My Grandmother has been living on her own up until this past Friday, My Uncle came in and found she was attempting to cut her arms off. She had cut herself from finger tip to her shoulders. Luckilly, on the tops of her arms not the underneath area. From that point on someone has been with her. I have been a CNA for 15yrs. and am currently a pre-nursing student, so it was a given who would make most of the care decisions and do most of the care from this point on. The care is between myself my dad and my 3 uncles, 2 of the uncles, myself & the doc. are on the same page 24/7 care my dad is almost there and my one uncle who is closest to her and checked on her everyday is in complete denial and making this process difficult for the rest of us..I understand his heartbreak but sometimes you have to put that aside for what is best for Grandma. No one has been staying overnights with her until this point, we now know she has severe hallucinations always children everywhere, she can not sit still for 5 minutes. So far she is bathing,dressing all her ADL's pretty well except for eating, she will not drink anything for fear she will have to pee to much, she will not eat much for fear she will get fat. She dips the water out of the back of the toilet and dumps it in the sink rather then flush, she does wash dishes, a quick dunk in soapy water dried and put away..No concept of day and night, the children (imaginary) keep her up all night..She is on Aricept, Nemenda, an antidepresent I can think of off the top of my head martz something or other, anyway, we are now on Risperadal, the first night slept all night, night 2 got up a few times still talking to the children and deceased grandfather. I am amazed at the moderate to severe cognitive decline but her physical is good, she trips a bit more but she is quick as lightning and going, going, going. Is there anything I can suggest to the doctor to get her to sleep..We are worn out only after a week..We plan to interview caregivers to give us a break, I don't know how she will react to strangers in the house..Right now we seem to be hurdling over so many obstacles. Family, insurance, Grandma..ect..I know my situation is all to common to alot of you, I would love any advice how to ease into this..A nursing home or in-home facility is not an option at this point..Sorry this is so long, it could be longer I have so much on my mind..