None of the sounds are intelligible, but most of the time, they sound like very loud laments (wailing, moaning, etc.) Sometimes, it is if she is carrying on a 1-sided conversation, with voice variations that mimic normal speech, except that none of the words can be detected. Most of the time, though, she is lamenting.
She is in mid stage Alzheimer's, and claims to have no physical pain anywhere. Part of that is that she is of the great depression era, when people didn't complain about having pain. She takes great pride in not having pain and often won't say that she has pain, even when she does.
She is declining rapidly and the very loud laments have increased dramatically over the last 3 weeks. They are very disturbing to other people in our household to have her wailing so loudly all night long. Daytime naps also lead to the same loud lamenting.
Occasionally when she wakes up, she is unable to pronounce even basic words. Then after a few minutes, her speech returns to normal, although she can no longer sustain conversation to any normal degree.
Are these vocalizations because the vocal areas of her brain are dying and firing willy-nilly?
I hope you find a solution, this is very troubling to experience.
I'm so sorry you're going through this.
I would imagine that her throat would be dry in the morning upon awakening after 12-14 hours of these sounds, but she never asks for anything to drink (or eat). She will accept juice and food when we give it to her, though.
Very strange.
it’s better now but I was very tempted to ask for a CT scan
And I have to tell you...I do miss the sounds he made. :(
If she is not expressing any pain, scared as if from a dream I probably would not worry. You could mention it to her doctor but I would not subject someone to any scans or other testing that probably would not change a diagnosis or outcome. If my husband had had scans done it may have showed mini strokes but there would have been nothing that could be done, he was beyond any therapy.
Keep her comfortable, there are mouthwashes that can be used to help dry mouth. You could swab her mouth often during the day and before bed to help prevent the dry mouth. But you do not want to use thin liquid type things (water or regular mouthwash) as that might cause an aspiration.