Plateau or just good at covering?

MrsAnnabelLee

Has anyone experienced their LO plateauing in their decline with Alz? Mom has seemed to be solidly stage 5 for a long time now and holding. Being that she's younger I had been told to expect her decline to happen fairly quickly. I'm happy that she's still so able to be social and participate in things she enjoys doing at her AL, I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced something similar. 

It's also worth noting that because of covid restrictions, I've spent much less time with my mom than before she moved to AL so I am probably not picking up on more subtle things. I can see in pictures she's started wanting to wear the same outfit every day and yesterday for the first time she was unable to think of my daughter's name. 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

RobOT

Hi Annabell, I ask this question every day.  First off, everybody progresses through this disease differently, I think because everybody's brain degenerates differently.  If the part of your brain that processes language is damaged first, you have trouble understanding what's being said.  If it's your spacial perception you have trouble with balance and movement.  Mostly it seems to be all over and PWD have trouble with everything.  Sometimes what a person was good at before dementia can linger in some form and provides an ability to cover their deficits.  My dad was a salesman most of his life, and he was good at it.  He'll sit staring for an hour with his mouth hanging open, but the minute someone talks to him he pulls it together and starts conversing.  Looking like he knows what he's talking about was always very important to him and remains that way still.  Sad to say, he can only hold up for a couple of sentences, then he gets agitated and says "Whatever" while waving you off.  He used to cover by changing the subject to WWII, but that seems to be gone now too.  Yesterday, though, he really slipped up with his "I'm okay" act.  In a closet with five pairs of the pants he wears every day hanging directly in front of him as they have for the past seven years, he couldn't find his pants.  When I showed them to him he said "Those weren't there before."  And so I was jerked into where he really is at this point.  No UTI, no medication issues, just another step down.  I just try to meet him where he is and fill in the empty spaces in his ability to function.

Kath50

Yes, my mom does this daily. Between her covering things up and having sporadic good days, sometimes I forget she has dementia, or wishful thinking. But then I’m quickly reminded when she gets confused or I try to speak normally to her and she gets agitated. Sadly, life is easier with her without a lot of conversation,due to her negativity. But I also think she avoids talking because the memory loss will be obvious to everyone and she is still in denial about her dementia.

Teresag56

This is my mom too. She does not even acknowledge the fact she has Alzheimer's or. She was in ASL facilities for 2 yrs. Just brought her home. She was on aricep and namenda. I took her off her aricept...I read that after 1 year if no improvement it is kinda pointless to take it and it caused her to be more agitated. I am her full time caregiver with a homecare worker 2 half days axweek.we take it day by day. She has had dementia for about 4 years been diagnosed for 2.

GothicGremlin

I certainly see what looks like plateauing and then decline with my sister.  I'm not at all sure that it's a true plateau though. Whatever is going on in their brains continues to progress no matter what. At a certain point the damage becomes too great and we see a decline.  At least that's how it seems to me.

My sister tries to cover, and sometimes if you just superficially listen to her, she might seem okay-ish.  But her comprehension isn't that great anymore - I can see it just with watching tv shows.  Ask her to explain a fairly simple linear plot line and she can't do it.

Also, Annabel, I don't know how old your mom is, but my sister is younger as well, and her decline has been fairly rapid. She was diagnosed in mid-2018 (still driving then too), and now she's probably at very late stage 5 or early stage 6.  I've been shocked at how quickly she's declined.