Vascular dementia(8)

Lizzielou

Does anyone have experience with vascular dementia?  What is the rate of progression,  is there a possibility of improvement,  is excessive sleep a symptom?  I would know what to expect with Alzheimer’s but vascular dementia is a little different .  DH’s short term memory is not too bad but his thinking is sooooo slow and he is confused a lot.

Rick4407

Hello Lizzie.  You can do a search here for vascular dementia.  It's mentioned fairly often.  My DW was initially Dx'd with VD and then Alz was added.  My reading is that it has faster progression than Alz.  It's an issue in the white matter of the brain, rather than the gray matter as Alz is.  The white matter is decision making, while the gray is memory.  Both obviously work together as decisions require memory.  How much of that is true I have no idea.  I've also read that it is the second most common form of dementia after Alz.  Again no idea if there is any truth to that.  Every case seems to be different, good luck.  Rick

Cubbie

My DH was diagnosed with VD 3 years ago. We had a rocky start due to delirium but that eventually corrected itself. He is doing well right now but he has numerous health issues so live from one day to the next. His physical health and stamina has diminished significantly. His short term memory has disappeared but he can remember odd things from his past. Reaction time is really slow, therefore no driving. I can give him no more than two choices of anything or he’ll forget the third. And often he will say you choose, not sure what that means. He eats the same is a creature of habit and eats the same thing every morning for breakfast and frowns if I make him anything else. He doesn’t seem to like the foods he once loved.  He also sleeps at least 12 hours a day.  He is only left alone for short intervals and only when he is occupied with tv or newspaper. He does use incorrect words often. I rarely correct him. I am fortunate to have an RN who comes in once a week to stay with him. He adores her and she does him. I recently broke my shoulder and that has really been a challenge. But we are on the finish line. My best to you! 

Lynne D

My husband had a ruptured cerebral aneurysm seven years ago. His short term memory was obliterated, but his intellect intact. Somewhere along the way he developed dementia: vascular and Alzheimer’s. He was diagnosed a year ago and now they tell me he is at stage 5.5 or thereabouts. He has obstructive sleep apnea and has never tolerated a Cpap. I would say that change happens quickly. Within the past two months he has lost the ability for speech except for social chit chat. He speaks gibberish. He cannot follow one simple direction nor retain information at all…short term memory is non-existent. He toilets himself however has incidents of bladder incontinence. 

He sleeps a lot. Wakes about 8:00 am, has breakfast, often takes a morning nap, has lunch, usually sleeps between 1:00 - 3:30 or so. He goes to bed about 9:30.

He was a verbally and emotionally abusive narcissist before the aneurysm and is an even worse partner now. He has lately been angered by literally everything.

I will be happy to have my life back at some unknown time in the future. I am thankful he sleeps so much; it is a welcome break.

Crushed

My mother had and died of vascular dementia MY wife has Alzheimer's   very different progression but that is only two cases.  Mother was mentally sharp but physically debilitated wife was the reverse

9ccd

Hi, how do you think we can help?i feel that "I know what your going through" isn't enough.

Katie Roo

My DH was diagnosed with VD last week.  He has short term memory, mood swings, and gets frustrated whenever things do not go his way or like he thinks they should.  He also cannot follow a television program, and struggles understanding many conversations, as well as finding the right words.  I have read as much information as I can find, and understand that it is progressive.  I'm wondering if anybody out there can shed any light on how fast the progression is, things to look out for, things to prepare for?  Not trying to make it sound like he is worse than he really is (has good days/bad days), I just need to prepare and be as ready as I can be for the future.  Thanks for any and all input!

M1

Welcome to the forum Katie, you've come to a good place.  You will get more responses to your question if you start a new topic--look for the green "Add Topic" button towards the top right of each forum page.  No worries, the mechanics of the site always take some getting used to.

To your question:  there are plenty of folks here dealing with vascular dementia so I'm sure you'll get some responses, but it's so variable.  What you will find here are practical things--for instance, if this is a new diagnosis, one of the essential early things to do is get your legal ducks in a row--wills, powers of attorney for healthcare and finances, etc.  If these are not already in place, time to do it is right away.  Even if they are in place, worth reviewing the documents--for example, he cannot serve as power of attorney for you, so you may need to change your own documents.  A good certified elder law attorney can also help with long-term financial plannng should he need institutational care in the future (very expensive).  Look at nelf.org for a list by location.

Good luck.

Katie Roo

M1, thanks for your advice and I will start a new discussion.  We already have all of our wills/power of attorneys in place, and have even discussed who would be power of attorney in the event I was to die first.  We had not, however, thought about who would be power of attorney over me should I get sick when becomes unable to serve in that capacity.  So, thank you, for pointing that out.