Seeing Two of Things

MtnMama · July 19

My mom has advanced dementia, about stage 5. She is constantly saying we have two dogs or two cats (we only have one). Sometimes she will double a person and say ‘Dan and Dan went there etc.’ Has anyone else encountered this doubling? Is she really seeing two of things?

JulietteBee · July 20

She could be experiencing a problem with her vision. Double vision is a real thing. All the best!🙏🏽

harshedbuzz · July 20

@MtnMama

Hi and welcome. I am sorry for your reason to be here but pleased you found this place.

This is a very common symptom and it can be hard to parse exactly what is causing it. My dad, aunt and my friend's mom did this in late stage. Many members here post about it; pets and people are often mentioned.

With dad it was multiple houses— he believed he owned every home on the street (~100) and that he slept in a different one nightly. Earlier in dementia, he believed he owned homes in places where he'd vacationed regularly and rather than the most recent one he had bought. Memory loss tends to be LIFO (last in/first out) so it kind of makes sense he'd recall vacation spots from the 1980s and 1990s rather than a home bought in 2003. He also believed he owned homes he'd sold including the one I bought from him in 1999.

The LOs of people here often talk about multiple dogs when they have one. Sometimes it's as if they're talking about dogs who they've forgotten have crossed the rainbow bridge but sometimes it's about multiple versions of the same dog. My friend's mom used to refer to my friend as multiple versions of her at different ages or times— the Diana in the morning vs the one in the room talking now. My aunt sometimes referred to my mom and myself as the same person. There is a family resemblance, if I was alone I would be described as "younger Ginnie", if we were together we were Ginnie and the younger Ginnie. The odd things is, she "knew" who I was to the degree she'd ask after my son or ask to see my engagement ring which she liked but still called me my mom's name. The interesting thing was that I have a cousin named for mom who got called "Little Ginnie".

Visual processing and hallucinations are both common in later stages and could be a factor. I've not heard of double vision reported as processing issue— often it's spatial reasoning, limited field of vision, processing what do see.

HB

Kerry8958 · July 20

I'm experiencing this now with my mom, as she thinks she has two cell phones. She has gotten to the point she can't remember her password, so she has locked herself out of her phone to make outgoing calls. This has actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because right before she locked herself out of the phone, she was calling me 8-10 times/day. I can still call her, but she can't call me now. She thinks she has one phone she can answer, and one phone that doesn't work correctly. It has caused some confusion with the staff, as she tells them she's lost her second phone, they call me to get it to ring so they can find it, and I have to tell them there isn't a second phone. She can't seem to understand there is only one phone, and she worries about it 2-3x per day.

AmandaF · July 20

This happened to my mom when she was still living with my dad - she thought there were two of him, and occasionally would do things like insist on setting the table for three (herself, my dad, and “the other guy”). Wild stuff. It was sporadic, and was sometimes scary for her and sometimes just confusing. Meds seemed to help, and maybe she also just progressed out of that symptom, I don’t know. Good luck to you.

JulietteBee · July 20

Wow! I misunderstood the OP's issue. I thought her mom was looking at objects and SEEING two of them at the same time. That is why I suggested double vision as a possibility.

@harshedbuzz

Once again, you are proven to be a treasure trove of information pertaining this vile disease. Thank you for being here.

Thanks to everyone's correct understanding of the OP's question, along with their answer, Igained new insight regarding my mom.

As you know, mom moved into an IL facility last summer. She and I were each given keys to her apartment and her mailbox. I personally asked about the location of the mailbox. The rep took us to the mailroom the day we did our final walkthrough of the apartment.

At least 3 times since January, when I have gone with her to get her mail, she has insisted that there are TWO sets of mailboxes and she gets her mail at the other one.

The first time she said so, I simply said "no there isn't" and went to the location I knew of. The second time, I did get annoyed. I was gruff and responded incredulously. She retorted by telling me that they had moved the mailboxes and I don't know everything. I told her to show me where they were moved. She did not want to take me as she says "you always think you are right." I told her I wanted to see them and that I would obviously owe her an apology. At the thought of getting an apology, she conceded and we went in search of them. Of course, she couldn't find them. The third time, when checking the mailbox that I know of, she again said, "that is not where I check my mail. I check it at the other end." I told her there was no other end and dropped the subject. However, she did leave me believing that there may be some credibility to what she was saying.

They did in fact have a massive remodeling project last fall. It lasted a few months. I thought they may have temporarily moved them or maybe she had just gotten turned around in the bldg because of the renovations. I could never have imagined her new found belief was caused by dementia.

With a broken heart, I can only say, "Wow!"💔

SDianeL · July 21

My DH had Alzheimer’s-Posterior Cortical Atrophy and I learned about how the disease affects vision. His eyes were fine, but his brain couldn’t interpret what he was seeing. The white matter disease was in the area of the brain that interpreted what his eyes were seeing. That might also explain double vision.

Anonymousjpl123 · July 22

My mom frequently thought there were two of the same people. One older and one younger of my niece. One me (daughter) and one imposter. It was constant. I do think this must be common. Crazy to read so many variations in of this!

Seeing Two of Things

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