Fighting the battle right now with my step father. The dementia can make them very ornery and sometimes they know that things are not the way they should be and start doing some dumb things. I fear the phone call from my mother almost everyday with another issue. The VA has a pretty good handle on things but its a lot of experimenting with drug cocktail to get depression under control without turning them into a zombie or the other way. Hereditary issue.
Elderly Dementia Experiences?
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Originally Posted By: bioburner
Fighting the battle right now with my step father. The dementia can make them very ornery and sometimes they know that things are not the way they should be and start doing some dumb things. I fear the phone call from my mother almost everyday with another issue. The VA has a pretty good handle on things but its a lot of experimenting with drug cocktail to get depression under control without turning them into a zombie or the other way. Hereditary issue.
I know what you mean, for the last 2 years when my wife calls me I am silent listening to the tone in hear voice,fearing,the worst ....but she just said it will only be a few more days
Fighting the battle right now with my step father. The dementia can make them very ornery and sometimes they know that things are not the way they should be and start doing some dumb things. I fear the phone call from my mother almost everyday with another issue. The VA has a pretty good handle on things but its a lot of experimenting with drug cocktail to get depression under control without turning them into a zombie or the other way. Hereditary issue.
I know what you mean, for the last 2 years when my wife calls me I am silent listening to the tone in hear voice,fearing,the worst ....but she just said it will only be a few more days
Originally Posted By: andyd
Lyme disease is a constant caution. I have had 6 or 8 tick bites this season. I should get my blood tested. No bulls eye rash, so I'm not too worried. I'm blaming my short term memory loss on chemo brain
Off Topic - I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm mentioning it as a Public Service Announcement, of sorts. The lack of the bull's eye rash means nothing as to whether you have been infected. That is just one little part of the huge amount of misinformation around Lyme. Figures vary, but many, many people, probably more people than do, do not have the rash but are infected.
And before you do get tested, read up, then read up some more. The testing procedure to determine whether you have Lyme is complex, and there can be, depending on what tests you take, false negatives. The final diagnosis is made by your symptoms, and how you respond to antibiotics. It all should be done by a Lyme Literate MD, which can be hard to find. Going to just any old MD and getting whatever Lyme test they know of is a waste of your money, and dangerous, as Lyme can kill, not to mention that the longer it exists, the deeper the bacteria and the harder to eradicate.
Off soapbox. And as said, there are many other causes of mental confusion/brain fog. Before I was diagnosed with Lyme, I attributed it primarily to heavy metal poisoning, which I am still dealing with. They often go together, and it is pointless to try to blame one more than the other. Low thyroid will do it too....
Lyme disease is a constant caution. I have had 6 or 8 tick bites this season. I should get my blood tested. No bulls eye rash, so I'm not too worried. I'm blaming my short term memory loss on chemo brain
Off Topic - I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm mentioning it as a Public Service Announcement, of sorts. The lack of the bull's eye rash means nothing as to whether you have been infected. That is just one little part of the huge amount of misinformation around Lyme. Figures vary, but many, many people, probably more people than do, do not have the rash but are infected.
And before you do get tested, read up, then read up some more. The testing procedure to determine whether you have Lyme is complex, and there can be, depending on what tests you take, false negatives. The final diagnosis is made by your symptoms, and how you respond to antibiotics. It all should be done by a Lyme Literate MD, which can be hard to find. Going to just any old MD and getting whatever Lyme test they know of is a waste of your money, and dangerous, as Lyme can kill, not to mention that the longer it exists, the deeper the bacteria and the harder to eradicate.
Off soapbox. And as said, there are many other causes of mental confusion/brain fog. Before I was diagnosed with Lyme, I attributed it primarily to heavy metal poisoning, which I am still dealing with. They often go together, and it is pointless to try to blame one more than the other. Low thyroid will do it too....
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
This is why I will eat my shotgun on my 60th birthday.
Believe me you will change your mind then. I am 71 and some of the best tmes of my live have occurred in those 11 years
This is why I will eat my shotgun on my 60th birthday.
Believe me you will change your mind then. I am 71 and some of the best tmes of my live have occurred in those 11 years
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
By age 60, I fully expect to be in a wheelchair, an advancing state of senility, or both.
How young are you now? I give my aunt credit since she's as sharp as a tack and coming up on her 85th birthday. All her siblings and many friends have passed. She's very social as well.
By age 60, I fully expect to be in a wheelchair, an advancing state of senility, or both.
How young are you now? I give my aunt credit since she's as sharp as a tack and coming up on her 85th birthday. All her siblings and many friends have passed. She's very social as well.
Absolutely do everything in your power to get them evaluated.
I can tell from extensive experience that no two cases are the same. I always tell people there is a list of many symptoms and behaviors that go with ALZ. Most people exhibit some of them but not most (or all). It depends on what parts of the brain are affected first. For some it's memory or identifying people. For some it's the ability to do tasks. For my mom it manifested primarily in her ability to remember words. As the disease progresses more and more of difficulties develop. While it's true there are medications, their effectiveness is also pretty unpredictable. My mom was on two of them and they had very little effect in slowing the progression, while a lady in the neighborhood has remained in early stage for a couple of years. It's a terrible thing to witness and deal with.
I can tell from extensive experience that no two cases are the same. I always tell people there is a list of many symptoms and behaviors that go with ALZ. Most people exhibit some of them but not most (or all). It depends on what parts of the brain are affected first. For some it's memory or identifying people. For some it's the ability to do tasks. For my mom it manifested primarily in her ability to remember words. As the disease progresses more and more of difficulties develop. While it's true there are medications, their effectiveness is also pretty unpredictable. My mom was on two of them and they had very little effect in slowing the progression, while a lady in the neighborhood has remained in early stage for a couple of years. It's a terrible thing to witness and deal with.
How many folks heard about the UF researchers who developed a test to predict Alzheimers?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter_test
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter_test
My MIL (64) has dementia and we saw it coming for a few years but the past two years it progressed rapidly. It has been an adjustment for everyone. She is on meds now that slow the disease and cuts down on what I call "instant forget". She's an extrovert so she already talked a lot, now she repeats herself quickly. Stress makes everything worse and stress is caused by anything that is different.
Interestingly, she was showing forgetfulness but no symptoms strong enough for a diagnosis. The clue was when she couldn't read highway signs, she could see them fine but couldn't figure out what they said. She also had difficulty reading children's books. The doctor was able to determine that her brain couldn't comprehend what she saw out of one eye. That lead to a battery of tests and brain scans.
Interestingly, she was showing forgetfulness but no symptoms strong enough for a diagnosis. The clue was when she couldn't read highway signs, she could see them fine but couldn't figure out what they said. She also had difficulty reading children's books. The doctor was able to determine that her brain couldn't comprehend what she saw out of one eye. That lead to a battery of tests and brain scans.
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