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Share your Story with the Alzheimer’s Association
The Alzheimer's Association is dedicated to ensuring that everyone facing Alzheimer's or another dementia is able to access a timely diagnosis, available treatment options and quality care throughout their journey. To better understand the barriers people currently face, we are looking for people to share their experience…
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Moved: ALZConnected Q&A Thread
This discussion has been moved.
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New to all of this as a caregiver
My brother Jim(not his real name) was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. They said he's at the beginning of it's advanced stage. Our other brother, Max, has been living with him and taking care of him, but he's sick too and his illness will be fatal within the year. I'm stepping up to help Jim after Max passes, likely…
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Suggestions about what to ask of a home health aid?
We've qualified for 24 hours of help from a home health aid paid by our insurance but I don't know what to ask of this person (if we can find one!). We are both ambulatory, ride bikes together and I manage household chores. My DH is easy going, polite, charming but needs to ask questions all the time and repeats himself…
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Home health care
I'm 70 and in reasonably good health, some issues that are well managed. DW is 67, about 3 years or so in. I would say moderate stages. A fair amount of urinary incontinence, needs assistance with bathing and dressing. We have an adult daughter who's doing all she can to help us. I cook breakfast every day, and either our…
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PBM Redlight VieLight Therapy
Has anyone explored or even tried therapy with photo bio modulation also referred to as red-light therapy? There is a device that has some clinical trials (very small population). It is called Vielight and has a very extensive website with reports on testing of the device. I have been trying to evaluate if it is worth a…
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Help for Caregivers of Veterans-Elizabeth Dole Foundation
The Elizabeth Dole Foundation offers assistance for caregivers of veterans who were wounded or have an illness such as dementia. The veteran does not need to have a disability rating. They offer financial assistance, mental wellness, financial wellness course, webinars, and assistance navigating the VA system with aid and…
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Organizing home care
Hi everybody! I have learned much from this forum (thanks!), but now I face a new problem and need your kind advice again. My DW (82) has late-stage dementia. So far, I have been able to take full care of her (besides a bit of respite care from an aide), but all my current arrangements depend on my wife's ability to walk…
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Support Groups for DH
Hello Again - I have found so much support for me, as a spouse of a DH, but not so much for my husband, or for the both of us to attend. He is still at a stage where he might benefit from others' perspectives. Mostly, I'm looking for outside validation for things like driving… Warmly, —CydS
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Stopped Memantine
Hey everyone! So I just wanted to share a bit of my journey with my Mom with Dementia. We were giving her Memantine and the whole time she was on it she was having vivid dreams that woke her up and made her really upset in the mornings. We consulted our doctor and we stopped taking it. There have been fewer wake ups and no…
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beginning this journey with my mother. feeling alone
Hi, I feel really alone. I am new to all of this. This is the first time I have gotten into this website. Will have my first support group meeting next week. My mother lives far from me and I believe she has some sort of dementia, but early stage. My mother's short-term memory is not good. She has forgotten how to use the…
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Notary for Power of Attorney in Pennsylvania - Questions
Loved one has dementia. Some days are more lucid than others. They need someone to handle their affairs though. Loved one has not paid property taxes or filed tax returns in a couple of years. We just paid their property tax for them (5K) although they have the assets to do this themself. The social worker at the memory…
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New to ALZ Site - Caring for LO With Dementia
New here to the community, caring for a parent with severe dementia and their spouse. LO had a serious fall a few weeks ago, resulting in a brain bleed. Another fall or progression led to acute/chronic bilateral brain bleeds. LO had urgent brain surgery to alleviate this. Spouse is finally waking up to the fact that LO w/D…
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Mom caring for adult child with memory loss
My first post. I'm 84 and my adult child was diagnosed with moderate cognitive decline 4 months ago. Has been on doctor prescribed vitamin /depression /antipsychotic protocol since then. Has anyone else got this issue?
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Lessons learned Mom's stroke, husband's Alzheimer's & Step-Dad's stroke
WARNING!! LONG POST. I've been thinking about this lately. I remember being lost and overwhelmed after my Mom's stroke several years ago, my husband's diagnosis of Alzheimer's 4 years ago and my Step-Dad's stroke last November. Some I learned through the school of hard knocks & some I learned on this forum. I hope this…
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Running out of money with no where to go!
