How to handle hallucinations?

Worried about mom

Mom has been diagnosed with Vascular Dementia (about 5 years).  She has gone into the "hallucination" stage when sometimes gets distressful to the point where we have had to experiment with meds.  She is 96, so obviously does not tolerate meds very well.  First was Seroquel and Namenda.  Her hallucinations went off the chart.  Took her off that and switched to Riserpadol - she ended up in ER for 7 days, going completely psychotic.  (won't go into all of the long behavior stories of each one).  Now on Depakote which seemed to calm her at first, but she is 100% depressed and says she is "waiting to die".  Plus now,  all the hallucinations are back and she has tried to get out of her ASL to go help people she sees.  Back to square one.  Has anybody had anything similar happen or have any suggestions with meds, etc.  I'm at my wits end and do nothing but dwell on it daily.  I am only caregiver as brothers don't help in any way except with some $$'s.  Obviously she can't do anti-psychotics.  Any success stories with higher doses of Depakote?  Could drugs like Aricept help hallucinations?

jfkoc

Back to square one....Based only on your post I think ASL is probably not the correct type of facility.

Drugs are used for treatment but non-medical treatment is showing more and more to be effective. ASL staff likely has little to no training to help someone with the symptoms your mother is showing. A well train MC facility should have a better trained staff. They should be able to help her with hallucinations  since they are a common behavior. Note it should.

I would do a check with the director of the facility where your mother lives and see what their training is.

This is an interesting read;

https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/stages-behaviors/hallucinations

andrew250

I agree that skilled nursing seems like a better option now.  I'm surprised the AL hasn't said something. 

My mother has been living in a constant delusion with some hallucinations for months now. It's her number 1 symptom of dementia.  She's constantly agitated, needing to be somewhere according to whatever delusion she is operating under that day. 

I feel like the drugs help keep the delusions more benign. Rather than a delusion that she's been kidnapped, or someone died, or a hallucination that she is witnessing a terrible train wreck, she is instead thinking she's back in college or needs to get home to see her parents, or she has just stories about people we don't know.  She thinks she's in a big manor house with all these bedrooms. 

She's on Zyprexa (Seroquel alternative), and they're using Gabapentin. It seems to help with agitation.  We are not able to stop the delusions and hallucinations, but we can try to make them about benign things. 

I believe Seroquel is an anti-psychotic. Not sure why you think those can't work?  You definitely need medical help from someone here.  Medications are a balance, and in my mother's skilled nursing facility, they are able to tweak and monitor her meds. I'm pretty impressed with how responsive they are to that. 

Good luck! 

Arrowhead

My wife has hallucinations and is not on any medication. I try to help her through it. I ask her questions about what she sees. I reassure her when she think someone wants to harm her. I play along until it passes. To your mother, what she sees and hears are real. Go along with her and if it turns negative, try to find an explanation that will calm and reassure her.