another delusion question

BPS

Are delusions usually constant all the time or do the same delusions come and go. My wife has delusions about me but sometimes she doesn't seem to think these things and then the next day or two she believes them again. Do these delusions come from past fears or experiences from earlier life, even childhood, or are they just totally random?

wizmo

Expect a scrambled mix of these things and you cannot predict what flavor will happen today. I have seen DW get stuck on something for weeks at a time then drop it suddenly, or come up with a new confabulation that only lasts one day. Some are random and complete fiction, some are based on past experiences at least in part, but details get mixed up from unrelated events. The hard part for me is going along with the most impossible story just to reassure her and not challenge whatever she believes, and try to quickly redirect to another topic or activity.

CindyBum

I have no idea other than my DW keeps seeing bunnies, cats and dogs in the bed, which is mostly kind of cute, except for me knowing she's progressing. They've not been consistent hallucinations and have only appeared every few weeks for a couple of days, then gone.

Pat6177

I think the delusions and how long they last are very individual. My DH has had 3 distinct times of delusions. One was in the fall of 2021, the next in the spring of 2022 and the last just recently (2023). The first 2 lasted 4-5 days and this last one was a couple of weeks and was actually 2 different delusions that he would go back and forth with. All 3 events came at times of progression. All 3 ended when my DH decided that if I didn’t see these things then they must not be real and he let go of them. This last round just ended a few days ago. He came into the kitchen and said “I think I’m back”, “l think my brain is working again”. Now I had not said that I didn’t see what he was seeing. But I did often say that I didn’t know when he would ask me about the man and the woman staying here, etc. With all 3 events, there was some small piece of the story that was part of his life. One was centered around a napkin holder - go figure! None were scary, just frustrating because he couldn’t figure out some piece of the puzzle. I’ll be curious to see if anyone else responding to this thread has a PWD that “decides” to drop a delusion.

ghphotog

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/190616#Comment_190616

Yes wizmo, that about sums it up!

ghphotog

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/190672#Comment_190672

About the same here Pat. My DW has been seeing people in the house for years. She'll start talking to them telling them to "get out" or "we're not interested". She's always asking me who that person is sitting on the recliner. . .

l7pla1w2

DW asks me if the other people in the house have left. No one was here. She hasn't actually said she "sees" anyone while I am present.

DW will say she used to love a man who had been present for many years but recently left. I ask his name... and it's mine. I ask her to describe him to me, but she really can't provide anything. I ask whether she knows my name, and she does, but with a question mark at the end.

These episodes come and go, but they don't seem to last days. What causes them? Time of day? Phase of the moon? Who knows?

In one recurring delusion (happened after dinner), DW asks me where I live. She says she never sees me. I remind her we've been married 40+ years and have lived together all that time. Yes, we share and have shared the same bed. She says, "How is that possible?" and "What's the matter with my brain?"

LindaLouise

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/190757#Comment_190757

I have experienced the same, and did again just tonight! My DH ask me where I live and how long I'll be here. We have been married for 45 years! He also asked me if I knew his children! He has done this before, and will later go back to remembering who we all are. Certainly is disconcerting; I think I'm getting used to these recurring delusions, but didn't realize that was what these are, until I read your comments here tonight. Always so grateful for this site to remind me that I'm not alone and that we walk along this ever changing and challenging path together!

Evangelos

My DW has a persistent delusion that I am having an affair wit our divorced daughter.
Difficult to deal with from me and our family.
She also refuses follow up wit her neurologist.
Any suggestions?

M1

I’d call the neurologist and see if s/he is willing to prescribe without seeing her. The delusions aren’t pleasant for her either. If not, ask for referral to a geriatric psychiatrist and bill it as a second opinion

TyroneSlothrop

BPS: I find it’s impossible to find a stable state inside my wife’s delusions with which to engage, and pointless to try, since they evaporate within seconds or minutes. It sometimes infuriates me, but this of course is also pointless, and destabilizing.

elainechem

My hubby's delusions would last about a week. Then, he develop a new one. There could be months in between them. He was always suspicious of me. That was kind of his standard daily delusion.

harshedbuzz

@BPS

Dad's delusions tended to be informed by his personality in that they were either suspicious in a thieves think all men steal manner or arrogant in which he was either desirable or heroic. As a result, they tended to be cringey especially in the middle and early-late stages. An example of the former was the notion that mom was cheating on him (he'd been the unfaithful mate here) or that I had somehow cost him $360K by "being stupid" (after he died, I did a deep dive into his investment accounts and discovered he'd lost exactly that amount day trading early in the disease).

Some of his delusions were conflated in that there was some truth to them, but the who-what-when-how wasn't true. Later, he started to conflate even the plots of TV shows causing us to put parental control on his TV to avoid him being upset about being murdered and raped after watching crime dramas with mom.

In the middle stages, he could hold onto a delusion for weeks or even months. One thing that struck me at the time was how scripted the accounts were when he told them— a few were almost word-for-word verbatim confabulations. When he progressed to the later stages, he didn't seem to hold onto them more than a day or so and they were much more varied— he might report being kidnapped on Monday, having had knee replacement (mom did) Tuesday, and a hurricane (he saw on TWC in another state) Wednesday.

HB

SSHarkey

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/208912#Comment_208912

I’d make the appointment and tell her you’re going out for a drive. Stop off for ice cream or something then go to the doctor. If she balks, tell her it’s for a medication refill, whatever you need to say.