From delusions to happiness

livlea

This is unbelievable, for the last 9 months mother 92 was getting more and more delusions and paranoia , she did not trust her kids or anyone anymore, except doctors and pharmacist.

she became more and more delusional, we managed to take her to a geriatric doctor who performed memory testing, the whole time , she could not believe how stupid the questions where , she failed the 3 word and the clock test , still believed she was fine , then her GP doctor told her the next day she had memory problems … and she went berzerk, we thought she would never recover from the anger ..

then few days later, she asked one of my sister’s to come over , to help her with papers, she was calm , gentle .

next day she asked her again to go to the bank with her, to help her pay a bill , she accepted there and then to give my sister POA after refusing for months and after removing it from me .

she accepted to start taking medication (antipsychotic) we said it was for her memory ;)

she said she wanted to give us money as part of our inheritance now and not wait

( she accused us for months of stealing her money)

What is happening? Anyone experiencing such a shift ?

we where convinced she had Anasognosia and would never admit ( she is not admitting) but letting go …

CaliforniaGirl-1

My LO's doctor said that sometimes as the disease progresses it affects different parts of the brain and it can lead to less agitation and upset and more acceptance. It just depends. And of course as we have all learned, there is no such thing as stability so be ready for the next change.

SDianeL

sometimes they accept it from a professional and they fight the caregivers. My husband is totally agitated with me but when "his lady" comes he's an angel. I know he doesn't realize it. There is no answer. Nobody knows really. At least she is calm enough and rational enough to make the decisions she needs to make.

Jo C.

It is always good to have a dementia specialist. One needs to know specifically which type of dementia is present as meds for one type can be contraindicated for another and even make things worse. This is very important.

My mother was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's by her Board Certified Geriatrician. Meds were started, but her condition became worse rather quickly. I was not comfortable with that assessment; it did not feel right. I did get my LO to a good Neurologist who sees dementia patients as a routine part of his practice. After a thorough workup, and a SPECT Scan, there it was - FTD as clear as could be on the scan. (MRIs were worthless.) Meds that were contraindicated in FTD were stopped and appropriate ones initiated, it made a huge difference in my LOs quality of life. At least we knew what we were dealing with.

Some LOs have Lewy Bodies Dementia not diagnosed and that type of dementia also has meds used in Alz's that are usually contraindicated in LBD.

Also, sometimes as our LOs condition begins to evolve, the primary diagnosis for type of dementia can change as our LOs symptoms change. Just good to have that level of expertise to keep our LOs in best approach to their care.

J.