Rolling head on the table?

Farmwife12

Has anyone heard of Alzheimers patient rolling their face from side to side on the table? My MIL (84) will do this all day long alternating between sweeping the floor with her feet. She doesn't want to use a broom. She also repeatedly wipes the counters off with her sleeve. Then will go back to rolling her face on the table. I'm kind of baffled. The doctor said she was in mild stage in Nov. what are the worse stages going to look like? She doesn't really engage, only answers yes or no questions, she refuses to answers any inherent type of questions.

SusanB-dil

Hi Farmwife12 - welcome to 'here', but sorry for the reason.

It sounds like one form of OCD behavior.  MIL repeatedly scratches one arm all day long, but thankfully, it is even with sleeves on, so there has been no breaking-of-skin, at least so far.  She also seems to do it with more purpose when she is agitated.  Does your MIL have a neurologist? Might be a good idea to tell doc what she is doing, even primary care. 

AudraMarlo

consider taking short videos of this behavior and showing the videos to a neurologist, it may be a light form of akathisia, which can either be a side effect of meds or can be controlled by med changes. My mom rubbed back and forth on the table so frequently I thought she was going to develop blisters on her fingers, also, rocking back and forth in her chair.