Navigating Alzheimer’s Risk While Caring for Both Kids & a Parent—How Are You Coping?

Hello and thank sharing your situation. I'm sorry you are going through all of this. I am also In my forties and I was a caregiver for my mother for nearly 2 years. It was seemingly impossible.

With regard to maintaining mental health I was fortunate enough to have a friend who suggested a few things for me and pointed me to a few resources.

I incorporated cold showers into my daily routine. I would take my normal hot shower then at the end I would turn the hot water completely off and immediately put my head under the cold water, the easiest way for me to do this was no negotiation just turn the hot water knob off and commit. I started with 1 minute then the next day 2 minutes and so on. I personally found 7 minutes to be the sweet spot for me. It's very uncomfortable but once it was over it was very rewarding for me. I know cold plunge is a hot trend right now that some may feel it is nothing more than just that, a trend. If you look at the medical studies behind this you'll see it releases epinephrine and norepinephrine, simply put, it induces adrenaline. There are other studies that indicate it increases dopamine levels. I personally believe in this and I found myself feeling motivated and having a sense of reward and accomplishment thereafter.

I also incorporated a short calisthenics routine each morning. For me personally I approach these situations with no negotiation and just commit.

In regard to neuroscience I find Andrew Huberman's content to be quite relatable for me. Here is a link an article regarding cold water exposure.

https://us.getvitalplus.com/blogs/vitalice-blog/huberman-ice-bath-protocol#:~:text=Huberman%20highlights%3A%20%E2%80%9COne%20study%20showed,water%20(~40%C2%B0F).

Also, I use this breathing technique literally everyday. I found this to be invaluable during stressful situations.

I hope these can help you.

I feel you and I’m with you. 42 with a 4 year old.. mom is 72 and in MC. I practice yoga consistently for the past 10 years. My cousin recently told me about water fasting for Alz prevention. I don’t have the capacity right now to do anything but my job, daughter, and my mom. But if I did I would look into it.

Chiming in: I’ve made a priority to exercise and try researching diets to prevent dementia. What they suggest (which im moving toward, slowly) is this:

• The MIND (Mediterranean–DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Several studies have shown that treating and reducing high blood pressuremay help reduce the risk of dementia. Similar to the Mediterranean diet, the MIND diet features vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables; berries over other fruit; whole grains; beans; nuts; one or more weekly servings of fish; and olive oil. It also limits servings of red meat, sweets, cheese, butter/margarine, and fast/fried food.

I literally started eating more cheese, butter, and fast foods when I became moms caretaker but now am pretty committed to moving in this direction. Diet and exercise are not a guarantee, but they will help .