Vascular dementia final stages

[Pon]

I was thinking about your husband's problems, and I wondering if any of them could be related to low blood sugar? That should at least be ruled out as a cause before looking at other medication. I find it hard to imagine how you manage to inject him several times a day, and test his blood sugar levels - that must be extremely hard. Low blood sugar levels can cause hallucinations such as you describe, and lots of other very off behaviour.

Sorry first chance I have had to reply to you Johns sugar levels are o.k. and apart from that one insects incident he only seems to sometimes imagine people that aren't there and talks to them but I have another problem now John has lost his sight and I wondered is this common with vascular dementia

Thanks for all your help hope you are all ok well as ok as you can be

Pon

[Mun]

Hi Pon,
I think loss of sight is linked to VasD.My dad has it & his sight has just about gone.
But also,forgive me if I'm wrong,I think having diabetes can have an effect on a persons sight as well long term.

Val x

[bunnies]

Sorry first chance I have had to reply to you Johns sugar levels are o.k. and apart from that one insects incident he only seems to sometimes imagine people that aren't there and talks to them but I have another problem now John has lost his sight and I wondered is this common with vascular dementia

Thanks for all your help hope you are all ok well as ok as you can be

Pon

My aunt had vascular dementia, and her eyesight was perfect until the day she died, so it didn't deteriorate at all. As someone has said, diabetes can lead to sight problems. I really do think the GP should be involved with helping you manage this - please do get in touch with them soon.

[Mun]

Alzheimer's Society webpage:
"visuoperceptual difficulties have been reported for a number of dementias including vascular dementia (if stroke-type damage is on or near to the visual pathway in the brain)"
Val

[jussiejus]

Hi, I just read your thread, my thoughts are with you all the way, my dad argued and was generally just nasty and aggressive to my mum, having been married for over 60 years, she naturally finds it very hard to separate her John from this man yelling at her. Your mum and my mum sound alike, my mum wouldnt let anyone into her house and take care of Dad. But eventually she had to. Bless her she was tired out and Dad was just plain dangerous to himself.

Dad has gone through aggression, crying, trying to thump anyone getting too close, but although these seem like bad days, and I know they are, the good days do sometimes come, I walked into dads room today (my sister already there), and his first words to me were I love you a ton of sugar (in family saying), tears are welling in my eyes now, but you know I can live on that for the rest of my life.

Keep positive dear friend, know you are not alone and we unders tand your mum, and just grab and store the good bits.

I hope this helps, every person is different, but stay positive, keep your head held high even though your heart is breaking, write to me anytime.

With love and best wishes xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Pon]

Thanks so much for all your comments I am down after todays meeting I asked to speak to the Consultant and when I went into the meeting there were 2 doctors a staff nurse an OT and an advisory there and ME
I told them that in the 6 weeks that John has been in hospital he has aged 10 years has has 6 falls and how extremely worried I am about him . After my questions were answered the Consultant said we have to think of his long term care and I said that because he had deteriorated at such a fast rate I would no longer be able to care for him. She said that they knew that and that I'd done marvellously to keep him out of hospital for so long. The drug they put him on for the aggression had to be reduced in dosage as he was allergic to it. He can hardly stand/ walk. I said that I was waiting for their assessment of johns needs as thats all we want as a family is that he has the best care available . She said at present he needs EMI care but they still are assessing him
The next time i have a meeting my 2 sons are coming so they can see how the authorities just sit on the fence. Its incredible how they behave don't they realise that they are talking about a loved one and not a statistic
Thanks again for your support
Pon

[jaymor]

Re the insects.

My husband is at the moment in an assesment centre and his medications are being altered. His progabolin has been increased from 100mg per day to 300mg per day. He did for two days see ants all over the floor in his room. He was not troubled by them and when squashing them with his finger was not getting rid of them he got up and stamped on them. I joined in and between us we got rid of them. Our daughter who was visiting him with me found it really funny to see both her parents dealing with imaginary ants. The following day there were insects in the room but again he was not troubled by them. He has not mentioned seeing them again.

We had been having problems for quite a while with aggression an violence and him talking about suicide using knives and once running into the middle of a busy road a 5.45pm. Medication was being altered by his mental health doctor trying to calm him, crisis team advising dialling 999 or get out of hours doctor. Out of hours doctor taking hours to get here whilst his violence got worse. Eventually we had to call the police as he attacked our daughter and they were wonderful. Just the sight of their uniform calmed him down. They arranged for him to go to hospital only to be sent back home again. The second time we had to call them out 2 police cars came and the police lady managed to get the crisis team to come out. I am sure that it was because we had involved the police that things got sorted and he was found a bed in the assessment centre. He did fracture our daughters rib, she was trying at the time to stop him going out as again he was so distressed and wanting to kill himself. If I had been in the house on my own I would never have managed to call for help and stop him getting out at the same time. Just a waiting game now until they tell me what is going to happen next.
Keep smiling, sometimes that is all we can do.
Jay x

[Grannie G]

I`m glad your sons will be with you for the next meeting. My son always came with me and was a tremendous support.

[Grannie G]

I do hope your husband can be helped. It is so distressing to witness so many symptoms of dementia.

[jussiejus]

Hi Pon
Have you had the meeting yet? Also have ss carried out a financial assessment in order to establish whether or not they consider you would have to top up. Whatever you do please do not sign anything until this has been done. The ss we had tried to get me to sign a direct debit on behalf of my mum (which is illegal without poa) for nearly £400 per week. Dont be afraid to speak your mind. I ended about 3 meetings with the ss (another young one) who quite frankly was as helpful as a chocolate teapot.

I know I made myself unpopular, but when you are fighting for someone you love, it is a small price to pay.

The other thing I did was to talk to and have a brilliant young solicitor act on our behalf, sometimes in the background sometimes there. Unfortunately you have to run this as a campaign and be ruthless in order to get what your loved one is entitled to.

If you would like to talk about anything just let me know and I will be more than happy to give you my phone number..

The outcome was that I managed to secure full NHS funding for a private emi nursing home and the staff there are fantastic..

Keep your head up and keep smiling xxxxx

[maryw]

Hi Pon, Boy you are dealing with a challenging situation. You haven't gone into detail about your husband's sight loss but visual impairment can lead to a condition called Charles Bonnet syndrome, where figures, insects, plants and geometrical shapes can sometimes be seen. My mother had this and saw insects and plants and shrubs. Just wanted to make you aware as a lot of GP's have not heard of it either!! Of course hallucinations are also a symptom of dementia too...

Take care and continue to look after yourself too x

[Pon]

Once again thank you for all your advice I visited today and John seemed a bit better they told me that his appointment with the Prof of diabetes has been cancelled for tomorrow, when only yesterday they all sounded so positive that I wanted to attend. When I get the assessment from the hospital as to what care John should be receiving I'll go thro the thread again and pick up on the information you have sent me that will be relevant .
The thread about not signing anything I've taken on board now and the thread about the insects was very similar to what my experience has been

Has anyone any idea why there was an advocate in the 1st meeting I've had at the hospital since John was admitted.i was only expecting to meet the Consultant and quite taken aback when there was a group there


Thanks again

Pon