Father with dementia - Alz

karilgardner

New to this group and really hoping to learn from others about helping my dad the best I can. Diagnosed Aug 2023, mild cognitive dementia. Have done the Amyloid PET (no plaque present) however Amyloid intermediate risk via blood work.

The last month we’ve seen significant decline in memory (almost no short term), no interest in anything, sleeping all day and fits of rage sometimes.

Recently started Metatine and takes Lexapro.

Wondering if Lexapro has been beneficial you in your own journey or if others are having better results with a different medication.

Also, would love to hear if there are other resources that can help him through this. Accepting this has been hard and he really hasn’t even done that yet.

Iris L.

Welcome karilgardner. Regarding acceptance, what do you mean? Most PWDs (persons with dementia) exhibit anosognosia, meaning they are unaware of having dementia. This is different from denial or not accepting. Anosognosia is a characteristic of dementia. If you try to confront him with reality, he will resist and become upset. So do not mention dementia or Alzheimer's to him. Learn the work-arounds that the members use. You will have to learn new ways of communicating with your dad. If you post in the General Caregivers board, you will receive more responses.

Iris