New… Dealing with Mom’s Hallucinations

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My mom is in her 60s and her pcp says she is having brain slips and in stages of dementia. I am trying to get her seen by a neurologist and someone recently recommended a geriatric psychiatrist as an alternative for an assessment. It has been 3 months since the diagnosis and she was given an antidepressant. She is now having hallucinations and delusions of people taunting her, stealing from her, keeping family members away from her and of people having snakes along with others but these are the main reoccurring ones. I try to reassure her but it is difficult and so frustrating. She is so adamant about things that she thinks has happened and that we think she is lying or crazy and acts like we’re off for not hearing or seeing things. She remembers these hallucinations but is losing memory of real recent events and confusing some people she has known years. She dwells on the past a lot now and has a good long term memory of things from 30-50 years ago. There are days when she seems like herself then she says something and I’m back to feeling disheartened.

Has anyone had success with dealing with hallucinations and delusional thoughts? Is it common for these to take over all rational thinking? I’m hoping the neurologist can help or prescribe something to help.

rhun1320

I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with this. My Dad, too, has delusions. He thinks that the authorities are coming to get him for something that's he's done. When we ask what's he's done, he says he doesn't know, but the authorities will be coming to take him away. We thought that the medication he was on was helping to stop the delusion, but it wasn't. It was still always there - he had just stopped talking about it for awhile. It resurfaced a couple of weeks ago.

Who else is helping you with your mom? I highly recommend placing hee in a facility if you all have the means. It's too much to deal with for anyone. We're going through the process to get my Dad placed now.

Send you positive thoughts and prayers for strength. You're not alone.

M1

Welcome to the forum. She needs medication to control these unpleasant hallucinations, and the class of medication that usually helps is called atypical antipsychotics. Seroquel and Risperdal are the two most commonly prescribed and are usually well tolerated. Ask her pcp if he/she will prescribe until you can can get in with the neurologist or psychiatrist.

pvsmith77777

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/194687#Comment_194687

I live 500 miles away from my mother, who is by herself. If I got that medication, what assurance would I ever had that she would take it. She only takes the few meds she has now whenever she feels like it.

ksigman

Hello,

I am in this boat myself, live about 150 miles awway. Mom is in independent living, but has delusions and accuses me of stealing, being dishonest and a bad daughter. I am an only child. She won't see a doctor and I get so anxious every time I call to check on her because the accusations persist. She is still able to care for herself, but will not take medication for the delusions.

I am her POA and am handling her finances, but it is so stressful.

AmyJack

My mom has many delusions. One is very strong and it affects everything else. She believes the house she lived in 40 years ago during a brief second marriage is still hers, and she wants to be taken there to live. She has lived in several different apartments since then, one for nearly 25 years, but has no memory of that at all. All she talks about is going home to her "house". She is 91 and in memory care. We try to make her room at the facility nice, but she undoes everything I do. She packs everything up so she'll be ready when we come to take her home. She won't even leave the sheets on the bed. She gets very annoyed when I bring her anything, like clean laundry. "You don't need to be bringing that here...I'm going home today!" I don't know how to change the delusions. I think you just have to deflect and redirect and get through it as best you can. It is very stressful for all involved.

Anita22

Hi, my LO is having the same hallucinations. Her appoint with the psychiatrist is end of March. Her current diagnosis is depression and anxiety but I think she had Alzheimer from her symptoms. I have been caring for her since September 2023. I have Lupus and Osteoarthritis in both my hands. It is very hard!

yearofthedragon

My mother has dementia but I can't tell what phase/stage she is in. My dad passed away a few months ago and that seemed to set off strange hallucinations for her. She believes he lives in the house across the street and is cold and needs a sweater. She just started on Seroquel two days ago. She seems less stressed and able to enjoy food and listening to music more than she was before Seroquel. She still thinks my dad is across the street but doesn't talk about it as much., Not sure if it's too soon to really tell if the meds are why she seems slightly better. Our doctor thought she might have had a UTI but it turned out she did not have one (she still went on the antibiotics though). Are your mom's delusions seeming to be a result of the antidepressants at all?

M1

Hi year of the dragon. Sorry for the loss of your dad. Seroquel does kick in pretty quickly, so I am glad your mother is getting some relief. It's pretty common to think that loved ones are still alive-my partner does this all the time regarding her long dead parents and a beloved sister who died two years ago. It comes and goes.

If you look in some of the posts on the caregivers forum there are links to the tam Cummings stages of dementia, or someone may post it again here. Comes up frequently.