His old self for a short time

Katielu

Can anyone explain this. I have heard people say it happens, but wow.

Today my DH was talking to me, and I realized he wasn’t searching for words, his sentences were complete and he was talking about relevant things. I sat at the able across from him and we started talking to each other, interactive. We discussed his dementia diagnosis ( he has never said it or accepted it) we discussed things I have learned to help me cope and to help me help him. He acknowledged a lot of changes I have made and how they help. It was amazing. He was back! The him before dementia. We cried and laughed and hugged. It slowly started slipping away, as the questions were repeated, looking at the plan for the next day became “complicated “ and his conversation jumped all over…. But for a few hours he was himself, truly the man I married. I hate that it didn’t last but few so amazingly blessed to have been home to enjoy it.

Anyone experienced this? Or have an explanation?

Kat63

I had this happen once with my DH. It’s has been at least a year ago. DH had taken a nap and when he woke up he knew me which he has not done for probably year prior. I knew he actually did know me and yes he hugged me and it actually made me cry. We were suppose to leave and go to our daughter’s for dinner that day, but I just wanted to stay right where we would as long as I could as loved having him aware of me and “us”. I gave it as long as I could and we did leave to go to our daughter’s and when we arrived he was still good and hugged our daughter like he hadn’t seen her for a long time. But somewhere not long after arriving things changed and driving back to our home that evening he was completely confused as to where we were going. And unfortunately it only ever happened that one time.

Katielu

Thank you for sharing, it was so amazing to have him back,

White Crane

I have no explanation. I just want to say treasure those precious moments.

M1

No explanation either Katie. It's like a loose wire suddenly reconnects. Glad you had that moment, hope it helps you to keep slogging forward.

Davegrant

Katielu,

I may be going through some of this as my DW seems for a time to be more like her old self. I vividly remember this behavior from the movie "The Notebook" where the actress, Gene Rowlands moved between the two realities. I was taken by this movie six years ago and have watched it many times and now see it being played out in my life. I am not always able to see things clearly with my wife and depend on reading these posts to give me those insights. I believe they are important for my overall emotional balance. This disease tosses my emotions around like a ragdoll.

Dave

Howaboutnow

We had an episode that lasted for a few hours when DH was early stage 6. It was disturbing for him because he recognized he had lost so much time, not only the last few years since dementia but also his memory bank of our life, he wondered if we should see a Dr (of course we’ve been doing that all along), asked how bad his condition is, worried he’d ruined my life. We cried, hugged, sat in silence. It was painful but it was a few hours i didn’t feel alone. The semi-lucidity and awareness faded with the day. I do believe it is a blessing my DH doesn’t have to live with the awareness of what dementia is stealing from him. I hate this.

Katielu

I am with you all. I hate this disease. This morning I am so sad, he is back to being unsure of himself, full of anxiety, doesn’t remember for long. I almost miss him more now that I had him back for a short time ( crying as I type) but I am so grateful for the time. We discussed important things and when we hugged it was HIM, not the shell I care for, and he comforted me… it will carry me a long way.

bless you all for the love and care you provide and thank you for listening and understanding.

PookieBlue

Katielu

This disease has so many unexplainable twists and turns. My DH has been obsessing more and more about his mother who passed away 18 years ago. Previously, I had been able to deflect the conversation by mentioning we were both orphans for many years and changing the subject. 

Last week during his sun downing period he started worrying that she hadn’t returned home. He was very angry with himself that he had let his 90 year old mother go out drinking by herself. He wanted to go out looking for her. He got more and more anxious as the sun was going down and she wasn’t home before dark. He wanted to call the police and at that time I had to change tactics. I told him that his brother in law had texted me and that mom was with his sister. Of course this made no sense at all because they live almost 2,000 miles away. However, it made sense to him and he immediately calmed down. 

The next day he acted almost normal all day long, minimal confusion, cooperative, and no sun downing. I was amazed. The following day during sun sundowning, he said I wonder where mom is. I told him she was with his sister and that was that. No mention of mom for a number of days now. However, that one day of almost normalcy stays with me.

jfkoc

I too am happy for you. Those moments mean a lot.

That said, please note that Lewy Body Dementia may be what your husband has. It is not so easy to diagnose but keep it in mind because some of the meds are different.

You may want to talk with your husbands neurologist about this.

Kat63

Katielu our stories do sounds so much alike. Most evening my husband wants to go home to see mom and dad (of course both died many years ago). The evenings when I can’t change his focus, I end up saying ok and take him for a drive. Usually this takes care of it as when we get back he thinks we have went to their house. Most of what he refers to or talks about centers on the house where he grew up and his mom and dad. As mentioned above I felt some of my DH symptoms might be Lewy Body, but diagnosed as Alzheimer’s. Maybe mixture of these, is that possible??