Delusions or Dreams

nakling

I'm not sure if what my DH is having are delusions or something else. The episodes seem to occur after sleep or a nap. I think that he is having very vivid dreams and when he wakes up instead of realizing that he has had a dream he incorporates the dream into his waking stage. For instance the other morning he woke up unusually early, got dressed and went downstairs. When I went downstairs he was fully dressed, sitting at the kitchen table, with his jacket on and his wallet,etc. He told me that he had a phone call and spoke to someone on the phone - he doesn't know there name - and that he is needed somewhere - he doesn't know where exactly - to help with something. He said he met this person when we were in New York last week (we live in California and have not been to NY in any recent time). He was waiting for them to call back.

These beliefs that he has been contacted by someone and is needed someplace are becoming more common.

Is this a typical Alzheimer's issued? He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about 2 1/2 years ago.

Thanks for any input.

NAK

Pat6177

Well, our experience was similar but not. My DH started on Donepezil and started having very vivid dreams over a couple of months. The doc had him start taking the Donepezil in the morning instead of at bedtime. This reduced the dreams quite a bit. DH also had delusions over a few years about how he needed to get to work, with assorted stories that stemmed from that. He needed a ride and Describing the building, describing where people slept, then it morphed to how they had not paid him and most recently, he retired from that mythical job. It’s amazing how long that delusion thread lasted. But I don’t think there was ever a connection between dreams and delusions. He was never treated for the delusions since they did not seem to bother him too much.

Carl46

My late mother, who had VD, told me it was getting harder to separate dreams from reality. My wife, who has AD, is having that problem now. I think it may be a frequently seen symptom of dementia.

SDianeL

my DH would have hallucinations at night. The doctor prescribed Risperidone which helped. You really can’t tell if it’s a dream or just an hallucination. If I woke up as soon as he woke up and calmly told him he was dreaming to come back to bed that worked sometimes. Other times he would get fully dressed and sit in his chair and not respond to me at all. Almost like he was sleep walking. When that happened I would sit with him awhile (usually 1-2 hours) and then calmly tell him it was time to go to bed and he would get up and go to bed. It was frightening. I bought locks for our doors because I was afraid he would try to leave and I wouldn’t be able to stop him. About this same time he stopped being able to find the bathroom when he got up at night. One tip I read on this forum is to limit the news and shows on TV that may cause them to have dreams. Sometimes they think things on TV actually happen to them and they dream about them.

jehjeh

My DH does this frequently, usually upon waking. He may think he's in the hospital or a snf and I'm his caregiver. Last week he thought i was his mother's old friend. She would be over 100 now and he couldn't believe how good I looked. This particular delusion went on for over 2 hours before I could convince him to go to bed. In the morning he continued to tell me about his visit with this woman. He's not on any new meds, this just seems to be a phase of the disease. It's been happening for at least a year, 2-3 times a week

Biggles

My DH went through a very bad stage of hallucinations and seeing apparitions, he would get up creep around the house with his torch then sit in the dark. I would get up and sit with him, he would say “shush” don’t say anything they will hear you. I would finally and very gently turn on every light in the house. Very scary and upsetting for me. So eventually after no medical help or suggestions we talked in bed before we went to sleep and I said if anyone or anything invades just cling on tight to me and I will tell them to get out of here, they are not welcome or wanted, buzz off etc. and it worked. I would hold him tight and after saying things like 'get out' this is our house etc I'd talk gently to him saying it was alright, it's ok, the house is locked you can go to sleep. I also leave a couple of lights on. I think each situation is different and we have to be open to finding a way of getting through each episode as best we can. Medication would be great but I found it made things worse. It's hard and sad but we are their safe guard and protector, goodness what a responsible job!! Take heart.

Abby627

My DH does this occasionally. He’s up and dressed with his coat, hat, and gloves. He’s going to a factory somewhere east of town. He’s thinking about when he had his business, which he sold 25 years ago. Sometimes I can talk him into coming back to bed and sometimes I can’t. He hasn’t done it for over a month so maybe it’s over. He recently had to go to the ER and we learned he has a very enlarged prostrate. They had to insert a catheter and sent us home. It has really set him back. He has tons of confusion, doesn’t understand what it is, etc. We see a urologist Friday. I’m praying they take that thing out and that he gets back to “normal”. What a journey we are all on!