Hi, new here. 92 year old mother with vascular dementia is running out of money. She is in CA and I am in TX. She is in Independent Living at a facility, has been there almost a year. She is getting lots of home care but it has depleted everything she has. She gets angry, yells and hangs up on me when I try to talk with…
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Vascular dementia
We are new to vascular dementia. My husband was just diagnosed a month ago, as well as frontal lobe syndrome,, , my father has dementia, but I’m finding this vascular dementia different. My husband pushed me yesterday. I’m wondering if there are any medications to help with his mood swings any input would be helpful thank…
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Suspecting Dementia, Trying Not to Panic - Money Worries
My beloved husband is showing signs of cognitive decline. I'm dealing with the emotions and "what-ifs" throught therapy. I'm posting this duen to practical questions: - My 69 year old husband's work is our only source of income. - If he loses his job due to dementia how will we get by? We have no savings and rely on SS,…
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Mom Won’t Stop Staring Out the Door
This is kind of a funny one, but I don’t know what to do about it. My mom has Alzheimer’s disease (moderate stage), and she loves looking outside through our windows and door. The problem is is that we have a shared driveway, so there’s usually people walking past our door. To be honest I personally would feel kinda…
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Anyone else taking care of otherwise healthy dementia patient?
Taking care of 85 year old with late stages but body is amazingly healthy, amazes the nurses and doctors each time,,,strong heart, good breathing, strong appetite, and can feed herself most of the time. One should be delighted right? But she is in late stages requires 24 care, is beyond any kind of converstation, but gets…
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Always tired
is always feeling tired even when just getting up part of this illness? Wife doesn’t sleep all day but does nap watching tv a lot
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Baby Monitor, LifeAlert type necklace, or other option best for Mom with Alzheimer’s?
Short version of our situation: my sister, brother and I are caregivers for my Mom. She’s 7 years in now (4 years since official diagnosis). We live split across a duplex, and there’s usually at least one of us on call. We had been able to leave her by herself for a couple hours if necessary, but that may be changing. I…
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Waiting for the trainwreck: What do you do when your LO refuses to trust family or doctors
Hi! I was on the boards here 7+ years ago for my dad, and now I'm back for my cousin. My younger cousin, 56, probably has early onset Alzheimer's and it's being exacerbated by self-medicating. She had an MRI in January and a PET scan in April that showed elevated amyloid in three of four lobes and borderline in the fourth.…
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MC in Minnesota
Does anyone have experience with any of the SuiteLiving facilities in the Twin Cities?
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Testing for type of Alzheimmer's
My wife's primary care doctor asked if I wanted my wife to be tested to see what kind of Alzheimer's/Dementia she has. I decided not to have her tested because of the stress she would endure taking the test. The way I see it, and I told the doctor this, is that doesn't really matter 1hat kind it is. There's no cure so what…
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What tests did they use to diagnose your loved on with Alzheimer's Disease?
My mother is currently in the processed of being diagnosed. The doctor is doing a few blood tests to rule out reversable causes for the cognitive difficulties but otherwise says no tests are needed besides a brief cognitive measure (MOCA) to diagnose Alzheimer's. What was your experience like? Did they do more testing or…
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MCI-- treatment with Lecanemab or Donanemab
This is my first post. I am a caregiver for my DW who was recently diagnosed with MCI with an APOE 3/4. We will be having an important discussion soon with a neurologist who is going to present us with the two possible treatment options of either Lecanamab or Donanemab; but we are quite fearful of the possible negative…
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What made you decide to place your LO in a SNF?
Hi, We don’t have money for MC or help at home. In fact, I stopped working early, depleted my savings and retirement, and my oldest son has been living with us and paying the bills for two years. Those might be enough reasons to place my partner in SNF—so I can work and my son can move on with his life. What brought me to…
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Navigating Senior Care/Nursing home/Memory Care
Hey again! I am overwhelmed with all the the things involving how to pay for my moms care when she will need a nursing home or assisted living or memory care. I am trying to find all the differences and which one fits her needs. But not now. She is ok for now. I just know I need to make a plan before she needs it. We have…
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Brand new. Need help.
I can't get my DW to go to a doctor, much less to get a diagnosis. She refuses to talk about the possibility of her getting D. It runs in her family. She is very functional but showing personality and memory changes over the last several years. How do I trick her into going to a doctor then getting the doctor to perform…
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Anger Issues
My sister was diagnosed with dementia in April of 2024. She has recently become very angry with her daughter and myself. It seems that whatever we do it is not right. She doesn’t give us a chance to explain when she misunderstands what the conversation is about. She continues to talk over you and says we don’t hear or…
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Lost Keys
Where does everyone store their extra keys? I’m trying to figure out a place where my husband can’t access it. My husband lost a key to our back room. In looking for the lost key he went through the box where we keep our spare keys. He didn’t know what the keys were for, even though they were marked, so he threw most of…