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Mixed Signals

Robkel
Robkel Member Posts: 1 Member
in Caring for a Parent
Hi. A few weeks ago my mom was having issues communicating, seemingly out of nowhere. She would just stop talking and looking to me as if she wanted me to answer for her and shrugging. After lots of doctor’s appointments, they think it was TIA. Since starting Plavix, she’s had no more episodes, but during the barrage of scans she went through, one of which was an EEG that was looking for indications of seizures, the neurologist saw indications of dementia. She had lots of cognitive tests that she didn’t do well on and then a follow up with the neurologist who suggested a blood test for Alzheimer’s which came back low risk or “negative”. She definitely has memory issues, like not remembering entire days from a few weeks ago or not remembering something significant from a year ago. I’m super confused and wanting to know if anyone has experienced something similarly.

Comments

  • Journey813
    Journey813 Member Posts: 22
    10 Comments 5 Care Reactions
    Member
    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/76575/mixed-signals

    Hi, I am sorry to hear of this. There are different types of dementia. I would maybe see about getting a second opinion from a different specialist. Did they recommend any therapy or anything?

  • April23
    April23 Member Posts: 211
    100 Comments 25 Care Reactions 25 Insightfuls Reactions 25 Likes
    Member
    edited July 17

    I think this is a good overview of the different types of dementia along with some further tools for diagnosis that you can explore with a neurologist.

    https://www.dementiasociety.org/post/types-of-diagnostic-tools-used-to-differentiate-dementias

  • H1235
    H1235 Member Posts: 2,339
    1,000 Likes 1,000 Insightfuls Reactions 500 Care Reactions 1000 Comments
    Member

    Welcome. If the doctor doesn’t think it’s Alzheimer’s, does he suggest any further testing? Did he suggest a different type of dementia? If they think she may have had a TIA, then I’m surprised they are not considering vascular dementia. You can do a quick search, but vascular dementia is caused by problems with blood flow in the brain. Symptoms can vary depending on the part of the brain that is affected. Symptoms include much more than just memory issues. In fact with my moms memory is the least of her symptoms. She has extremely poor judgment, inability to plan and organize, in ability to prioritize, depression, anxiety, confusion, problems with tasks that were once very easy for her and anosognosia (believes there is nothing wrong). If it is vascular dementia, there is unfortunately not much that can be done. I would reach out to the doctor to see what next steps are. Regardless of what is causing the symptoms, I would recommend you see an elder law attorney as soon as possible. The usual recommendations would be will, living will, DPOA, medical poa and possibly some financial planning with Medicaid in mind. This is incredibly important. I will add a few resources just in case you haven’t seen them yet. I hope you can get some answers.


    Anosognosia and Dementia - AgingCare.com.pdf
    DBAT.pdf

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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