Definitely! For my Dad, who had Alzheimers, when he was tired ALL the symptoms were worse! His language, reasoning, judgement, mood and coordination were all much worse. Sometimes that was a signal that somethine else was going on - he had a cold or infection. Dad had congestive heart failure and as that got worse he was tired more often and all of his cognitive skills were affected.
The weather also affected Dad's skills - cold rainy weather affected his mood, probably pain levels (arthritis) and his ability to understand and reason.
Dad also had seizures as Alzheimer's increasingly affected his brain, and "seizure days" (as we called them) were always difficult. It took him hours to sleep and recover and usually was never quite himself until the next day.
And there were many times when he just wasn't have a very good day, for no apparent reason. I'm sure there was a reason, but it wasn't something we could easily discern.
Daddy passed on just 4 1/2 months ago, but right up until the end my sister and I knew from the time he woke up what kind of a day it was going to be. If he woke up smiling and talking more, and drank more water - it was going to be a good day. If he had a hard time waking up, was groggy, drank very little, it was likely going to be a more rough day. Regardless, we loved being with him no matter how rough it got. 🙂
Take care,
Amy Goyer, AARP Family & Caregiving Expert
Author, Juggling Life, Work and Caregiving and
Color Your Way Content When Caring for Loved Ones