Speech not right

toolbeltexpert

Just wondering about my dw we had a birthday party and it was late in the evening. I notice her speech almost seemed a little slurred. It doesn't stay that way and her behavior almost seems docile. I have seen a couple episodes of this. 

I have another question,house cleaning for her is pretty sparce, I do some of it early b4 she gets up. She walks around and says all the time I can't  believe how dusty this house is. She will use her socks or slippers to dust.Anybody else have that kinda stuff? I tried to give her the spray and a dust rag she says I'll do that later. 

Ed1937

Just one comment. It sounds like it could be a TIA (mini stroke).

toolbeltexpert

Ed that's what I was wondering, I haven't heard the results of the CT scan yet. I hate waiting.

M1

TBE they read those scans the day they are performed.  I'd call and be a squeaky wheel on that one I think.  You can call the radiology office as well as the doc's office who ordered it.

Kibbee

If your physician's office has on online portal, go there and set up an account for yourself, and one for your DW.  Via that portal you will be able to go online and read your test results (imaging, labs, etc) as soon as they are posted.  Many of these portals will even send you a text to alert you that a new result is available to view.  The portals also have other very useful features, such as the ability to message your physician, order prescription refills, and manage appointments.  It will also hold a history of lab results, and may have a graphing feature, so you can see if things are changing over time.  I set this up for myself and DW, and I use it often.  It was well worth the small amount of time it will took me to it set up.

Rescue mom

The OP could be seeing two different things…slurred speech can result from a TIA or stroke. Speech can also be affected by disease progression.

But the walking around with a dusting tool sounds exactly like my DH as his dementia progressed. He’d find a tool—or what he thought was a tool—walk around with it, and…The End.

For examples:  He liked to build things, and say he’s going to build a bench. He finds a hammer, starts looking for other stuff, and wander around a bit. Unsure what he wants and  does nothing. Or, he says he’ll wash the car. I show him a bucket and brush, he says he needs “more,” he starts looking, and…stop. Wander around or away.

I think it’s loss of  “executive function,” which is a real thing/symptom, very common, in many dementias—the inability to think through, or carry out, a multi-step process. You can Google “executive function dementia” for more info.

DH lost this early, and it was hard for me to see how many things I considered one task, actually had a lot of steps. Like “dusting,” or “pack a suitcase” or “load dishwasher.” To me, those are one task. But think how many steps/pieces are involved.

Or, maybe my DH just immediately  forgot what he wanted to do.  If prompted he’d sometimes say “wash the car,” but  he just didn’t know how any more, he didn’t know the steps involved. And sometimes you could ask what he was doing or wanted to do, and he didn’t remember what he said 3-5 minutes before.

Davegrant

I now do the cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry while she does do the dishes. I notice that she will see something on the floor and try to rub it out with her slippers, or pick up a mess with her bare hands. I double check everything for her hygiene and safety. I do the vacuming but she cuts the grass and I supervise this closely for safety reasons. I have to start the mower for her as it requires a hard pull.

David J

Looking back, I remember my wife using her feet, with socks on to dust the floor (we had dogs). She would gather a pile of fur and dust with her feet, pick it up with her hands and bring it to me. I’d tell her to put it in the trash, but I found a lot of those dust bunnies collected in her decorative pottery.

toolbeltexpert

M1 thanks for that, I will be calling Monday, when she had the ct I asked about the results and they will need my dpoa before I can get that. The doctors already have it.

Kibbee I set it up the portal the day she saw the md, I was surprised by how quick the blood work posted, same day as the test, I have checked back several times hoping it would be there. They must not be as fancy, graphing ect. Just the basics.

RM Thanks I have noticed several of these episodes and they all seem to occur when she has been busy more than normal, the slur isn't real bad. It maybe progression she is word searching.

David Grant my dw used to do the push mowing every now and then she used to ride the mower but its been years since she has and I worry she would over do it or do something unsafe. We have some steep parts if you know what I mean.

David J they are twins! I watch her put stuff in her decorative center piece and in any flower pot that shes near. We have cats and the socks are always covered in fur. She hasn't brought me any treasures yet though.

