5 nights of sleeplessness due to grandmother's COPD post-stroke
Hi guys, I'm at my wits end here. My grandmother recently suffered a hemmhoragic stroke, but recovered relatively well (use of all 4 limbs, speech mostly normal) She has COPD, I think stage 4 as she needs an oxygen concentrator 22/24 hours of the day. A few days ago she went to the doctors with my grandfather and has been in a permanent state of sleeping for perhaps 30 minutes to an hour if lucky, then waking up and becoming combative for a long period of time.
She complains about shortness of breath and is scared that she will die if she falls asleep. I have done regular SpO2 readings and they are all good. Due to the stroke her memory has been addled and she gets stuck in loops and becomes very aggressive to myself and grandfather when we try to reassure her and calm her.
Is there anything that can be done to help her get to sleep, for all our sakes? The doctor has ruled out sleeping pills as he fears that they might hinder her already poor breathing. She was prescribed steroids but so far these have not helped her get to sleep. The stroke has badly affected her memory and she is now becoming extremely aggressive when we try to tell her that she can not smoke as she is using an oxygen concentrator.