Paranoia and delusions in AL

sfcohen7

Hi all. My 84 yr old mother has exhibited paranoia for the past several years so I would say her Alzheimer's only exacerbates it. A year ago she moved to AL. She is not happy there (this place is crazy nice). She calls me daily yelling that staff are coming in her apartment at night using her coffee maker. This has been going on for weeks. We have cameras up in her apartment and it has not shown this to be the case. But she says the cameras are wrong.
I just received word from the care team coordinator saying she told them someone is coming in and using her washer/dryer. She will not forget about it, she cannot be distracted from these beliefs and yells at me to get her out now. I am at my wits end. Help.

CKWC

I am so sorry to hear that because that is exactly what my 99 yo mother with moderate Alzheimer’s says everyday, her caretakers using her washer/dryer, her caretakers burning food at midnight, her caretakers bringing pots and pans from home to wash at her kitchen…etc. There are cameras at mom’s apartment too and none of those are happening. After reading Greg O’Brien’s “On Pluto”, it finally enlightened me about how real these hallucinations are to the patient although they are totally not reality based for us. I learned to accept them as her reality and stopped trying to convince or correct her otherwise. It also helps if the caretakers are experienced with this disease so they do not take all those accusations personally. Hope you will find some comfort in knowing there is a whole community out there going through the exact same experiences because sometimes it can feel extremely lonely.

SDianeL

It’s not paranoia. It’s delusions and or hallucinations which are very common in Alzheimer’s. Is she in AL or MC? The caregivers in MC may be more familiar with how to handle delusions and hallucinations. They shouldn’t be calling you every time about her comments. There are medications that can help her. Ask for a Geriatric Psychiatrist to manage her meds. Try agreeing with her and saying you will speak to security then change the subject or distract her with a treat. Ice cream worked for my DH. She will probably repeat the hallucinations multiple times a day so be prepared. Let her calls go to voice mail and only call her back once a day.