What stage do you think we are in?

Kevcoy

After being home the past couple of months for summer break I've noticed what seems to me to be quite a decline in my DH but am unsure what stage I'd say he was in. 

Sleeping is my biggest bone.  He is constantly waking up in the middle of the night starting around 2am.  He gets up and shuffles around the room, looking out the window or going into the hallway only to return about 20 minutes later.  It's back to bed just to repeat the whole thing again 45 minutes later.  His comprehension level is declining as well and I don't know if he is losing his hearing or just the disease making it's mark.  I'd say something to him and he'd repeat back to me what he thought he heard which was nothing at all close to what I said.  When he does speak the tone is so low I can barely hear him and what comes out is what I'd say is mostly word salad.  I heard someone at the store the other day say to his toddler, "I have no idea what you said." and that is how I feel most of the time.  If I don't respond because I didn't hear or understand what he said or if I respond in a way he didn't like he gets upset at me.

Speaking of getting upset his tolerance of people he doesn't even know is getting worse.  He doesn't think anyone who doesn't live in our neighborhood should walk their dogs or be out walking at all.  When they are close enough and say "good morning" to us he doesn't say anything and usually spits on the ground.

Other things, he can only make and receive calls on what he calls his radio.  Texting or using any other apps is out of the picture.  Microwave or any other appliance usage is out.  It's a struggle to get him to clean the kitty litter box.  Calls the dogs and cats by the wrong names.  Lost almost all interest in watching TV which kills me because through the years he has accumulated thousands of DVDs that just sit in the cabinet.  We could have had some nice vacations with that money.  Keeps harping me about letting him drive and wants to get a Jeep. 

He can still eat, bathe and go to the bathroom alright but struggles picking out clothes.  Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

toolbeltexpert

Tam cummings has a decent scale if you have never seen it.

https://tamcummings.com/stages-of-dementia/

That sleep disturbance is hard on you. Hope you can get enough to take care of you.

dayn2nite2

Stage 6 pretty much covers him.

Dio

Hi Kevcoy,

My DH is going through this similar pattern, though with less overt display of annoyance at "strangers." I've given up on trying to decipher what stage he's in. It goes up and down and not in a predictable way, day to day, hour to hour. The only known factor is the decline. His progression from the onset of psychotic behavior, being hospitalized for 2 weeks, with a dx of manic depressive anxiety disorder then and receiving CBT, to the discovery and latest diagnosis of dementia has been quite "baffling" to his doctors. While in the hospital, they coined his case "unusual" and a "conundrum." Just yesterday he was muddled and fraught with paranoia. Today, he slept peacefully through the night without waking me up at all, woke up on his own accord, got dressed without "guidance," heated up oatmeal and made coffee...almost like a normal him. Go figure. This is definitely a moment to savor, and I just  entered that in my journal to remind me that there can still be good days.

Ed1937

Although there are some differences on where my wife was in progression compared to your DH, I think they were roughly about the same. But my wife was double incontinent. I thought of her as being in stage 5/6. She still had a lot of days where she was pretty much "with it".

jmlarue

I agree - Stage 6. You're describing my DH pretty much to a tee. He's a bit farther down the road with the psychotic behaviors - paranoia, hallucinations, angry aggression, etc. The Geri-Psych is trying to stabilize his behavior with antipsychotic meds. You might want to consider getting him some specialist help in that area. It all began with the mild paranoia (distrust of people walking their dogs, kids walking to school, etc.) The general suspicion quickly morphed into hallucinations of groups of people in our home or yard. He could hear them conspiring against him. This disease can change on a dime. Better to consult the doctor's sooner rather than later to see if they can help. The night wandering needs to stop - for your sake. Get the doctor(s) involved. BTW - if you can do tele-medicine visits, do it. My DH is more cooperative if I don't need to take him to the office. Bonus - he'll generally wander away midway through the video appointment so I can speak freely with the doctor.

Rescue mom

Almost identical to my DH, who I think is a solid 6. 

The differences are that my DH does sleep all night,  and does not know what the litter box is.

Also, after reading Jmlarue post, must say that DHs dislike/paranoia of strangers became, in a couple months, accusations—and physical threats—that he “saw” me having relations (he used another term) with them in the front yard. (And we don’t live out in the country.). So that led to the geripsych., and some serious meds. 

I was more surprised than scared by his actions and attempted physical attacks, but I now understand it’s a fairly common progression. Just be aware.

Just Bill

Wow I'm seeing a lot of similar symptoms. My wife just came down from a 24 hour psychotic episode. That was a first. Usually they last about an hour or so. This one she really hasn't come all the way back yet, weird. Communication is a bigger struggle. The low talking and mumbling make it very hard to hear what is on her mind. When I talk to her we went from her saying "What ?" after everything I say to "What do you mean by that ?" Yeah she is slipping farther and farther from reality. What was strange about this last episode is I could see the moment she switched from psychotic episode to her sweet self asking what happened where have I been ? She has an appointment Sept 15th I thought I could wait, but too many episodes and lots of hallucination/delusions in a short time so I called her Dr. He didn't prescribe her anything over the phone but he is going to bump her schedule to a sooner date. He prescribed the anti depressant and ambien over the phone. He wants to evaluate her before prescribing anti psychotics. While she was lucid we had lunch and a walk and everything is good for now. When she snapped out of it I said I missed you she said I missed you too. What a strange trip this is.

Caring4two

 https://tamcummings.com/stages-of-dementia/

Also, ask your doctor about “trazodone” for sleep. It helped my husband greatly sleep through the night. The dose can be adjusted up or down. I take it myself now and love the stuff. Safer for us older folks than regular sleeping pills. And don’t take over the counter stuff! It all contains diphenhydramine (Benadryl) Not good for the brain.