Mom

SJRWI

My mom is 68, struggled with alcohol, has it in her head her thyroid meds are too low. She started dubbling up her meds abt a month ago, and started back to drinking. She hears voices and does not believe some family members have died. Alzheimers runs on her mother's side of the family. She went to jail for coming at my dad with a weapon accusing him of controlling her and cheating. I was able to get her in to be blood tested for alzheimers now that she is in jail, and we r waiting for results. This behavior is so unli,e the mom I grew up with, and I'm hoping for advise. Also if anyone hS experienced the alcohol use, rage, paranoia, hearing voices, and obsession with medication dosage

H1235

Welcome. This section doesn’t get as many viewers. You might get more feedback if you post on carding for a parent. There is a type of dementia caused by too much alcohol call wet brain. In the early stages there can be improvements when alcohol is discontinued, as things progress even stopping alcohol won’t help. Anger, paranoia, suspicion and hearing voices are all symptoms of dementia. Medication can help once there is a diagnosis. If the blood test doesn’t show anything I would request ( you may need to really push) a psychiatric evaluation. Tell them she is a harm to herself and others. It sounds like this is something that should have already been done. She should be in a hospital. She needs medication to get things under control. The best place for this is a generic psychiatric facility. Once they get her medication figured out she is probably going to need care in a long term care facility. It might be a good idea to see what options are available. There can be a waiting list at some places. Unfortunately these are very expensive. If money is going to be an issue you might want to see a lawyer and talk about Medicaid. Does anyone have a durable power of attorney? If not and you do see enough improvement, I would see a lawyer for one as soon as possible. So sorry you and your family are going through this.

Victoriaredux

Here are a few articles about of what alcohol can cause & the disease(s) progression . This is the medical term for "wet brain."

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/wernicke-korsakoff-syndrome

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22687-wernicke-korsakoff-syndrome

I'm sorry you and your family are going through this, alcohol abuse impacts everyone in a family. Sounds like she feels something is "off" inside her so maybe , just maybe, that will give them an opening to get her into treatment .

And , getting the right legal papers now -so that your Dad can protect their assets and , if it gets to that point, be able to make healthcare decisions for her would be invaluable. So encourage him to see an elder law attorney as soon as practical.