Should I be worried? My 54 yr old husband seems to have an inordinate amount of trouble setting his clock correctly. This morning I woke up, looked at the clock, it was 45 minutes later than he usually leaves and he hadn't left yet. I went to check on him, he was sitting on the side of the bed looking puzzled at his alarm, preparing to call in late to work and trying to figure out how he hit the snooze button and overslept. It happens a couple of times a month. He just can't for the life of him figure out how he set it for p.m. rather than a.m., or how he hit the snooze one too many times and overslept.
It just scares me so much whenever this happens. There is a strange undercurrent to him that I have never really understood. It doesn't seem to present a problem at work and he says other employees are occasionally late and they just laugh it off when he is, but it scares me that he seems so baffled and seems to do it repeatedly.
I don't think it's dementia because it isn't new. He has a strangeness that I have never understood.
I feel this underlying fear that someday he is going to lose his ability to function normally and I will have no idea what to do or how to help him.
Does anyone else have occasional problems setting their alarm and getting to work late? Is it normal? Should I stop worrying?
Buy him an easy to set clock - the $10 supermarket specials are notoriously difficult to use - and that's it.
At our age (I'm 55) sleep is not as regular as we would like, in fact I use a FitBit Charge HR activity tracker to track sleep as much as activity. Make sure he gets enough sleep and no heroics like coffee at 8 pm.
Should I be worried? My 54 yr old husband seems to have an inordinate amount of trouble setting his clock correctly. This morning I woke up, looked at the clock, it was 45 minutes later than he usually leaves and he hadn't left yet. I went to check on him, he was sitting on the side of the bed looking puzzled at his alarm, preparing to call in late to work and trying to figure out how he hit the snooze button and overslept. It happens a couple of times a month. He just can't for the life of him figure out how he set it for p.m. rather than a.m., or how he hit the snooze one too many times and overslept.
It just scares me so much whenever this happens. There is a strange undercurrent to him that I have never really understood. It doesn't seem to present a problem at work and he says other employees are occasionally late and they just laugh it off when he is, but it scares me that he seems so baffled and seems to do it repeatedly.
I don't think it's dementia because it isn't new. He has a strangeness that I have never understood.
I feel this underlying fear that someday he is going to lose his ability to function normally and I will have no idea what to do or how to help him.
Does anyone else have occasional problems setting their alarm and getting to work late? Is it normal? Should I stop worrying?
I wouldn't worry to much if this is how he always is. Sounds like he can get pretty out of it when really tired or just waking up. I would buy an alarm clock that has a recurring alarm timer, so he doesn't need to set it every night, and then disable the snooze function by removing the button
Yes, maybe I will look for another alarm clock that's more user friendly. I cannot for the life of me figure out why he even needs to re-set it rather than just leaving on the same time. Maybe he needs two or even three as backups. He is a night owl and stays up at night and is always tired due to a chronic health problem and takes several meds, so maybe that all combines to make him extra out of it when he gets up.
Have your husband get checked for any sleep disorders, especially DSPD (Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder), which is common with night owls. You can't get to sleep when you need to so you can't wake up when you need to.
He should not be resetting the alarm daily. Getting up the same time, even on weekends, helps immensely. What helps me is when the dog hears the alarm, he comes over to me to ask me to let him out. Once up, I am up. Caring for my dog is the push I need to get going.
If this is normal and the only symptom I wouldn't worry too much but I would get a smart phone and you can tell it "set alarm for 6 pm" and it will do it. (I can't sleep without two alarms set anyhow.)
What I would worry about ... Does he work a night shift? If so, is there any way he can start looking for a daytime job? If you want to really scare the hell out of yourself try Googling the bad effects of a night job on health. We're talking heart problems, depression, increased suicide rates, relationship problems, etc.
Apparently our eyes know dawn and dusk and our bodies hormone secretion is tied to that and even most people who claim to be night owls have have serious health problems not getting a good night sleep. It's very serious. This is just the first thing that came up when I did a search: Shift Work Health Risks: Heart Disease, Ulcers, Obesity, Diabetes, Depression, Accidents
Should I be worried? My 54 yr old husband seems to have an inordinate amount of trouble setting his clock correctly. This morning I woke up, looked at the clock, it was 45 minutes later than he usually leaves and he hadn't left yet. I went to check on him, he was sitting on the side of the bed looking puzzled at his alarm, preparing to call in late to work and trying to figure out how he hit the snooze button and overslept. It happens a couple of times a month. He just can't for the life of him figure out how he set it for p.m. rather than a.m., or how he hit the snooze one too many times and overslept. Some people get into very deep sleep where waking at the alarm does not happen and or the person shuts off the alarm unaware and continues to stay in the deep sleep. I have done this a few times.
It just scares me so much whenever this happens. There is a strange undercurrent to him that I have never really understood. It doesn't seem to present a problem at work and he says other employees are occasionally late and they just laugh it off when he is, but it scares me that he seems so baffled and seems to do it repeatedly.
I don't think it's dementia because it isn't new. Wee bit young for dementia. He has a strangeness that I have never understood. We all do. Pills helped me. :smile2:
I feel this underlying fear that someday he is going to lose his ability to function normally and I will have no idea what to do or how to help him. It is called getting old. There is plenty of self help for folks that get old. State assistance if necessary.
Does anyone else have occasional problems setting their alarm and getting to work late? Is it normal? Should I stop worrying? Yes cause it will only gray your hair.
Why can't you double check the alarm before you go to bed? or better still move the alarm to your side of the bed and he can't hit snooze if i do a lot of overtime etc and quite tired my wife does this for me
It sounds like you do not share a bedroom. You might want to get him to a doctor and take all medications with you. Explain his hours, meds etc. to the doc and see if there is a possible adverse reaction.
He may also want to talk to a sleep specialist and have a sleep study done. Also get him a sleep / fitness tracker that tracks sleep.
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