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What progress are you aware of in your day to day life?
I'm 3 years in from being told I have PPA FTD. Four maybe five since I noticed something was wrong. I am still awaresof most things, or at least I think I am. I lose things everyday. I drop things I've forgotten. i am holding in my hands. Time is nothing to me anymore I read my clocks backwards soiI hate the big and little…
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Valentine’s Day Lunch
I guess lunch went as well as expected. We went later so that there would be fewer people. A local highly regarded Italian restaurant. No waiting (praise God) but MIL did not like the table we were shown and wanted to move to a window table. I went to ask the hostess (who said no). When I told MIL, she said she’d already…
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Has Your Loved One Ever Had Behavioral/Cognitive Changes from Both UTI & Medicine?
Hello, Recently, my sister, who has Alzheimer's, was started on an anti-seizure medication. Shortly thereafter, she started exhibiting extreme behaviors and the staff at her memory care unit were concerned she had a UTI. I took her to her neurologist who said it was the anti-seizure medication that caused her symptoms and…
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Patient will not shower
My LO is in memory care. He will not shower. It's been 3 months, and no shower. He won't leave his room. If he gets rattled, he mutters over and over, "God, please let me die."
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LO Refuses Care
Hi Everyone, My parent is in late stage dementia and we cannot find proper care for him. He can still physically speak, but nothing he says makes sense and he cannot respond in a logical way to even the simplest questions. We recently made the hard decision to move him to a memory care facility, but he was promptly removed…
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Mom thinks she still works - she doesn't.
First- THANK YOU for any response. I am the eldest daughter, and my father is the primary caregiver of my Mom who has been officially diagnosed with Amnestic MCI (doc suspects we are heading into early stage AD.) Mom is starting a new trend of getting ready for work each morning and telling my Dad that she is going into…
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Question about Ongoing Issue with LO
Hello all. My husband and I are caring for his mother who has Dementia. She is having an ongoing issue that we have taken her to multiple doctors for with no real answers. We are wondering if anyone may have experienced similar issues. Our LO says she feels like she has tons of phlegm or saliva in her throat all the time.…
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Early Onset Symptoms... What was your story? How did you tell your loved one that you were worried?
Hello everyone! I'm new here. My aunt reached out to me to let me know she was starting to become concerned about my great-uncle (who is in his early 50's.) He's been having some memory lapses and increased anxiety/frustration. His father had early-onset dementia, and this has us especially worried. We're trying to work…
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Mom seeing ghosts
Hi everyone! I am new and this is my first post. My mom was diagnosed about a month ago with Alzheimer’s. She lives alone and is on Medicare which does not cover Alzheimer’s care. She is seeing ghosts and wants them to leave and to not argue I’ve asked the ghosts to leave, etc. but she says she still sees them and that…
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Repeating the same story
My brother is in an assisted living facility and I provide in-person care 2 or 3 times a week for about 3 hours each visit, and talk on the phone daily. He repeats the same stories every time we talk (nearly word for word). For example, he will say "did you know they found salt on Mercury (slight pause) who cares!!!" Other…
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Recent Alzheimer's Diagnosis for Dad - Learning on the job
Hi guys, We have recently had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's given to Dad, compounding his battle with Prostate Cancer. In addition to the mental anguish of the situation, the practical issue we are having to cope with is daily (sometimes twice daily) faecal incontinence. I wondered if anybody had any practical tips, however…
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2 possible symptoms: Social withdrawal and hoarding, question about?
Hi-- My first question is about a social withdrawal symptom: I can count 22 people - family and friends - who my person has intentionally offended over the last few years. In some instances to try to keep them from staying in our house as vacation guests. We have typically stayed in other family members' homes, sleeping in…
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Am I going crazy...
For the past 3 weeks my DH has been sleeping all day long. He hasn't been eating and has lost a lot of weight. He was diagnosed with Dementia about 6 years ago. If he gets up, it is usually about 5 pm and he rarely gets dressed. BUT now, for the last two days, he has gotten up around 3 pm and gets dressed? He has actually…
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I'm asking a question but she thinks I'm giving orders..
