Telling early Alzheimer's from stress

[Peborgh]

Like the Title says...
How can one tell the difference between early symptoms of (pre-)Alzheimer's and just stress-related distraction? I am 66, one grandfather and one grandmother had it in their late 70s/80s.

Many thanks,

peter

[Edwardo]

Hi Peter.. I am not an expert on Ahlzheimers but have been looking after my husband for the past 8yrs with the illness he is now 62yrs old and in mid stage of the illness, when we 1st approached our GP regarding his short term memory problems although he didnt dismiss us out of hand he did refer us onto the hospital for further testing etc it was the hospital that was very scepticle and said he was too young at 54 to be starting with the illness, it therefore took 5yrs to finally get somebody to listen to mine and his worry's. You are very obviously concerned about this and therefore think it would be a good idea to speak with your GP, there is a difference and your GP will be best person to advise you of this. At the start of my husbands memory problems we had been together for 24yrs and I knew straight away that there was a problem.. it was just getting others to take me seriously. Hope this helps in someway.

Carolyn

[Danni2012]

Hi, I have just joined this site and it is giving me comfort that I can get advice and support from people in the same situtation.

My Mam's Doctor is ringing me today so I can let them know mine and my brother's concern's about my Mam. I have looked on the site prior to contacting the surgery and she has a lot of the sympton's. My Grandad had it too. Mam suffers from depression and heart disease. I have also suffered from depression for the last 22 years having had two nervous breakdowns and am currently getting treatment for a relapse. I am really concerned that I will develop the disease too and I am only 44

Take care

Bev

[luau]

I think it can be very difficult to distinguish between impairment from depression, stress, and early stage dementia, and often there are components from all three.

I am worried about the very same issues in my wife, Lucy, at this very moment. She is only 52. She has not been diagnosed. In addition to short term memory issues (e.g. asking the same question half a dozen times), she is showing difficulties in understanding more complex sentence structures. She mishears me often, and often take a literal translation of my figurative descriptions. She seems to do this even when she is having a good time and relatively relaxed. This leads me to believe that it is more than just stress or depression.

[Grannie G]

My husband was being treated for depression for a years . When all the GP could do failed to help, he was then sent for a scan which showed brain shrinkage.

[Bodensee]

My husband was being treated for depression for a years . When all the GP could do failed to help, he was then sent for a scan which showed brain shrinkage.

This reminds me of the story I read about Michael Ellenbogen, he was 39 and diagnosed with depression for 10 years, finally after a PET scan he was told he had early onset AD.