Has your LO had these symptoms?

ImMaggieMae

My DH was diagnosed with probable Alz and behavior variant FTD. It think it was based mainly on symptoms of obsessive/compulsive behaviors. He has never shown aggressive or violent behavior, but prior to getting medications, he was very agitated much of the time. He would be awake all night brushing his teeth, cleaning his glasses, taking showers, putting on and taking off different watches, etc. When I would tell him to stop and come to bed, he’d say, “ Just one more time, my glasses/teeth etc. are almost clean.” Then 5 minutes later he’d be back doing it again. During the day he would start to take the trash bins down to the street. We’d stop and redirect him, but he would be back at it a few minutes later. He went through all his watches and threw away the ones with dead batteries. Had to fish them out of the garbage can. He was in almost constant motion, not angry, just agitated, bouncing off the walls. 

Is this one of those behaviors like repeating a question hundreds of times within a few minutes, preferring sweets more than before, etc., that a lot of PWD go through at some early stage of dementia?  Or is it more unusual? 

Faith,Hope,Love

Hi IMM.  My husband has also been diagnosed with BVFTD.   According to our Neuro everyone displays BVFTD a little differently.  DH also displays some obsessive-compulsive behavior, but not the same ones as your husband.  Mine will walk laps around the dining room table for hours at a time.  He does repeat the same questions over and over again.  He gets obsessed with returning items to the grocery store so that he can make money.  Fortunately, I talked with the manager, and we've got an arrangement worked out there.  The Neuro placed him on Seroquel and that calmed the behavior down quite a bit.  But I can tell it's probably time to increase the dosage.  Hope this helped a little bit.

ImMaggieMae

Faith, Seroquel stopped most of the behaviors within a couple days, but they came back. After a couple increases within a month, he was put on Risperidone which worked within a day or two. He needed an increase about 7 months later. He is only that and Memantine. His neurologist increased the Memantine about 10 weeks ago, not for agitation, but just to help in general. We have had very good results, ones that I didn’t think were possible. I hope they last for a long time.

I don’t think he was on the Seroquel long enough or at a high enough dose to really know if it might work. It was an ER doctor who switched him to the Risperidone.

Faith,Hope,Love

Thanks IMM!  It's so valuable to get someone else's input as to what's worked for them.  The last increase was to 75mg of Seroquel.  I'll be calling him Monday to see if we can increase it again.  It's almost like it works for a while and then his brain finds a way to get around it. The neuro mentioned Memantine but I've been afraid to try it.  I've read a few articles that say it's not suggested for patients with FTD.  So, I've been afraid to try it.  I'm always a little afraid to try new things with him.  I'm afraid of the outbursts.  You've given me hope that maybe it would work for him.

Jo C.

Hello Faith,Hope,Love; it is true, memantine is one of the drugs not considered appropriate with FTD.  Here is a link from the UCSF that has a large dementia clinic and also has  a team dedicated to those with FTD.   Scroll down a bit and there is a table listing some of the drugs contraindicated in treating FTD:

https://memory.ucsf.edu/treatments-stays/medications-dementia

J.

ImMaggieMae

Jo C., my DH had been taking Memantine for over a year when his UC Neurologist increased the dosage with very positive results for the past couple of months. The bvFTD was based mainly on symptoms, which is why I was asked the question here. But it doesn’t seem as though those behaviors which I assumed were common at some stages of dementia are common at all.