Newly Suspect Alz in my Husband

Carazee

New Here. Husband's Mom and several aunts/great aunts have/had Alz. Husband is showing signs: Mood Swings, distrust, making up stories in his mind about issues that cannot be true. I need to talk to someone about the earliest detectable stages, and wondering if anyone on this site is willing to help me understand if I see what I think I see? Thank you!

Pat6177

There are a few conditions that mimic dementia and it would help if your DH would go to his PCP to get checked. The 2 blood tests that come to mind are a low Vit B12 level and a low thyroid level. I think there are others. Also, I’m not sure how old your DH is or how sudden these symptoms are. But in older folks, a UTI (urinary tract infection) can cause no symptoms with peeing but can cause dementia like symptoms.

The saying is that if you’ve met one person with dementia, then you’ve met one person with dementia. The point being that each person presents differently. For my DH, the first symptoms were getting lost and repetitive questions. Hopefully others will post with their experiences.

michiganpat

Hi Carazee. My husband is 75 and when he was 70 went thru a 2 year period of suspicion, mood swings (depression then highs), and anger at imagined scenarios. He accused me of adultery. He started repeating stories occasionaly. It was awful. I knew something was wrong but since his cognitive abilities weren't affected I dismissed dementia. He acted fine around others. After 2 years the repeating really kicked in and he started obsessing about everything while the anger subsided. I had many times threatened to tell his doctor something was wrong. He poo pooed it. Finally after 3 years I talked to our son and told him what was happening, blaming it on depression. Talk about denial!! My sons exact words were "it sounds like something else is going on". I finally talked to his doctor, who was new, as his prior doctor had retired. She did a cognitive test on him which he did pretty well on and wanted to do further testing but he was furious and refused telling me if she tried any more "brain tests" he wouldn't go back. Blood tests were normal. Now 5 years in and he talks, talks, talks all the time, repeating stories and obsessing about the news and everything else. He is suspicious of everyone and every thing that happens. His behavior is noticeable to the kids. He can pretty much showtime around others as long as it's not for an extended time. One big thing is he doesn't recognize people he should. It is getting worse. He doesn't recognize change. Areas of our town have grown and he gets confused by it because it looks different. Sorry for the long post but I hope it helps. If you notice changes in your husband trust your gut. You will be the first to notice. Also, his mom had Alzheimer's , but his seems to be in the frontal lobe, Best wishes, Pat

JeriLynn66

Good morning and welcome. You’ve found a wonderful place for information and support.

SDianeL

Welcome. You are right to be concerned. Someone posted this link and it helped me understand ALZ & Dementia. One of the first things I noticed in my DH was personality changes. Obsession, compulsive behavior, anger. He couldn't understand relationships, asking my daughter what her brother was to her. He also could no longer spell common words. He was making lists all the time but couldn't spell. I would speak to his PCP privately and ask him to give a memory test the next visit. Document all his behaviors and keep them for if/when you get an appointment with a Neurologist. If you can get his PCP to refer him to a Neuro Psychologist they have a 3 hour test that will show lots. Also get the book "The 36 Hour Day" which was recommended by a nurse and has helped many of us on this forum. Here's the link that will also help. https://tala.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tam-Cummings-LLC-Handouts.pdf

PookieBlue

Carazee,

My DH is 78 and has been in a slow steady decline for approximately 10 years. I first noticed issues when he would constantly lose his glasses and spend hours trying to locate them. I finally got him 5 new pair and kept one pair in my purse. He retired at age 62 and always did the grocery shopping, cooking, and maintenance of the vehicles. Once he bought a head of lettuce each day for three days, he lost his checkbook which I found in with the strawberries in the refrigerator. He started asking me if the dogs had eaten and kept repeating that question. He reversed the positive/negative when trying to charge the Porsche battery. He didn’t get the Jeep in neutral before towing with RV and destroyed the transmission. I was still working and most days he wouldn’t get out of his pajamas until late in the day.

His personality completely changed with outbursts and untrue accusations. He would get a look on his face that I did not recognize prior to his outbursts. He would confabulate stories and I felt that he thought he had done all the things that in actuality I was doing. His alcohol consumption increased which did not help and he was in total denial about his usage. He would say mean things about some close relatives and friends. This stage of frequent outbursts lasted about 2 years. Then started the shadowing. Ugh! I took over full responsibility for everything. He still showers, shaves, eats and takes care of his hygiene, gets his newspaper from the curb and reads it (kind of). I pretty much have to direct his every move. Many days he does not recognize me as his wife nor that this is his house.

Most days now he is cooperative and nice. The bad days are when he believes his 91 year old mother is out after dark and he is a terrible son for allowing her to go out drinking by herself. His obsession worsens when he thinks she is in the hospital dying and he isn’t with her. She has been buried in Iowa for 18 years, and he keeps reliving her death which is heartbreaking. Sometimes he accepts that she has died, but he has to be deflected from that obsession early in the day. Many fiblets are required. His hearing and eyesight are both very poor. He cannot locate the stove or anything I direct him to without much difficulty. His alcohol use has decreased.

Nowadays he can drive me nuts with his constant chatter, questions, and smothering love. However, I then remember the Trace Atkins song, You’re going to miss this. You’re going to want this back. This disease is heart wrenching.

Valerie 

SDianeL

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/181986#Comment_181986

Valerie, your story sounds almost exactly like ours. My DH is 78, Was diagnosed 2 years ago but I just found an old CT Scan from 2015 before his triple heart bypass that showed white matter and vascular issues. We also had an RV and traveled full time until 2 years ago. My DH started with the same behaviors but I thought it was just normal aging. When COVID hit we parked and stayed isolated and that's when I realized something was wrong. My DH is in the outburst anger agitation stage. He is on low dose Risperidone 2x a day. Haven't seen any change. He also chatters when he's stressed like in the car. He's Stage 5, going into Late Stage 5 as far as I can tell. I'll keep the Trace Adkins song in mind. Thank you for sharing that. I needed it today.

Diane

PookieBlue

Carazee, I hope you can gain some insight from our stories. It is a tough road we are all on. There are many things you can do to make things just a little easier on yourself. You just have to keep experimenting to learn which work arounds are the most effective for you. I discovered early on that I had to keep one step ahead of him. I found that his frustrations caused me too much anxiety so I intervened constantly to help myself, and him I hope. I had him do a few things so he didn’t realize I was taking control of everything. In my case I think the early interventions helped him to be more cooperative as time went on. The alternative is encouraging him to do as much as he can and just have the patience to endure the messes and accidental breakage of things. I still had to deal with those type of consequences, but maybe less frequently than if I hadn’t taken full control. Although I thought taking away his driving would be the biggest challenge, it was easier than I anticipated. I think because he accepted all the help and guidance I could give him. Today, most of our days are calm. We keep to a routine and I always have Secret Gardens music playing on Alexa. We still have a few really tough days, but that is expected with this tragic disease. With this in mind, I hope your journey goes as smooth as possible.

Valerie