Reluctance to get further tests

Vernon Bates

My wife has a recommendation from her primary Dr for a brain scan and further diagnosis by a psychiatrist/gerintologist. What are my next steps?

Vernon Bates

She is also refusing to do further testing

harshedbuzz

@Vernon Bates

Hi and welcome. I am sorry for your reason to be here but pleased you found this place.

What is driving your wife's reluctance? Is she aware of her symptoms and afraid to have her fears confirmed or is more of a matter of her having anosognosia (a condition where a person with dementia is unable to recognize their issues with cognition and memory)?

I would create a work around/push for the imaging if she's not had any as it can rule out things which could potentially be treatable. It can take a long time to get an appointment for further evaluation, you might want to schedule as things could be different in the 6-12 months it can take to be seen in some places.

HB

Vernon Bates

It is both. She is frightened and also not accepting that she has memory issues. Also her primary Dr. has told her not to drive which I have to enforce. She is quite unhappy about this. What do you mean by workarounds? Should we just make the appointments?

M1

Hi vernon and welcome, you have come to a good place for advice and support.

You may not be able to convince her to do any further testing. Read about anosognosia-its a common feature of dementia that prevents her from being able to perceive her deficits, and she may think she's fine. You should not try to convince her otherwise, and you will find that most folks here don't discuss the dementia diagnosis with their loved ones.

there's not much lost with this as there is still so little that can be done. You should probably talk to the PCP to make sure that treatable things have been ruled out (thyroid, B12 deficiency), and find out how comfortable s/he is with treating for behavioral or sleep disturbances later on.

My partner never went through formal testing either; she had had head imaging for other reasons, and failed brief medication trials of Aricept and Namenda because of GI side effects. Seroquel was prescribed by our pcp for sleep fragmentation when she reached middle stages and has remained very effective.

If you look to the right under quick links and groups, there is one for new members that has a lot of useful information. Read a lot of threads, make a bucket list while you can, and make sure you have powers of attorney and financial planning squared away. Many recommend the books called The 36 Hour Day, and Being Mortal.

trottingalong

My husband and I went for testing initially and all we got out of it was possible MCI with depression. That was 6 years ago and he said he will never go through that again. I agree with him. He’s progressed slowly over the years and now it’s speeding up a bit. For me, it’s what is the point. It is what it is and it’s quite obvious. We saw it in his mother, his grandfather and two brothers. I think it’s always a personal choice. For some spouses, it’s very important for a more definitive answer. I was very disappointed with the information we were provided.

SDianeL

what M1 said. Unless you need a diagnosis for Social Security Disability, the diagnosis won’t help much. Nothing they can do. I found the Geriatric Psychiatrist the most helpful for both of us. Get her PCP to refer her and make the appointment. I didn’t talk about Dementia to my DH. I told him it was a brain doctor and his PCP wanted him to go. As she prescribed medications I told him it was a pill to help his brain work better. He never questioned it.

Iris L.

Work-arounds mean getting tasks done without seeking the approval or agreement of the PWD with anosognosia. This is because they truly believe they are fine, and if you try to confront them with reality, they will get upset. So don't do that. Find other ways, aka work-arounds, to get done what you want to get done. The members have many suggestions.

Iris