Hallucinations

ncreichs

I am the 24/7 caregiver for my wife who suffers from mid to early late term dementia. She has had various hallucinations, usually after wakening in the AM, but recently has had one that repeats itself, and she bring it up all day long. She repeated insists that "a man" comes to her bedroom and disrupts her things by either rearranging, removing, or even hiding them, ranging from her panty liners to jewelry. She denies ever actually encountering this person, but stated it was her older brother, whom she retracted when realizing he passed many years ago, but then stated it was her living younger brother, and has most recently just described him as, "a man". Her concern has progressed from just the outrage of this happening to abject fear. I have responded in the appropriate way by recognizing her concern, but with little more to offer, other than I have considered offering a solution to install a baby camera, which I could monitor her safety in my upstairs bedroom. My thinking is this might give her peace of mind. My concern is that going unchecked, this reoccurring reality on her part might lead to more serious consequences if left unchecked. Any suggestions?

terei

IMO a camera will not prevent her from maintaining this delusion. She needs proper medication.

ARIL

Yes, you need to discuss this with her physician. I witnessed my stepmom having visual and auditory hallucinations, and it is distressing for everyone. Once (when I was not there) she called the police to report an intruder.

One other thing: a few years ago I had an episode of acute vertigo because of a viral infection in my brain, or so the doctors later concluded. All of a sudden, I saw the floor of my house pitching and tossing. I knew this couldn’t be real; I remember thinking that if that were really happening, the floor would be breaking apart. But I got seasick anyway. My point here is that my brain was showing me an image that I knew was wrong. I really saw the floor buckling.

I assume a person with dementia who is hallucinating is actually seeing or hearing something and responding to the evidence of their troubled senses. They don’t know that it’s not real because it’s very real for them. Reasoning them out of it will likely be a lost cause.

cdgbdr

Agree with contacting her doctor. You will not be able to change this. My husband has friend who died 17 years ago that he certain is coming around and impersonating his brother. Nothing makes it go away so far.

AZ1AW

My wife has a similar problem. She moves items to hide them from being stolen. She then forgets where she left them. She also thinks I am not her husband, and insists there are other men in the house. I am 66, and there is an old man, a young man and a tall man. She talks about them and it is mostly the same conversations she had with me. It is very frustrating when she talks to me about Bill, which is my name. She thinks her husband abandoned her years ago. It seems these others are images of me in different moods. I can leave the room and when I return, I have to knock and then she thinks I’m a different person than the one who left the room earlier.

care sister

my sister is the same makes me sad sometimes aggravating, I’m still trying to learn to understand, it is causing health problems with my blood pressure. I’m trying so hard to stay healthy to be able too be here for her and my children and husband. I’m 66 and my life has stopped being my own and I try to incorporate her with my family life as it was before but it will never be the same and that makes me sad and sometimes depressed.