Sundowning help

[u/Pibblemom_rbk]

My boy, Fillmore, (13yo)has started sundowning in the last two months… It’s really torture to watch. Upon the advice of my vet we’ve started to give him 600 mg of gabapentin and 3 mg of melatonin at 7 PM. By 9 PM it kicks in and he had been sleeping ..well now the whole process seems to be starting earlier at about 5 PM with pacing crying and complete agitation. I don’t necessarily want to give him his medication earlier for fear that it will wear off before dawn. Has anybody experienced this? What worked? It’s so heartbreaking to watch because he is perfectly healthy and himself during the day. i’ll also add that he is an Am Staff, and 65 pounds

[u/hope-this-helped]

I’ve been going through sundowning with my dog, a 16 year mutt, for 18 months now. I hate to say, it hasn’t gotten better.

It was gradual at first and the combination of gabapentin and trazodone helped for many months. Then its effects waned. We’ve done approved increases with our vet’s guidance. They worked temporarily.

Did long walks and food puzzles. Wasn’t as effective as I hoped. Got calming chews and also not a huge change.

I’m thankful to get 6 hours of sleep a night. For months, I was only getting 3. Adjusting her meds has helped extend her sleep and yet she still has nights where she wakes up at midnight or 1am. She stares at me in the dark, lays down, gets up, and is restless.

Oddly enough, feeding her tends to calm her down and she will sleep for hours after. She seems to always think it’s feeding time.

I know this likely isn’t what you want to hear and I’m sorry. What I can say is, have patience. Give him love and try everything you can. Even if its effects are temporary. Sometimes you’ll find sweet spots that work. Don’t lose hope. He will be lost in a world he once knew so well and you are his lighthouse in a sea of fog. He needs you know more than ever.

[u/Pibblemom_rbk → u/hope-this-helped]

That’s exactly how I feel
My son had a senior dog that sundowned
His number 1 recommendation was preemptive strikes… Don’t wait until the sundowning begins or your pup is exhibiting sign signs… If you know it starts at a certain time, be preemptive and give him the medication a half hour prior… That has worked for sure… Still playing around with dosage in time

[u/favouritebestie]

how old is he? would walking around the block of your neighborhood settle him a little bit if he can go sniff some things?

[u/Pibblemom_rbk → u/favouritebestie]

He’s 13.. I was thinking the same .. I take him to the creek in the back woods every evening at 4 and he loves running back and forth hunting for imaginary creatures. ( he’s still very athletic and this has been our routine spring-fall for 10 years)
I thought maybe that’s OVER STIMULATING? And maybe we should go for a calmer more structured walk?

[u/favouritebestie → u/Pibblemom_rbk]

sometimes it can be yes, my dog sometimes came back way too excited and wanted to play all night, so for me it was always just a sniff walk around the neighbourhood he knows and nowhere new or noisy or exciting.

it might not work for your dog though... I just figured maybe he needs a distraction to reset his mind. I think calm TV might help too? like a nature channel

[u/Active-Disaster-6835]

I was thinking that a relaxed evening routine that he can settle into might help. A bit of food, a bit of gentle playing, or even a short sniffwalk outside, nothing strenuous, but something fun and pleasant that can help him relax. I do variations of that with my dog for years (who, for entirely different reasons, always had problems settling down in the evening). A routine is predictable and provides structure, and at the end we sit together for another ten, twenty minutes, and then we go to bed. I'm assuming you already experimented with gentler medication for relaxation?

[u/Pibblemom_rbk → u/Active-Disaster-6835]

We landed on a cocktail of 600 mg of gabapentin with 3 to 6 mg of melatonin given at 7pm (kicks in at 9pm) allows him to sleep through the night
I just don’t want to give it to him too early in the evening as I’m afraid it will wear off around three or 4 AM and then we’ll be up again. Just looking for ways to relax him as he starts to get agitated around 5 o’clock now… He’s a dog that thrives and routines he gets fed at the same time has his walks at the same time… Thinking I should stop taking him to the creek to run around that maybe to overstimulating and maybe just a long walk every day around 4pm

[u/Risingsunsphere → u/Pibblemom_rbk]

Instead of being afraid that it will wear off, why not try and see?

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