Thanks everyone.

jmlarue

It's been my experience that the CT scans are seldom helpful in confirming the TIAs. Maybe it's because the damage is so small. I was able to review the MRI pictures that the VA relied upon as evidence that showed the "flares" of brain damage caused by small strokes/TIAs in the past. They said it appeared to be a chronic problem and one that they assumed would continue since hardening of the arteries was confirmed. I was told that there was really nothing to be done to avoid the blockages in the micro-vascular areas of the brain. Very often, these TIAs seem to strike while DH is sleeping. When I see another steep decline in his cognition or behavior the next day, I've had to just assume that it is the result of another TIA. Since there's nothing to be done to prevent them or fix the damage, I no longer put him through the whole pointless diagnostic procedure to try to confirm that they happened.

toolbeltexpert

jmlarue wrote:

It's been my experience that the CT scans are seldom helpful in confirming the TIAs. Maybe it's because the damage is so small. I was able to review the MRI pictures that the VA relied upon as evidence that showed the "flares" of brain damage caused by small strokes/TIAs in the past. They said it appeared to be a chronic problem and one that they assumed would continue since hardening of the arteries was confirmed. I was told that there was really nothing to be done to avoid the blockages in the micro-vascular areas of the brain. Very often, these TIAs seem to strike while DH is sleeping. When I see another steep decline in his cognition or behavior the next day, I've had to just assume that it is the result of another TIA. Since there's nothing to be done to prevent them or fix the damage, I no longer put him through the whole pointless diagnostic procedure to try to confirm that they happened.

Jmlarue  this is her first ever CT. I think it is also looking for other things like tumors.  I had my first CT when I was 17. I had been thru two pneumoencgraphs and then the CT came out.  If you think you've  had a painful test look up a pneumoencgraph. I passed out from the pain.

jmlarue

Didn't mean to imply that that CT scan is worthless - just that it's not often helpful in the case of diagnosing TIAs. Of course, you and your wife will benefit from testing. At least, you will have a baseline going forward. Sorry for any confusion.

Scooterr

I remember 2yrs after wife was diagnosed her speech slowly starting to become slurred. Then it became more on a continuous basic and now almost totally nonverbal. When she does speak it's a mixture of jumbled  mix words making no sense, or she may try to repeat what I say. I'm thinking when she repeats what I say, it's her way of trying to process what I did say. If that makes any sense.

During her diagnoses (EEG, Blood work, CT, MRI, neuropsychologist, and more) they ruled it AD with the combination  of stokes.

I'm like you toolbelt I get up early and clean before she gets up. That being said before she totally stop cleaning, she would get on her hands and knees with a small brush, rag or her socks and clean our wood floors. Not like trying to clean the whole floor, but she would find a small spot or get in a corner and sit there cleaning dirt that wasn't there. 

Jeff86

My DW has a dx of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in addition to AD.  CAA is characterized by little bleeds in the brain that show up on a CT scan.   

My DW would no longer tolerate the testing procedure but I wouldn’t put her through it anyway, as there’s no treatment and preventative action that can be taken.

Hope you get back some usable information.  

toolbeltexpert

Jmlarue  no problem and I appreciate your responses and  learned something from you . I did not know the terminology for the injury to the brain.  Gave me something to look into.

toolbeltexpert

Scooterr I am sorry for what you've  had to go thru,  your describing very well, what I was really wondering about. It's kinda helpful to know where she may go. I am thinking no news is good news on the CT front. Her BP are not really all that bad which is good news. Hoping your gonna be eating cobbler.

toolbeltexpert

Jeff86 I'll add that to my list. And I value all of the wisdom out here...

May flowers

My FIL had slurred speech a lot when he was tired. We wondered if they were small strokes as well, but it seemed situational and he didn’t have any other symptoms. I hope you get some answers.

toolbeltexpert

MF that sounds the same. Just wondering did it progress like Scooterrs dw. And thanks for sharing. Sorry I ask a lot of questions and not sorry cause I learn a lot.