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New Here! Mum diagnosed 6 weeks ago. Struggling with evening sundowning/looping—any advice?
Hi everyone, This is my first post. Recently, my mum was diagnosed with early-to-mid-stage Alzheimer's. She is 67. This has hit our family pretty hard, especially my dad, who has taken on the mantle of primary caregiver. I still live at home, so I am exposed to the daily realities of the condition. Lately, she has been…
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Mom's REPETITIVE Calling on Cell Phone - HELP & SUGGESTIONS needed
Mom is calling siblings, extended family and friends a huge amount of times a day asking for assistance in moving her back to her home from care center. An example...my sister received 30 calls on Tuesday and by early afternoon yesterday had 15. My brother received 15 calls yesterday and his wife as well. Care staff…
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New here caring for 97yo Mom with severe dementia
Hi folks, I have had my 97 yo Mother living with me since March. I am SO overwhelmed - she is snappy and mean most of the time - always right no matter what and I am so demoralized. My name is Faith. We just got accepted for TN Choices group 3 - which is crazy because she needs to be in a Nursing Home - just got accepted…
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Struggling
I posted back in April about my mother and struggling then. My Dad had also had hip surgery and everything spiraled out of control. Anyway things did calm down once my Dad recovered and was able to better manage the concept of working with my mother instead of against her Alzheimer's. However things have of course…
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Behavioral ups and downs
Unfortunately my mother’s Alzheimer’s has made her generally very snappy, angry, and anxious but then she’ll dip into periods of sadness/depression/quietness. The past couple days she’s been up and talkative and active, like her old self, which I am enjoying while it lasts. I know that as things progress there can be…
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Goldilocks or The Princess and the Pea
Sometimes we just have to find the humor in some of the ridiculousness this disease causes. The saga we have gone through with my mom surrounding her bed is just so off the wall, it's funny. She has complained about her various beds for years and years, blaming her back pain on every single one of them. She got a new…
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a new home for dad - update
Hello community, Dad has been in his new care home since Wednesday, so almost a week. It is much smaller and in a home-like environment. He needed a new place after a stay at a geri psych inpatient hospital due to behavioral expressions. The entire 2 years at his previous home we struggled to address the anxiety he was…
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Lack of showering
Our father has been going for extended periods (40 days at a time) without showering or changing his clothes, which has led to skin lesions. He also has incontinence issues on top of it. We are limited in our ability to intervene due to legal restrictions making these challenges difficult to address, especially when faced…
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Struggling with providing care for my very willful Mom
I'm new here, but desperate for help with handling these difficult things, and feeling like I'm really botching this pretty badly. A little over a year ago, I moved in to look after my Mom, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when she was still somewhere in the middle stages. My family was never good with communication or…
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cried through MC breakfast w dad... then tears in the parking lot
Some days I just wanna read posts here and benefit from the sense of community and of understanding. As dad declines and my heart breaks, sometimes I just don't want to be around people who can't understand the things we do and see with our LOs. Maybe I could write a song called tears in the parking lot for those of us who…
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Mom plans to smuggle meds into AL
UGH. I'm so tired of dealing with this immaturity! My mom has been having lots of back pain, but she refuses any sort of medical help for it, aside from Tylenol. As is common with AL, medications, including OTC, are not allowed in her room and must be dispensed by the staff. She knows this, she understands this, and she…
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New to this group
My mom diagnosed with Alzheimer's or psychosis with dementia. And Its getting worse.
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Can Sundowning happen in the morning
My husband is in late stage dementia and the regressive changes are happening quickly. Sundowning at around 5 pm is a familiar pattern, and we have come up with some steps that reduce the effects. A new problem — In the morning, we're seeing something like sundowning. He might withdraw, he might get angry, it's a new thing…
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No purpose
I am struggling with helping my Mom feel she still has a purpose. After 2 1/2 years in AL, she was recently (3 weeks ago) moved to MC. Her anxiety was increasing and staff felt as though the smaller environment would be better for her. In between activities (she would go, but rarely actively participate) she didn't know…
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I need to vent about my grandmother and an endless cycle.....
