Rapid progressing AD because of seizures???
Hi everyone,
My mom is in her late 60's. She was diagnosed with mild dementia about a year and a half ago. She has been having seizures and it seems to be progressing the dementia at a very rapid rate. They're now saying she's got Moderate dementia, which seems accurate based on what we're seeing and the level of care she's needing. She's on a seizure med and a dementia med. But does anyone have any suggestions on this? Her doctors are in the Wilmington area. Are there any specialists dealing specifically with Alzheimers and seizures in the area?
My grandfather had Alzheimer's, and my grandmother had dementia, so we're not shocked by the diagnosis. But in the last 6 weeks it's progressed very rapidly - to the point of her needing help with getting dressed, she's barely eating so it's constant reminders to eat something, she's drinking less fluids, delusions, incontinence, constipation, UTI's, etc. She also has some other big health issues. My father is 85, and my sisters and I don't live nearby, so trying to manage what's going on is becoming a lot. Any advice would be appreciated.
Comments
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sorry your mom is not doing well. I would bring her to the hospital when she has a seizure. That way they can have her see the doctors that she needs to see.
It also seems that you need to get some outside help for your mother’s care. You mentioned some other big health issues. Maybe get your mother assessed by hospice, which is covered under Medicare.
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Can you visit and see what is going on? Does she have a PCP? This situation may be very overwhelming for your dad to navigate. It sounds like a discussion of her current situation and goals of care might be helpful, with at least her PCP and maybe her neurologist if she has one. I would be worried she might not return to her prior baseline but hard to know without being there and getting additional information from her medical team.
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Are you sure it’s not the opposite of your title? That maybe she’s having the seizures because her dementia is advancing and not the other way around. Seizures are an indication that something is wrong in the brain. Sometimes there is a structural abnormality, it an accident etc which triggers a seizure. Other seizures are triggered by flashing lights, etc
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@GJJ-ALZ
I'm sorry things are not going well for your mom.
Does she have a personal or family history of seizures? Dementia can worsen or trigger seizure activity by lowering the seizure threshold. Certain common medications and even things like emotional upset and sleep deprivation can make seizures more likely.
That said, it is fairly typical for PWEO ALZ (symptoms before age 70) to progress at a faster rate than older people.
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No, we have no known family seizure history. She's the first to experience this. My grandpa had a slow progressing ALZ, and had it for about 10 years. So we're just surprised how quickly it's progressing for her.
We're trying to make sure she has a very routine schedule so that she can attempt to get more sleep. We'll see times where we can tell she's just being forgetful and having memory issues, but then there are times that it's like her brain just isn't working and she seems confused by it also.
She just had an MRI this week, so we're hoping to hear soon if there's any more info they can give us. Unfortunately, we just found out her ovarian cancer may have also returned, so we're doing testing for that as well. I'm home for just a bit to help out so we're just trying to figure it out.
Thank you.0 -
Great question. My grandpa had a slow progressing ALZ for 10 years and never had seizures (that we know of), so we're just surprised by how quickly she's declining. As far as we can tell there's nothing in the environment triggering them, so it must be structural then. She just had an MRI this week, so we're waiting to hear back about it.
Thank you.0 -
I'm home at the moment visiting and helping her get to appointments. She had an MRI this week, we're waiting on results. Yeah, she goes to her GP every 2-3 months and sometimes more often when problems arise (we were there about a week ago). We were just at her neurologist about a month ago.
She won't return to her baseline, based on what we're seeing. I'm just not sure how to stop the rapid progression that's occurring. We also just found out her ovarian cancer may be returning, so we're in the process of doing testing for that. She has normal memory loss and confusion, but then she seems confused at times as to why she's feeling/acting the way she is and starts apologizing. So something just isn't right. We just don't know what to do at this point.
Thank you0 -
They've told us to only take her into the hospital if the seizures are lasting more than 5 minutes or she's having breathing issues or stroke symptoms. Otherwise, we just go back to her neurologist. The hospital is also about an hour away, so it's not close.
we have someone who helps 2-3 days a week for a few hours to help out with some household stuff and keep an eye on her. Yeah, there is a chance her ovarian cancer may have returned, so we're in the process of doing testing for that as well right now.
Yeah, we'll need to get her assessed soon probably then.
Thank you0 -
@GJJ-ALZ
Which Wilmington does she live in?0 -
My parents live a little over an hour from Wilmington, NC. All of her specialists are there, so she goes to the NHRMC hospital when needed and for any treatment.
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My recs would have been for Wilmington DE or MA.
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Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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