Quickly losing ADL abilities, including reading ability....

GwendolynD

My Mom was diagnosed with probable Lewy Body Dementia in mid October of last year.  I think she was having visual hallucinations and runny nose for 3-5 years before her diagnosis.  She has had difficulties walking for a decade, and gave up driving 7 years ago.    Fast forward to today and she has lost her ability to read or tell time, or operate any type of equipment (a toaster or a microwave or even her tv remote).  She speaks more softly and has lost some ability to control her bladder too.  Is this kind of quick decline normal?   Her neurologist did a MRI brain scan and is also considering primary progressive aphasia.  And she has a 3 hour test at the memory clinic in a few weeks.  I've moved her in with me and am just wondering if this is all normal for what she has.  Thanks

GothicGremlin

Hi Gwendolyn -

It's hard to say... everyone is different, but it doesn't seem all that fast to me. Your mom has been having symptoms for awhile now, and a lot of it is familiar. 

My sister was diagnosed in 2018, and was fairly early stage back then. Today she's in memory care and in the beginning of stage 7 - just for comparison.  Like maybe your mom, my sister also has primary progressive aphasia. It makes everything all that more difficult. 

Ed1937

I *think* I'm right when I say that Lewy Body Dementia typically has a shorter duration than, say, Alzheimer's.

My wife was diagnosed with "likely vascular dementia", but I feel she probably had Alzheimer's. From the time she was diagnosed to four years later, she was much further along than your mother. She was double incontinent, could no longer cook, write a check, make a phone call, do basic math, use a microwave, change the TV channel, and had a lot of trouble with finding the words she wanted to say. All that, and she was delusional as well. She had some very minor problems for a couple of years before diagnosis, but started getting worse about 4 months before diagnosis. But as GG said, everyone is different.

GwendolynD

Thank you for your replies GothicGremlin and Ed1937, I really appreciate them.  It really is unnerving to see a loved one suddenly lose basic abilities.  I tried to rationalize Mom's early decline as "just getting older" - this went on for a while - before things took a scary turn last summer.  And ever since her diagnosis I'm noticing everything.  Sigh.

Quilting brings calm

Gwen - I don’t think it’s that rapid.  It sounds more like your mom was not diagnosed until later in the process.  The mild cognitive decline stage can last between 2-7 years.  Mild dementia is an average of 2 years, as is moderate.  The severe and bed stages  move more rapidly than that   It’s all averages  of course. Each person is unique.   LBD us even more rapid in progression than these averages.   

Don’t feel guilty that she wasn’t diagnosed sooner.   Most doctors won’t diagnose until mild dementia because the symptoms don’t become obvious to people who aren’t close to the person until then.    Even close friends and family can think it’s just old age, stress, etc until it reaches a certain point. 

GwendolynD

QBC - Thank you for your reply.  I needed to hear that today.  Having just an idea of the stages definitely helps.  I did read that LBD moves faster than ALZ.  I need to get prepared.