I'm 39 and currently my 85 year old grandmother has dementia. I've been living with her for a number of years and 2 years ago she was officially diagnosed with dementia. For the past 4 months, she has been packing multiple bags daily to "go home" when she's already at the home she's lived in for the past 25 years. From…
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first visit to inpatient geri psych hospital to see Dad today
Hello dear community, This afternoon I get to see Dad for the 1st time at the geri psych hospital. I am glad to get to see him and much like going to MC I am wondering what might be awaiting me on the other side of that door. He went Thursday during the night by ems transport from his MC. I scheduled this appt by speaking…
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a move needed after geri psych inpatient treatment
Hello dear community, Dad seems to be doing better thankfully. Discharge back to his MC is planned for Monday. His memory care has suggested that he may need a smaller environment now. Sounds like I need to add him to some waitlists. The constantly shifting sands of Alzheimer's. I think this may mean that they think it is…
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Advice Needed After Moving My YOA Mom from AL to MC
I posted here a while back when my mom was first diagnosed with ALZ and I was trying to move her from FL to GA to be closer to me. She’s 65, I’m 30, and I’ve been her POA for about a year. She’s divorced, so this has all been pretty overwhelming at times. After a really tough few months, my sister and I were able to get…
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Sexual aggression in MC
First post here...my dad was diagnosed with vascular dementia last summer. We recently had to move him into MC. He was adjusting well, but then he began exposing himself to others and some touching between him and others. He was moved out of MC onto a regular nursing home floor. A few days ago, the night nurse found him…
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Seeking Advice: Managing Toilets with Dementia Behaviors
My father has late-stage dementia and is exhibiting challenging behaviors that are making it difficult to maintain our home. He’s been pouring food down the toilets, which has caused clogs and damage. He also removed the bolts from one toilet, breaking the wax seal, and it’s now unusable. He’s fixated on guarding the…
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Mom troublemaking at AL
I have a Care Plan Meeting coming up next week, and I want to be prepared to respond to some of the issues the staff has reported to me regarding my mom… Just in the past week alone, she has "caused a scene" (Director of Wellness's words) regarding her bedtime medication — it was late getting to her and she walked down to…
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How to manage putting a pet down
Over the past several months our beloved cat’s nasal tumor has grown larger and her quality of life and weight have deteriorated. DW is middle-stage dementia and can’t seem to remember our discussions of when to let the cat go. Last week we agreed that it was time and scheduled it with the vet for tomorrow. We’ve talked…
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Dad gets aggressive
My dad has a bandage over his wound per his dr and wound clinic. It gets changed by the wound clinic as well as my sister and I every 3 days. The dr. Said it needs to stay on to help it heal. He forgets it needs to stay on and keeps trying to take it off; gets mad at us for not taking it off when he asks. He feels he…
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Finding My Way
Hello! I recently moved my 79 y/o brother in with me from a different state after the death of his wife last November. He is wheelchair bound with multiple sclerosis and has just been diagnosed with mid stage Alzheimer's. He's had a difficult time adjusting to the new changes and has no desire to meet people in this area.…
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Crying often, delusional
Hi, my 85 yo dad was diagnosed 2.5 years ago. Overnight, it seemed, his behaviors worsened. He cries a lot, says he wants to go home and asks where all the other people are. It’s heartbreaking to see this. I am his primary CG. My brother is flying in soon to take over for a few days. My world has shrunk so much. I want to…
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primary support person, not direct care-giver
Hi, I'm new to the group and looking for support. I don't know this is the right place for me. My mother is in assisted living with mild-to-moderate dementia. She lives 1/2 mile down the road from me. I’m her primary care partner and decision-maker, but I’m not providing hands-on care. I'm mentally and emotionally…
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forgetting how to use electronics in staging
I feel really dumb asking this, but this is my first rodeo with ALZ… A couple of weeks ago DH was standing in front of the microwave punching a lot of buttons and when I asked him if he needed help, he said that he forgot how to use it. Since then, no problem. Yesterday, he forgot that his IPad has a volume button. He has…
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Mom doesnt listen
My mom is early onset Alzheimers and is experiencing some cognitive decline but not to the extent that I can contact the agency on aging for a caregiver. She can still bathe herself, etc. However, she does not listen to or obey what I tell her no matter what the reasoning. Right now, I am the only one available to take…
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How fast does Zoloft work?
My mom is 83yo, in mild to moderate Alzheimers. I don't know which stage exactly, just that she has plaque on several parts of her brain. The neurologist says her stage is dependent on her behavior and abilities. She's been taking donepezil for about 2 months now. Took 6 weeks to get her to 10mg. She has been getting…