New here

Tanyabr

I'm brand new to this whole disease. My mom is 87 and having horrible hallucinations and delusions. I want to know what kind of doctor to take her to. The general physician knows but hasn't really been much help. Do I need a neurologist, a psychiatrist, or what? I'm so nervous about this that I'm losing sleep .I want my mom to be safe.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

It's just me. I'm an only child. My husband has been helping a lot.

She is currently in Independent living. I think she is going to have a higher level of care. But I'm also thinking that she might need to be on different medications, etc...

Thanks. I'm so lost

Tanya

AmandaF

I’d say try either a neurologist or a geriatric psychiatrist - either should be able to help. Everyone is different but the medication Seroquel helped my mom when her delusions were really bad. Good luck, it’s not an easy thing!

M1

Agree with the above, id go with the psychiatrist but there's likely to be a long wait for either. You may do better to take her to the ER for inpatient psych admission and then she could go straight from there to memory care.

easy23

My DH sees a geripsychiatrist for delusions and hallucinations. He is on 2 mg risperidone, twice a day. It helps somewhat, but doesn't take away the delusions and hallucinations. The doctor has recommended placing him in MC and I am in the process of doing so.

Gobellago

Something I didn’t realize is that in Independent Living and Assisted Living, help from staff is often not given until it is asked for by the resident. Staff also assume that if a room door is shut, everything is OK and that the resident will ask for help/use their “help button” to notify staff. My dad never asked for help and started to hallucinate and do odd and/or unsafe things as a result. It went unnoticed until he started to have falls. He is in Enhanced Care now, and they check on him regularly. He’s not quite ready for Memory Care; he doesn’t wander off so they feel a locked door would be too traumatic for him at this point. Not sure if any of this helps, wished someone would have explained the different places in the facility this way sooner. Glad you joined us here, this group has given me so much help and I hope it does for you too. Take care.

mabelgirl

specialist are difficult to come by. I took my mom to a doctors office dedicated to seniors. Not all physicians were geriatrics but they knew enough to know what to do to help. Seroquel was also very helpful for my mom. She takes in morning and evening. At first we were considering upping dosage but instead the doctor recommended melatonin and that combination seemed to fit the bill.

Prayers for some help and sleep.

harshedbuzz

@Tanyabr

It sounds as though she's no longer a candidate for independent living and should skip over AL and move directly to memory care given the hallucinations and delusions.

In terms of doctors, my first choice would be a geriatric psychiatrist as they are the specialists in psychoactive medication in the elderly. Does mom's community have an affiliated geripsych who visits residents? Dad's and my aunt's facilities both did. Many regular geriatric psychiatrists limit their practices to those under 65 or 70, so if this isn't a possibility, a neurologist or geriatrician could be a good choice. At the end of the day, I'd take first available as these often schedule new patients 6-12 months out.

If things are truly extreme, admission to a geripsych hospital unit via the ER could be an option.

HB