3 months to shake after my mom's passing).

I fought with the doctor who had prescribed medication making my mother sleep most of the time. Mom argued that she would prefer to sleep as just sitting there, so I gave up.

Thank all of you for your kind thoughts. Although I try to visit every day I know other than perhaps mentally visiting is all that I can do.

Lorazepam is not an antidepressant; it is a sedative, and is used for anxiety or to help someone sleep. It certainly could be the cause of his sleepiness -- perhaps he is not metabolizing it (clearing it from his system) now the way he used to, as the response to meds does change as we age.

However, you are also correct that as our bodies wind down we do become less alert, sleep more, eat less, drink less and that is perfectly natural.

Ask if his dosage can be adjusted down.

bp at .5 it is unlikely it could be adjusted downward and give an accurate dosage.

When I need dental work, I take .5 mg of lorazepam. For several nights afterward I sleep like a baby and tend to fall asleep whenever I’m sitting quietly. I’m 75,weigh about 120 lbs, and have always been sensitive to any sort of sedative. If I took this dose every day, I’d probably sleep all the time.

Maifleur, it is very common in hospitals & other facilities to split tablets. They make devices that can do that; sometimes the pharmacy will do it, sometimes the nurses have to. They certainly can split the Ativan pill. They should evaluate whether he actually needs to continue it, as well.

I will have to ask again to see the pill. The one I was shown was about the size of a matchhead if you remember those. To split would be possible but dosage would be very random.

iread15: Just a minor point that is critical when talking about medicine and dosage amounts. One half a milligram is written as 0.5 mg, not .5 mg. It is essential that the leading zero be used to ensure that the reader knows that it is 0.5 mg, not 5 mg. Sometimes the decimal point isn't clear, especially when someone is reading quickly.