Interventions

Gil'swife

DH recently diagnosed with AD. Not formally staged but it looks to me that he is mild with one moderate trait. I have received numerous suggestions for interventions, some confusing, some depressing. I am interested in exploring possible interventions from those of you with the actual experience.
Thank you

Gil'swife

By interventions, I mean dietary, speech therapy etc.

M1

Welcome to forum. We talk a lot about "best practices"-general measures for healthy lifestyle-but bluntly put, if there were anything proven to work we'd all know about it. And there are always hucksters out there willing to take your money. Talk to an attorney and a competent neurologist, those are your best bets.

Iris L.

Is he on Aricept or Exelon patch? They are part of Best Practices. Also:

--mediterranean diet

--exercise

--stimulate the brain

--socialize.

Get restful sleep, avoid stress and consider complementary therapy if desired. There are many threads on aromatherapy.

Best Practices may improve functioning and may prolong the early stages. They are not meant to be a cure. Take this time in early stages to get affairs in order and to do bucket list activities and just enjoy LOs.

WIGO23

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/66900/interventions

I believe you and I may be in similar points in this journey of caregiving. I find Teepa Snow’s caregiver interventions videos helpful: the book, The 36 Hour Day to be a good resource; and I strive to use the four r’s each day: reassure, reconsider, redirect and relax.

I hope that some (or all) of this list is helpful.

vickifitzsimons

I am at this point with my spouse. Have the official diagnosis which has given me clarity.

Getting clear answers caused me anxiety. Neurologists used my families feedback to make determinations and I was not comfortable with the process. It took me time to ease into it.

I don’t know if this is something you’ve experienced yet?

Luckily, got my husband to a research hospital where there is a team of doctors with specialties instead of 1 neurologist you see for 20 minutes every 6 months. One of my physicians suggested a research hospital because he understood the time constraints the neurologist under.

Do you have a practice in your community known for understanding what the caregiver requires?

vickifitzsimons

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/66900/interventions

Just reread your post and saw you mentioned ‘confusing’. At the beginning when I was first told spouse had Mild Cognitive Impairment I was confused and nothing really made sense to me.

Everyone seemed to understand more than me about the disease. I felt so out of step.

Give yourself time, a lot is coming your way fast and it’s stuff you probably did think about. I mean who wants to think about it? Little by little you learn the lingo, you come to terms this disease entered your life, develop strategies and begin to think ahead. It happens.