The house is falling

May flowers

This is new… this evening my FIL was extremely distraught that the house was going to fall. He was so insistent there was something wrong with the house. No matter what we said he was sure. We told him we had an inspection and it’s a good solid house. He said that was a long time ago but there was something wrong now. He kept saying we needed to get outside or we would die. At one point he said he was sorry the house was falling and started crying. 

I don’t know what to make of it, but it was a little unnerving to say the least.

Stuck in the middle

I'm guessing it's not the house that's falling, it's him.  That's why he has a feeling of impending doom.  Maybe a hug would help?

hezazebra

It's possible he is experiencing benign positional vertigo.  The first time I had it, I woke up in the middle of the night with the room spinning.   The Epley maneuver can fix it if you can get him to cooperate.  It involves positioning the head in 3 positions to move crystals through the semi-circular canals.  I experienced vertigo while doing it and my rational mind had to tell my monkey brain that I could not possibly be falling off the bed.  If it is BPV, his eyes will move sharply from side to side.

It could also be a less intense form of vertigo.

May flowers

Stuck - I also wondered if he was trying to tell us something else, that maybe this was about him. After my post he continued his warnings about the house, even told us to hire engineers to look at it. He was inconsolable over it - we tried hugs and holding his hand and he just kept saying we had to get away from here. He would not sit on the toilet (kept standing)  and kept trying to get up and walk from his chair, which he hasn’t done in a while. He didn’t sleep most of the night. 

Another thought is maybe he had a very vivid hallucination and was convinced it was real. 

hezazbra - that is a very interesting possibility about BPV and I will check his eyes today.

SusanB-dil

just a thought - adding to hezazebra's thought - agree, it could be some form of vertigo with eyes, but also check ears.  I already have an inner ear imbalance, and when a bad cold led to an ear infection years ago, I couldn't hardly move without everything spinning.

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

May Flowers, I'm sorry your FIL is having trouble. My house is literally falling apart so I was worried that was happening here, glad it's still structurally sound. 

Have you started the med changes yet, do you think this could be related to that?

May flowers

Yes, he went up to 1mg Risperdone twice a day (was .5) so it definitely could be related. He is overall much more mellow since upping it. He is also coughing a lot - so ear infection could be a possibility. I’ll check with his hospice nurse about that.

​fesk

I am sorry your FIL was so upset today. I hope you can get to the bottom of it, and tomorrow is a better day for all.

May flowers

Thanks, Fesk. He mentioned it a few times yesterday but was not nearly as agitated.

May flowers

The house is still falling, by the way. Today he told me what tools we need. I told him we would take care of it. He said we couldn’t do it. I asked if he could fix it snd he said no, we need a professional. *sigh*. He won’t let this one go!

SusanB-dil

Well, darn!  Is there a friend or two who could pretend to be contractor? Maybe pretend to work on something in the basement/crawlspace or something where FIL doesn't go, and bang a hammer on a piece of wood, perhaps?  They could tell him they've 'shored up the foundation and should be no more problems'. Do you think something like that might placate him? I know, sometimes our LO are not fooled like that, but would be nice if it would work.

May flowers

That is a great idea, thanks! I could even print up a fake invoice to show the work done too in case he asks again.