How do you handle delusions?

Lisa Edd

This is my first post.  My mother is 85 and has dementia.  She recently moved from NY to FL to live with my husband and I.  She recently started having delusions and I'm struggling to deal with them.  She thinks that my husband and I have a secret and are plotting against her.  These came out of the blue, but I'm guessing this is all part of the disease.  Any suggestions?

David J

Hi Lisa and welcome!  You’ve come to the right place for firsthand knowledge, advice, and understanding. I’m sorry you have to be here. 

Delusions are very common and can be benign, like imagining people in the room. Some can be very negative, like the ones your mother is experiencing. My DW went through a period of very negative delusions, and dragged me into them. It was very upsetting. DW’s psychiatrist, who manages all her neuro meds, changed some meds which made a big difference. The delusions didn’t go away, but they were less frequent and not as severe. Eventually, the disease progressed to the point that they all went away. 

I assume your mother is under medical care for her dementia, so you should speak to her physician. 

Lisa Edd

Thanks for the info David.  Yes she does have a neurologist, but he has only seen her once since I moved her down to FL.  She also has hallucinations, visual and auditory.  Her previous doctor prescribed Seroquel to try to eliminate the auditory hallucinations but it didn't work.

I'm thinking these delusions are tied into sundowning.  Going to try some other stuff before medications.

manuzito

Lisa, my DH only had one hallucination during his illness but he was delusional quite often.  

Reading several posts on the subject in this forum I learned how to handle them.  He used to think that our bedroom was a hotel room, I didn’t tell him it was not, instead I made comments about our ‘hotel room’ and then change the subject to something that would call his attention and pretty soon he’ll forget all about being in a hotel room.  He’d says that he had plenty of money in his pockets and that someone took it, I would bring a few dollars and tell him that I found them on the floor.  I never tried to tell him that he was wrong, I just tried to go along until he forgot whatever was in his broken mind.  Thankfully, all his delusions were benign.

For the one hallucination he had his doctor prescribed Risperidone and he had a very bad reaction, it took two days to wash the drug out of his system.  He lost his mobility and couldn’t eat or drink for a whole day.  He only took one mood pill and eye vitamins because he was legally blind. I think less is more unless the PWD has other health issues.

You will learn a lot in the forum.  There is a wealth of information from experienced and compassionate caregivers.