Does anyone's lo do suduko or puzzles?

toolbeltexpert

This is one of those things, that makes me wonder about my dw condition. She still does crossword sudoko every day. They are large print and an easy to intermediate level. Is this something that someone with Altzhiemers  say stage 5 would be able to do? She hadn't used her tablet in months and picked it up and checked her email and was doing sudoko.

sandwichone123

I would say in stage 5 someone could do that, especially if it was part of their pattern, their normal. I've also found with my dh he may do something automatically that he couldn't do if he was thinking about it.

JJ401

Long term vs short term memory.

DH has been doing both. He’ll work on some of the harder Sudokus for days. For a while he was doing 2,000 piece puzzles, but now he’s down to 500 piece (with an occasional 1,000).

He can still play cards. He plays cribbage and pitch, and somehow does well. He’s played both since he was a kid. They are in his long term memory. 

He couldn’t learn a new kids game to play with the grands. That’s short term memory and it’s mostly gone. 

There’s lots about this disease that’s mystifying. 

Stuck in the middle

My wife doesn't do sudoku anymore.  She enjoyed them for many years before dementia and continued after diagnosis.  After a time, she gave me all the hard puzzles.  Then she gave me the medium puzzles too.  She was solving the easy puzzles until a few months ago but stopped when she realized she couldn't solve even the easiest without frequent reference to the answer sheet.  Her last book of easy puzzles has been sitting untouched all winter.  Too easy to interest me, too hard for her.

Stages of dementia are general outlines.  My wife is stage 4-5 probably and may be able to do some things your wife cannot.  But not puzzles.

When you know one PWD, you know one PWD.

Marta

The fact is, your loved one can do Sudoku. What stage she is in is often arbitrary, according to what nomenclature one uses. Stages are just a short-hand for communicating with other caregivers, never set in stone.

toolbeltexpert

Well dw has done sudoko since it came out and puzzles forever. I didn't think about long term. The other day one of her hearing aides wasn't working for her. I tested it with the app. Turns out it was fine just had wax in the tip? That's not normal  I thought, I cleaned it now all is good. I mean it had wax all over the outside really abnormal, she cleans her ears every night, duh she's not showering very often. Took me too long to figure  that out. I guess I will have to check them more often. Tonight she's  showering 2 nights in a row wow, I know some of you are saying , I should thankful. I am. I think this disease is gonna drive me nuts trying to figure things out. Thanks everyone.

toolbeltexpert

Well this is a first. Dw comes down from the shower and says this is gonna be a stupid question on my part. Did we get married?  Now what day did we get married? 44 years ago. I never saw that coming tonight. Curve ball right to the head. She has repeated that question again 5 minutes later and she say we couldn't  have been married 44 years ,she's not that old!

Jeff86

My DW never did Sudoku, but she used to do the New York Times crossword puzzles, in pen, only Friday and Saturday because the others were too easy.  An early warning sign of AD was when she could no longer do them.  Now, in late stage six, she can’t even read a greeting card with birthday wishes.

French

when my partner was diagnosed, 3 years ago (I estimate he was stage 4), I tried to explain him the sudoku. He never understood the rules...

We tried several other memory games on his ipad, he couldn't understand any of them and I stopped trying, it was too sad.

Mint

My friends dad could do crossword puzzles as many others here have experienced.

harshedbuzz

My aunt did/"did" the NYT crossword daily until we moved her into MC.

We suspect she'd already been diagnosed with MCI or ES dementia when her DH died suddenly. They had no children, lived several hours from other family and were very private people. We did notice my uncle fussing a bit over her to ensure best practices- diet, exercise and her crossword. He'd often assure her she was smart saying she did the NYT puzzle, and he couldn't. But he never looped us in that she would need looking after until his deathbed when he was quite vague about it. 

She lived alone after he died for about 5 years when my other aunt found her sitting in a cold, dark house listed for sheriff's sale because of unpaid taxes. The second aunt got guardianship and placed her sister in a MCF while we set about cleaning out her compound. I found grocery bags full of crossword puzzles- they filled the space under her bed and a 12' long closet to the ceiling. The earlier ones (in the back and bottom layers) were cut out and completed more or less appropriately, then there were bags of crosswords started but not completed (even the Mondays with which I don't bother) and then finally bags of just the grids cut out. I feel like the routine of starting the day with a crossword remained in her muscle memory long after she had the ability to do them. 

HB

toolbeltexpert

HB that's so sad about your aunt, there are so many orphan adults out there.  I keep dw stocked up on books. She does the match games on the cereal  box. Same box different day. The mind is a crazy thing, last night dw asked if we were married and what the date was,is there a piece of paper showing that? This morning she remembered with help from her notes on the calendar that today is my BD.  Everyday I hope for the best, I know she is trying too.