That's what I think is happening. I ask..."are you ready to go to bed?" She says, "I guess." She doesn't sound thrilled but she goes upstairs. I get that a lot and I sometimes think she does the "I guess" or shrugs her shoulders because she thinks she's being ordered to do something. I'm asking, not ordering & I try to use…
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Drastic Change in Posture
Hi all! My mom is 70 and I am her 27 yo daughter/caregiver. Over the summer we placed her in a memory care unit due to her FTD getting worse. Last month, within a week her posture drastically changed. She is hunched over and she is unable to move her head up (her chin is touching her chest). She was just evaluated by a…
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Mom thinks we live in an identical home across town
Mom (MIL) was diagnosed with dementia, most likely Alzheimer's, last November. My husband and I moved in with her about 2 months ago. Dad passed away last June. A number of months ago Mom would tell us about Dad working on a house across town that was identical in every way, inside and out, to her house. She marveled at it…
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Destroying Things
I care for my mother-in-law and she spends a lot of time destroying things. Tearing things apart (especially anything made of paper or cardboard) and writing on things (marble coasters, artwork, kitchen tools, anything), cutting things up (the corners of furniture). I have no idea what to do. I don’t give her a hard time…
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Not blame PWD, but blame myself for frustration
I'm sure most of you have figured this out, but it was so easy to blame the PWD for behavior. I would get frustrated and say (often to myself) "Why did you mix the salt with the sugar?" or "Why did you unplug the charger?" I realize that I would never think that way if a young child (or even a cat for that matter!) behaves…
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Lists
So yesterday I started a new job that is 100% work from home. I was so glad to get it so I can be home with mom during the day. Mom's doing so much better after this summer's problems due to her breaking her shoulder. She's nearly finished physical therapy. My question has to do with lists. Mom does pretty well when she…
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Caregiver Patience
I am caring for my husband who was recently diagnosed with moderate late onset Alzheimers. Not sure what that means as far as stages but recently it has become more difficult dealing with the various mood swings. He was fine most of the day and all of a sudden in the late afternoon he stopped talking to me. This happened a…
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Sister Refusing to Get Ready This Morning
This morning, my sister was having difficulty with the buttons on her pj top. She has gained some weight so the top buttons pop open. We need to buy her some different PJs without buttons. She & I are the only ones in the house so it rarely bothers her that she goes to the bathroom with some buttons undone. In the…
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Caring for LO when they're sick
Hi everyone, I've been absent for a bit -- we hit a semi-stable routine while we wait for our appointments with the new physician's group that was recommended to us. This post is one-part me venting/unloading about the Great Excitement of the past few days and one-part seeking wisdom. For those who don't want to read the…
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Won’t Go to the Dr./won’t get an assessment
I am curious what ideas people have for facilitating an assessment for someone who probably understands that something is going on, but refuses to go to the doctor, and likely doesn’t want to do that because she is aware an assessment would happen. (the phrase - “you are trying to commit me has come up quite a bit…
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Knocking on closed doors
Hi. I recently joined by referral of my Mom's Pcp. She's 94 and we recently moved in with her to keep an eye on her. Not yet sure if it's old age or mild dementia but she has a habit of scaring me half to death by knocking loudly on the door and when I open it she says she wasn't sure anyone was in there even though the…
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Using telephone
Hello, I am new to this forum and this is my first post. My mom who has dementia is living with my dad in assisted living. Prior to moving, she drove herself to a local salon weekly for hair styling. Since moving and at the direction of her doctor, she has stopped driving. There is a hair salon at her assisted living…
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I Need Help - Early Dementia/Paranoia
Hello to all! I am currently the grandson of my nana who I am led to believe that she is getting the early or moderate stages of dementia. She lives alone at a senior living apartment complex. However, for the past year or so - she keeps claiming multiple things. From someone drilling into her apartment, People are after…
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Caregiver Burden and Lack of Support with Loved One with Dementia (Behavioral)
Hi All, My grandma was diagnosed with bipolar in her 40s, and since her 70s has further been diagnosed with dementia. She is an Italian immigrant with little education, but has lived in the US since the 1960s. Her spouse passed years ago, so her support system includes my mom, and only a few of her siblings (my mom is my…
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Mom hiding diagnosis
Hello everyone. I'm new and I have a tricky situation. My grandma had Alzheimer's, so I know the signs. My Mom is 74 and has been having symptoms for 2 yrs. Repeating questions, forgetting things, not remembering places we've been, pets, etc. She gets super angry out of nowhere and she sleeps all day long. She has always…