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Topic Back again today with demensia Go to previous topic Go to next topic Go to higher level

By Trusting On 2018.02.18 18:53
I didn't expect to be back so quickly. Thanks for listening to me yesterday as I vented.
Today I have a question about dementia. How quickly does it progress? Today my husband is very happy, singing, upbeat, etc. I took him for a car ride and came home thinking he might be tired but he's not. He is like on a drug where he can't be still. (no medicine changes at all). He keeps saying things like I've got to get ready, they'll be here soon, or I've got to get ready b/c they are going to take me. He is unable to tell me who "they" are and where he thinks he's going. Is this what normal dementia will be like as it progresses? I just feel so inadequate to help him. I just feel I'm getting ready to start another uncomfortable journey. Those of you who have already been there, I need your help. Thank you and be blessed.

By greyeyed123 On 2018.02.19 11:00
In the past, mom has often smelled "smoke", which I have read is a common hallucination for PWP. Other symptoms she has had that I think were at least somewhat medication related: she would start telling a story that seemed plausible, and suddenly veer into left field about people and events I know never happened. She even told her brother on the phone a few months ago that the previous owner of our home knocked on our door and asked to move back in, and she told them no, etc, etc (she went on for quite a while--none of this happened; it was as if she were dreaming and retelling the dream). When they had her briefly on dilaudid, she said there were "workmen" in the house and to tell them to leave. (also on dilaudid) She saw an old woman in the bathroom smoking, and little kids running around her bedroom.
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A couple months ago (before quitting the muscle relaxers) she kept complaining that the cat was jumping on her bed at night. Since we have a new cat, I at first took this at face value, until being called in her room at night to discover the cat wasn't there, or she was insisting it was on the bed when it wasn't. (I convinced her it wasn't there, which is good.)
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Sometimes meds can make certain symptoms worse. When we were flown to Harborview last month for her back problem, she had several hallucinations in the car on the way home. I attributed those to after effects of being on the morphine. She did have "insight" into those, though--she knew she was hallucinating almost immediately. Rarely has she completely insisted I was wrong and her hallucinations are real, but it has happened--always with major medication changes, though.
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Sometimes she thinks the floor is vibrating, or a "truck" is rumbling past. Her hearing is much worse than mine, so I know immediately she's hallucinating that.

By Busymom On 2018.02.20 17:00
Hi Trusting, it's very hard, my husband has dementia, and for me and the kids, that is the hardest part of his illness.
They won't give us any prognosis, because it can change, his dementia can worsen at a fast pace, or slow down and level out, he can have good days and bad, better weeks and worse ones, and the doctors don't know what course it will take, so we just have to take it day by day.

We never know if he understands what we tell him, or what he should or shouldn't do, like whether he understands that he shouldn't step out in the street in front of a moving car...maybe he understands perfectly, but sometimes he doesn't, so it's tough.

Sometimes he can speak perfectly eloquently, and other times his speech comes out in a jumble. It's also hard to know whether he actually did something as he claims, or just imagined he did, it's a toss up, and you have to check yourself if he did it or not...it's particularly hard for the kids to not know whether to believe the things their father says, or whether they should do something he asks them to do.

The whole thing is a hard road to forge, and all you can do is try to make sure they are safe and try to get by the best you can. Vent when you need to and keep in touch with the doctors about how things are going....
As my daughter's t-shirt says, "The struggle is real!" No doubt!
Hugs and blessings to you! You are not alone.


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