M1

My partner at stage 5 has pretty much lost the ability to read, much less do puzzles (which was never really her thing anyway).  Even notes and lists do not work at this point because she cannot read or act on what is on them.  I had a list of emergency numbers by the telephone and it has disappeared; I am going to replace it for my own benefit but not for hers.  I don't think she could reliably dial 911 at this point (making leaving her alone impossible).

toolbeltexpert

M1 I know what you mean about lists. My dw makes them sometimes multiple copies for the same thing, she literally is copying the same note she's writing about. But they never get checked off. We just feed the birds she put the seed bucket away and she came out and said I don't think I feed the birds. I had crossed it off her list and said that they are done.

Donr

My wife does solitaire on the computer. The version I found is one card draw and is considered easy. She also does word search puzzles and also does coloring books.

Marie58

My DH lost the ability to read, write, even sign his name very early on. He couldn't do the grandkids puzzles with giant pieces early on. He struggled with a new phone a year before diagnosis. But he could ride a bike and downhill ski well into stage 5, beginning of stage 6. Granted, I had to pick safe bike routes and I had to help him into and out of his ski equipment, but he did it for so long it amazed everyone. Everyone is different.

Rescue mom

I am especially struck by HB story, which is very like my mom. She’d done crosswords and sudoku forever. As her dementia progressed, she still tried, got worse/could do less and less, and finally was just saving the entire newspaper page with the puzzle…

My DH read the newspaper religiously for years. Now he can’t read anything, but he still wants to hold the paper and turn the pages. Often upside down.

I think they retain some level of memory for things they did a long time, even though many other functions are totally lost, faster. DH sense of direction was amazing, but it was the first big thing lost.  I was regularly astounded —and confused for sure—over the things DH could do, while unable to do so much else. In general “last in, first out” (oldest memories last longer)  applied, but not always.

CStrope

Less than 18 months ago when my DH was diagnosed, the dr. suggested he do puzzles, etc to keep his brain active.  On the way home, he insisted at stopping and purchasing several puzzles that had 25 or 50 pieces.  He decided he didn't like the 50 piece one (I think he just couldn't do it), but the dog picture 25 piece one interested him.  He struggled but did it in a little over an hour.  6 months later it took him 3 hours and some help from me to do that same puzzle.  He tried it again one time after that and then I noticed it disappeared.  Just before diagnosis he had started doing large print word search.  Along with the inability to do his 25 piece puzzle, he lost his ability to do the word searches. 

On the other hand.....I do ever sort of puzzle I can get my hands on!  Jigsaw, sudoku, crossword, 3D-matching, wordle, quordle, etc. etc. etc.  If it's a puzzle, I'll do it!

CarleyHouston

I've wanted to learn how to play Sudoku for a long time. It always seemed to me that it is challenging and not everyone can master it. I have often seen people in the transport, with magazines and pencils in their hands, who count something and write numbers in the cells. But recently, when I was collecting jigsaw puzzles with my father, he showed me a few Sudoku rules I didn't know about before. Using his example, it didn't seem complicated, and I started solving Sudoku in small steps. I can say that I really fell in love with this game from that moment. It develops my brain very well. https://journeyofsomething.com/collections/1000-piece-puzzles

Dio

Well, this is rather discouraging. It seems everyone who has done brain exercise games still ended up with dementia. So here I thought I might be doing the right things to keep my brain functioning, but in the end it's in the Almighty's hand. I love Sudoku, crosswords (yes, in pen), jigsaws, word jumble, Friends with Words, Wordle, all games that challenge the brain, and started using my left hand more rather than rely on my dominant right. Oh well, let the chips fall where they may.

toolbeltexpert

Well here is an update of sorts to what has progressed. My dw still can do some word search but she doesn’t always complete them but suduko is out completely. She likes having the books but they are just to look at now, a possession that she wants to hold on to, it is just a memory for her part of who she was. She had done thing things for years and years. I have box's of new books she just put away.

Someone brought in a 30 piece puzzle which I helped her finish but she was just so frustrated she just wanted to quit.

PookieBlue

A couple of years back I introduced my husband to Sudoku, thinking that it would help his cognition. It was a dismal failure. He hated it. I tried to get him to put a Wizard of Oz puzzle together. It was a dismal failure also. He has never been much for playing any sort of game (except maybe pin ball). I on the other hand, put several puzzles together on my I pad every day, play Words with Friends, play the piano and many other things to challenge my brain. I hope it helps because having to think, see and hear for two people is making me crazy and sometimes forgetful. I forgot to pay some bills recently and that rarely happens. Sometimes, no—-all the time —-my plate runneth over.

Valerie 

Paris20

I always enjoyed word games but my husband never enjoyed them. When DH was diagnosed, our son in law suggested easy crossword puzzles for him. It was a big no-go from the start. I wasn’t surprised. Looking back, I realize all those efforts were moot. The outcome of this horrible disease is certain. Yes, make your spouse comfortable, happy, and safe. Trying to introduce changes in the hope of doing some good is not going to help in the long run.