Mother with AD has Anxiety

nsglobe

I am new here. My mother was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's in August; but I think she has been struggling for longer than that. She is on Aricept and says that it helps her feel less in a fog.

She is still living alone; but I am doing her bills for her. However, she is worrying about EVERYTHING. She makes lists in her head that she eventually cannot remember. Then, stresses about what she wanted to "do / talk about". I told her to write it down. That sometimes makes it worse, because she doesn't always remember what the note means.

The thing is that the "list" she is making is not necessary. My brother and I have her finances under control. I keep track of her doctor appointments for her, so she gets to them. She doesn't drive.

I asked her why she was worrying, and she told me she does not know. I know she is having trouble giving up control of things; but I give her as much information as she wants when she wants it. I only live a few blocks from her.

I wondered if anyone else has dealt with this. How can I help her feel more relaxed or at ease? Are there any tips anyone has that I can try?

Feeling helpless,

Loving Daughter

Quilting brings calm

Call the PCP and ask for 1) some anxiety and depression medications and 2) a referral to a geriatric psychiatrist. Most PCPs can prescribe the basic medication (not anti-psychotics). It can take a while to see a specialist. It takes a few weeks for the medications to work and sometimes you have to try a different one.

My mom is on sertraline(Zoloft) and mirtrazipine ( Remeron). These have helped a lot although the AL nurse still thinks she’s anxious.

FYI- anxiety and depression can make the dementia seem worse, so it helps the brain fog to get the anxiety down.

M1

The anxiety is part of the disease and is not a rational response to real issues, that's why she can't identify the cause. However, it can be debilitating; she may do better not living alone, anand you probably need to put that on your radar. Agree with medication.

H1235

You are not alone. My mother is the same. She has lists all over the place and most of the time can’t find the one she is looking for. Sorry to say I have found nothing to help her. Even when I keep all appointments listed clearly on the calendar she doesn’t look at it or can’t figure out what the current date is. It’s almost like she looks for things to worry about. I will be looking back at this post to see if anyone else has any ideas.

M1

"It's almost like she looks for things to worry about": again, the anxiety is intrinsic to the disease itself, she can't help it, and there is nothing short of medication that will help. All the listing and reinforcing reminders won't work, can't work in the damaged brain. My partner still does this too: i talked to her yesterday on the nurse's phone, haven't been able to go in all week because of the weather. She asked me to be sure and call her regular phone and leave my number -of course she hasn't had a phone in close to two years.

JennybytheSea

”it’s almost like [s]he looks for things to worry about” This describes my Dad to a T.
Anxiety is part of the disease - THANK YOU for posting this; I didn’t know. He is on medication, but still worries almost incessantly.
A couple things I try that help, at least for a few minutes.
* 1, 2, or 3 minutes of Meditation. I use Noom, so share those. YouTube has tons. It seems to reset his thoughts, and provides calm.
* Play That Tune game with Kazoos. I added familiar songs to the cards. You could easily make your own cards. Take turns playing a song on the kazoo see if the other person can guess.
* Singing together.
* I haven’t done this yet, but I might find a Whack-a-Mole game and write a worry on each mole, so he can whack them. ($, clothes, laxative, etc, ., )

*Readers Digest humor pages. He reads the jokes silently. I encourage him to read a few out loud for me.

Would love to hear ANY & ALL ideas from others of what has been helpful