Is their anybody on here who is around 20?

[Charlotte101]

Hi,

I am 23 years old. I have moved my grandmother in with me and my fiancée as her then partner was neglecting her and disappearing, leaving her with neighbours for hours on end. She was in a bad way.

My mum is a full-time carer for her mother-in-law who also has dementia and lives with the family. Therefore Nan came to live with me.

I am so glad to see people of my own age on here, as sometimes it feels I'm on my own being so young and being a carer for someone with dementia.

Nan is in the middle stages of dementia, so can't hold a conversation with her and word-finding is nearly impossible.

I get upset when I talk to my friends about it, as they don't seem to understand. If I try to vent off about things to even my best friend all her response is "it doesn't seem like a permanent solution", She is in her final months of nurse training, so thought she of all people would understand, and she has worked with people with dementia. The only other options is putting Nan in a home, and I am not going to do that unless I really cannot cope any more. I have worked in a couple myself, and the first one was just awful, institutionalised, no stimulation, not using the correct manual handling equipment because it was quicker to yank someone by the arms that going to get a hoist. (I don't want this to influence peoples decision to put their loved one into a Care home, as there probably are some really lovely ones, I've just had a bad experience with this particular one.)

Sorry for the ranting. I don't get much conversation here, so I guess I need to get something out, even if it on the computer.

It would be nice to speak to someone my own age who knows what it is like being a full-time carer for a loved-one.

Charlotte x

[Sophie Fisher]

Hello Laura. I'm 27 and my mum has picks frontal lobe. She was diagnosed when I was 16 and isn't able to talk or communicate at all anymore, she has even lost the ability to walk. Me and my dad look after her at home for half the week and the other half she stays in a care home. I don't know anyone else young (ish!) that is in the same situation as us and we have a small family, just us three really as her brothers have turned there back on her because they dont understand the illness - would be nice to talk to someone of a similar age in a similar situation Sophie xx

[FiveWords]

Hi Laura,

Not so young maybe, but I'm 30 and care for my dad who has Alzheimer's. I also have a sister who is 27 but she doesn't come on here. It's a nightmare when you are still trying to find your feet in life and you have the rug pulled from under you like this. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[hopefulasever]

Hellooo, I'm Laura and I am 19, Mum was diagnosed with alzhiemers last year at 49, I have had some lovely support over the last few months on joining it has been overwhelming. Every one has been a lot older than me & I was wondering if their is anyone out their a similar age to me to talk to as well? thank you xxx

Hiya, I'm 20 and my mum was diagnosed last year - let me know if you ever want to talk, best wishes xxx

[drowningdespair]

Hey. I'm Jessica, 20 and my Mom was diagnosed at 52 when I was 17. You can talk to me if you want.

[jan.s]

Thank you all for your messages I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I have offended anybody older, because I truly am so thank full for all the support I have got of all ages, and it is not that I don't want to talk to anybody who is older than me, I was just hoping to find somebody of a similar age as well to talk to. I really do know that everybody feels the same way I do when this terrible disease effects a family or friend. I didn't want it to sound selfish and reading it back I could have worded it better. Thank you again for the messages. xx

Hi laura, i'm one of the oldies, and you didn't offend me! I can understand why you would want to chat with people your age, that's fine.

I think each of us has a different perspective of this wretched illness. Me, it's my husband who is now 64, but was diagnosed when he was 58. He is my confidante and soul mate, so i miss him terribly. Your mum is even younger, so i can understand your struggle is very different to my own.

I am here for you though if you ever want to chat by pm.

Jan xx

[lucky]

Hi Laura I am 31 mum and my mum is 62 she was diagnosed two years ago but signs appeared a couple of years before this. So sorry to hear your news about your mum. I'm sure if you check in regularly though you will find plenty of support And advice

Lucky x

[KTY]

Why are so many young people developing dementia??? this is crazy surely there is something wrong... I can't get my head round it, there are far too many young people posting on here about their very young parents, I thought I was the exception at 37 seems not.. Surely the government needs to sit up and notice that this problem is a lot bigger than they thought and seems to be getting worse?

To all you youngsters who are looking after someone with dementia fair play to you all. I'm gonna see what attention I can drum up about this because I just can't sit quietly

[Rachael_11]

Hi Laura, and everyone else

I just turned twenty four and my sister is twenty. Our im was diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia last year. I sometimes find it hard to talk about it but please do drop me a message if I could be any help. I live in oxfordshire although my family is up
In Edinburgh. Maybe it helps just a little to know you aren't alone right now. It is such a cruel form of illness but it must be possible to come out stronger I hope

As I say anytime you'd like to chat just drop me a line rach xxx

[Bodensee]

Why are so many young people developing dementia??? this is crazy surely there is something wrong... I can't get my head round it, there are far too many young people posting on here about their very young parents, I thought I was the exception at 37 seems not.. Surely the government needs to sit up and notice that this problem is a lot bigger than they thought and seems to be getting worse?

