The person you care for has probably spent most of their life occupied with different activities, such as work-related, household or recreational activities. As Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease
A neurological disease that affects memory and behaviour. It is characterized by beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. There is no known cause but genetics and lifestyle are thought to play a role. progresses, they are less likely to be able to do the things they once did and as a result, have fewer activities with which to occupy their time. The person you care for may be restless and impatient for a variety of reasons. They may be bored, they may have excess energy or they may be anxious about something. When they engage in repetitive motions such as pacing Pacing
Aimless wandering, often triggered by a feeling of pain or boredom or some distraction in the environment, such as noise, smell, or temperature. or tapping, fidgeting or wandering, these may be signs of restlessness.

In frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia
A type of dementia that mainly affects the frontal lobe causing a problem in executive function tasks., hyperactive behavior is exhibited by some patients, and can include agitation, pacing, wandering, outbursts of frustration, and aggression. This behavior is purposeless activity.

An important type of restlessness is persistent, involuntary Involuntary
Having no conscious control over an action such as muscle twitching. movement. This is known as akathisia, and can be a side effect Side effect
An undesired effect of a drug treatment that may range in severity from barely noticeable, to uncomfortable, to dangerous. of many medications. Confusingly for all concerned, persistent restlessness can be a side effect of medications used to treat restlessness, especially antipsychotics'. Because of this, it is important to be especially careful when increased restlessness follows the start of a new medication.

The first step in taking a more active role in symptom Symptom
In medicine a symptom is what the patient complains of. For example, a a patient may have symptoms of pain and fatigue. management is understanding how a symptom is affecting everyday life; the next step is communicating this knowledge to the care planning team and family members. SymptomGuide^TM is designed with these goals in mind.