Can't get official early onset diagnosis of dementia for my mom from PCP

dctruku

For the past 2-3 years we've had a hard time getting an official diagnosis of Dementia for my 84 yr old mom. She appears to have all the early symptoms. She forgets the day of the week. Except for making toast she can't remember how to cook, she repeats herself all the time, she forgets my oldest sister is married, etc. We've spoken to ER docs, a NP which is her PCP, done some MRI's and each time we're just told that she's lost some volume to her brain. Any ideas how we can get something more definitive?

M1

Welcome to the forum. I think you mean she has early stage dementia, not early onset- which typically means diagnosis before age 65. If you look to the right under Quick Links and Groups, there is one for new members that has a lot of useful information, including a good staging tool.

At age 84, there is probably no point to pursuing any more specific diagnosis. Vascular dementia and Alzheimer's are both common, as is a mixture of the two, but it makes little difference clinically. It's going to be a matter of how to practically and safely take care of her. Legal and financial matters should be addressed as soon as possible.

Quilting brings calm

Has any of the doctors done an MMSE test? That takes about 10 minutes. The score tells you a lot. The other way to diagnose it is to get her referred to a neuropsychologist for the 2.5 hour cognitive testing.
However, as M1 mentioned, the diagnosis doesn’t matter much. If she’s given someone a ‘springing’ POA, that takes letters of incompency to enact. If she’s given someone a durable POA, then that took affect on the day it was signed. The person can begin acting on her behalf immediately

Bliss0426

Thank you for asking this question . My family has been experiencing the same. It feels like beating my head against a wall. Also, the reply’s are most helpful.

Motochris

Go to a neurologist. That's what I did with my 84 yr old mother at the direction of her PCP because he isn't truly capable of making that diagnosis. The neurologist gave a basic diagnosis based on his observances but wanted a neuro-psycologist to do more testing. Afterwards, he gave a full diagnosis of Alz dementia.

dctruku

Hi thanks all for your advice. Oh I didn't think about a neuropsychologist. I'll see if I can start asking my PCP about it. Thanks again!

H1235

Moms pcp did a very quick test at my insistence and she did very well(no sign of problems). Again I insisted on a referral to a neurologist. After the much move extensive testing we were not only told she has dementia, but that she should not drive and should no longer live alone. I think she needs to see a neurologist. They are saying she has lost volume in her brain, but are not giving a diagnosis? Seems odd. I think the specific type of dementia can be tricky to diagnose, but it seems like they should be able to tell you if it’s dementia. Good luck.