To all you youngsters who are looking after someone with dementia fair play to you all. I'm gonna see what attention I can drum up about this because I just can't sit quietly

Hi,
"there are far too many young people posting on here about their very young parents"

You are so right, I had a look recently and counted at least 63 people under the age of 62 on here with neurological problems and that was only from a few pages. Not so long ago dementia was considered an older persons illness and they were classed as 'senile' but today we are witnessing what appears to be an epidemic of dementia decline in so many young people, what can be causing this? Surely something that we all have in common is causing this to happen
What many young people today may not be aware of is that around 1980 cattle in this country were fed infected feed which led to cows developing 'mad cow disease' (a dementia like fatal disease), this resulted in millions of cows being infected and slaughtered right up until 1996. Our government & the DOH told the british public that this animal disease could not cross the species barrier and they even went as far as showing a minister John Gummer giving his daughter a beefburger to prove it was 100% safe to eat. This was untrue as it was possible for humans to be infected by various routes including vaccines, dairy products, beef, gelatine and so on, in fact so many routes they estimate that upto 58 million of us have been exposed, and today all of these people are banned from donating our blood and organs overseas because we are deemed to have been put at risk of vCJD (human bse). Now you are wondering how does this affect someone with neurological problems under the age of 80 in 2012, one of the first symptons is depression and the person 'will' develop dementia, my friends son died of vCJD he had dementia as well as other symptons, the incubation of this disease in humans is anything upto 50 years, so my worry is that millions of us have been exposed and have no idea that we could or are being mis-diagnosed. The only way to know for sure is to have the new blood test developed at the National Prion Clinic in London by Sir John Collinge. Everyone in this country who is banned from donating their blood overseas and is presenting neurological problems should automatically be given this blood test to 'rule out' vCJD, it makes logical sense to me. if you are one of the 58 million people who were put at risk then your GP/Neurologist should be ruling vCJD out as soon as possible.
It is a serious health concern, and the risks of transmission even today are very real indeed, the NHS produce leaflets advising patients of the risks of transmission through blood, they would not do this if vCJD was not transmissable.
I have p'md you.

[jeany123]

Why are so many young people developing dementia??? this is crazy surely there is something wrong... I can't get my head round it, there are far too many young people posting on here about their very young parents, I thought I was the exception at 37 seems not.. Surely the government needs to sit up and notice that this problem is a lot bigger than they thought and seems to be getting worse?

To all you youngsters who are looking after someone with dementia fair play to you all. I'm gonna see what attention I can drum up about this because I just can't sit quietly

I don't really think more young people have dementia,there is no proof of this, I just think that more people are being diagnosed now than were previously ,

Jeany

[Bodensee]

I don't really think more young people have dementia,there is no proof of this, I just think that more people are being diagnosed now than were previously ,

Jeany

I definitely think that there are more young people being diagnosed with 'neurological' disorders, so many on here it is unbelievable, how many more that dont post on here, could be thousands. It is very worrying indeed. Let us not forget that 58 million of us have been told by the DOH as recently as 1996 that we have been potentially exposed to something that causes dementia like symptons, 'vCJD', Neurologists have to rule this disease out.

[jenniferpa]

Jeany - on the whole I agree with you. I also think it's unwise to look at this forum (i.e. Talking Point) as a "representative sample" of the population in a statistical sense as we are a group of people with a common interest, brought together by a common tragedy (dementia in all its forms) - it can skew one's perception.

[Bodensee]

I agree with KTY there does seems to be an ever increasing number of younger people developing dementia if this website is anything to go by, I never thought when I first came on here I would read so many sad stories about people developing dementia in their 40's,50' & 60's. What we must rule out are other serious conditions which appear as dementia. What many people are oblivious to is that millions of us were exposed to TSE's infectious prions back in the 80's & 90's, how many of us have gone onto to develop neurological problems as a result, but scientists are looking at this very subject and I have put a link on the raising awareness section which highlights a meeting of an eminent dementia research scientist Prof. Hugh Perry and vCJD surveillance scientists, why is this meeting taking place between these scientists? What does this indicate? The title of their meeting is this ' Is Alzheimer's A Transmissable Disease?', interesting is'nt it. Does'nt take much to join up the dots with the CJD surveillance team involved in this meeting.

[BungleGirl]

I was also shocked to read of so many with early onset dementia on here, but logically younger people who have grown up with the internet are more likely to be searching online for information, support and as such find themselves here. Google is my first port of call when I want to know anything...perhaps it is just that a higher percentage of people with a loved one affected by early onset dementia find Talking Point.