A dementia mimic

GGreat news. I may call you in two weeks as I am leaving for a business trip next week. Going to Denver Colorado

Iris, I am very pleased to hear this! Your news brought a smile to my heart!

And Michael, safe travels, and I hope it will be a productive trip with some fun in it too!

A most excellent reminder, Iris L.  Thank you.

I know I sometimes reach for easy answers so that I might make sense of my world.

Yet, things are often not as they seem.  So vigilance is good advice.

Oddly enough, before I got the chance to reference this at my caregiving support group yesterday, it was brought up how INSOMNIA can be an Alzheimers mimic. I got to share this with them, also.

I'd get a second opinion. This just sounds "off" to me. Are you within driving distance of a university based Memory Clinic? My parent had sleep apnea and was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. The AD diagnosis was based on cerebral atrophy and cognitive testing. However, she also acted out when asleep and had several falls down a flight of stairs, resulting in several trips to the hospital. We had her seen by a specialist. Once she was diagnosed with REM Sleep disorder (in addition to AD), she was prescribed Klonopin, a drug that is normally off limits to patients with dementia, and the "acting out" during sleep stopped. In your husband's case, it may be as simple as the Gabapentin screwing up his sleep, or a REM sleep disorder that needs to be treated. He could also have a different type of dementia. IMHO, he needs to be seen by an expert, preferably at a university based Memory Clinic. Best of luck.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this.

Hello Iris,

Wanted to weigh in on the Sleep Apnea issue. I am incredulous relative to the relationship between sleep apnea, hypertension, and dementia. I've always considered Sleep Medicine to be a fuzzy science, but I have recently learned that nothing could be further from the truth. I now have the very same questions and observations that you do....in 2011, I had a sleep study following which I was prescribed a CPAP machine, which I used for 2 weeks or less, and the returned (this technology has come a long way in a decade -- the old machines were very loud, akin to one's being seated in a fighter jet -- and this is true both in terms of the loud noise as well as the feeling of confinement). Today's machines are nowhere as uncomfortable....the loud sounds are now gone, the machines are small, they are able to electronically send info directly to your doctor (that oversight feels just a bit intrusive; we are now living in the age of the Jetsons....what would we have thought of the technologies we now have had we had them just a mere 10 years ago?). But I also wonder about the extent of the self-inflicted damage that not following through may have caused over the past 12 years. What I do know is that I've gone from mild to moderate (i.e., borderline severe) apnea, despite being a vehement exerciser (long-distance runner and weightlifter) and healthy eater. Yet, I have ALS -- and now some form of dementia.

Back to sleep medicine, barring surgery (or wearing other appliances?), one cannot get around the nuisance of wearing a mask. The constant shifts in pressure in today's CPAPs are by no means unbearable, but they ARE still somewhat unpleasant (others may not perceive things this way, and so by all means, please do not let my observations deter you -- it seems to me that if you can snorkle, you can likely handle a CPAP machine as well). I've never been an anxious person, but wearing a mask (even half-mask) that covers the nose and mouth is -- for me -- terribly confining and anxiety provoking. But everyone is different, and if CPAP has been recommended, the process should be tried, because what we know of this science is real -- I recently found myself comparing my 2011 and 2023 sleep study numbers with those of a research study performed with LBD patients who have mild to moderate dementia; I found that my numbers are generally worse than those in that study. I was very surprised by this -- coupled by your observations, Iris, that your use of CPAP has actually helped to improve your symptoms, and so I tried to use my CPAP last night. But....I admittedly had trouble doing it (my ENGLISH bulldog made it clear that she detests the look of it as well). Even so, CPAP is (insofar as we know anyway) CRITICAL to the quuality of one's future health. How much, we don’t really know. For this reason, I am going to continue to try and work my way though this, albeit the damage is likely already done in my case. Lesson learned: We don't know what we don't know (to wit, the ongoing controversy that the extended use of Proton Pump Inhibitors are causal of dementias is being bantered about again).

Come to think of it, our "science" is truly a moving target. Inasmuch as we want to believe otherwise, the science we know today is not static; science is not "truth" -- and it may not be the science of tomorrow. And that’s why we continue to explore, to research things we've already researched many times before. For instance, we now understand the universe to be expanding faster than the speed of light -- today, we know that we don't live in the perfectly balanced "clockwork" universe once thought. And as brilliant as he was, Einstein was wrong --he was wrong about a few things. On balance, we should approach all things with an honest and measured mix of skepticism and open-mindedness, but always with the assurance that our Creator (who made all of this) has all of this under control. For now, it's the very best that rational people can do. :)

My husband has had sleep apnea for years. His machine is broke so I will make sure he gets new one. It might help little with some cognitive issues. I can't believe the amount tests and problems the doctors never addressed. Thank you for sharing this information Iris.