Is it possible?

gabby_0789

Hello, my mom has young onset dementia. Since her memory loss started she is always mentioning that she doesn’t feel well which yes I think this is accurate. It’s always her neck, back, she can’t eat, or something is always wrong. She is always “sick”. However recently she was in a very minor car incident ( she still drives short distances, even though she was asked to stop, we are still working through getting her to stop) air bags didn’t go off, barely a scratch and the damage was slim to none on vehicle. She was seen at ER and nothing comes up broken on all test. But now she is sticking to a story that I think she might be making her reality. Her version of what happened is exaggerated and not believable. I don’t want to say she is lying because something did happen but it’s like she is making her vision of what happened a reality. Is it possible that exaggerating events and imagining stories a part of this new journey we are on?

M1

Yes it's completely possible, in fact it's to be expected.

You need to do whatever it takes to stop the driving. Disable the car, hide the keys. Cancel her insurance too, but removing the vehicle is paramount. If she has been told not to drive and continues, she (and you if you hold power of attorney) could be sued for everything you own. And that's not to mention the anguish of hurting or killing someone.

Emily 123

Yes. Since her short term memory doesn't work well, and her ability to access older memories will be affected, she will try to access what she can to make sense of things. She may even be accessing memories from a long time ago, or a memory of something that happened to someone else, or even something she read or saw. Her brain is trying to work around all the dead spots the disease makes, and come up with something that satisfies her need to understand what happened.

But remove the car and tell her it's in the shop-she could mow someone down in a parking lot. It's not the physical ability to drive a car that's in question, it's the ability to process the incoming information correctly and to make speedy, safe decisions.

NYCheryl

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/188809#Comment_188809

Love that last comment. DH was told he shouldn't be driving. Because we live in snow belt I took opportunity to sell his car. I had already been driving more. But he thinks he will be getting new car in Spring. When I say he can't drive he doesn't remember and just argues he has never had an accident. It is not the physical ability, it is the ability to process and make safe decisions. Thanks for the suggestion