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LynneMcV

Still waiting to know - it seems to go on forever

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LynneMcV
on 14-06-2012 at 07:06 AM (481 Views)
Feel so confused with this whole dementia thing. It seems we still don't know for sure whether hubby has symptoms due to the fact he has lost confidence and been unemployed for three years - or if it is something more.
I hate the fact that he is on medication 'just in case' there is more to it, while tests with the neuropsychologist continue. The medication is giving him bouts of 'the runs' and tiredness, which in the bigger scheme of things is nothing, if it is in fact helping slow down the more aggressive forms of dementia.
The MRI scan showed very mild atrophy - but the doctor has no idea if this is a normal atrophy for someone of his age or not and prefers to err on the side of caution for now. How can someone be a specialist in dementia and not know what normal atrophy for a certain age group is?
The hour long memory test seemed to go fairly ok this week - no idea of the results from the neuropsychologist yet, though hubby says he whizzed through the vocabulary related section but struggled a bit with some of the 'patterns and sequences' - mainly because there were so many of them and it was starting to give him a headache after a while.
More tests next week and the week after apparently - maybe so they can see what his average performance is like. After that I think he gets the feedback about what is going on.

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Updated 14-06-2012 at 07:13 AM by LynneMcV

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  1. ellieandkatie's Avatar
    My mother was on Acript for several years I called it the miracle drug until it turned against her. (Her legs became weak and her mobilty decreased - loose bowls - lack of interest - withdrawn - tired - aggresive - violent - ) Were some of her issues down to her age (at the time 82) or by Az. The GP suggested we take her off Acript for a week. The change in her was remarkable. the GP then lowered her dose to 5ml, within a week she had reverted back to all of the above. She came off the drug and her mobilty , awareness, and tiredness improved as well as the agressive and violent behaviour. Maybe you should stop the medication for a week to see if there is an improvement in your husband and than make a decision.
  2. LynneMcV's Avatar
    Thanks for your feedback.

    We've been to the doctor for a follow-up appointment today. It seems she is not edging around the matter as much as she did the first time and, although she chose her words carefully, it was more than clear this time that she is certain my husband has early onset dementia.

    There are still ongoing tests which we won't know the results of for a few more weeks, so hubby has decided to carry on with the medication - at least for now, until more is known. As it is, he is staying on 5mg rather than have it increased, because to increase the dosage would cause his heart rate to slow down too much (it was already on the low side and Aricept has a side of effect of making it lower).

    The doctor also said she did not think that the episodes of 'the runs' or tiredness were linked to the medication.

    As no further symptoms have materialised, and there is no chance of him going on a higher dosage, hubby is happy to just see how things go with the medication for now.