Hallucination?
- Thread starter Sue08
- Start date
Hi @Sue08
It could be hallucinations or just getting the wrong idea. Either way it's normal dementia behaviour - very common.
It takes a bit of getting used to at first.
My mum will ask me about different people in the house - I usually try to be vague/non committal, sometimes I will say there are only the two of us here. That sometimes works now.
My mum likes Polo mints, sometimes near her bed there are bits of wrapping she's torn off in the night.
"Look at the mess those children have made" she'll say in the morning.
"Oh yes" is my reply.
It could be hallucinations or just getting the wrong idea. Either way it's normal dementia behaviour - very common.
It takes a bit of getting used to at first.
My mum will ask me about different people in the house - I usually try to be vague/non committal, sometimes I will say there are only the two of us here. That sometimes works now.
My mum likes Polo mints, sometimes near her bed there are bits of wrapping she's torn off in the night.
"Look at the mess those children have made" she'll say in the morning.
"Oh yes" is my reply.
Hello Sue
Is this relatively new behaviour? Any sudden downward shift may be due to urine infection or chest infection. Consider constipation and dehydration too.
These are hallucinations. My mum hears things that aren’t there, also hallucinations.
There is a really useful article on hallucinations in the information section of the website. If I was better at this I would post the link.
A good question I was asked was how does your mother react to the hallucinations
In our case they seem to cause no distress and so are left.
If the opposite was true I was advised to visit doctors to discuss medication.
Wish you well with your mysterious visitors
Is this relatively new behaviour? Any sudden downward shift may be due to urine infection or chest infection. Consider constipation and dehydration too.
These are hallucinations. My mum hears things that aren’t there, also hallucinations.
There is a really useful article on hallucinations in the information section of the website. If I was better at this I would post the link.
A good question I was asked was how does your mother react to the hallucinations
In our case they seem to cause no distress and so are left.
If the opposite was true I was advised to visit doctors to discuss medication.
Wish you well with your mysterious visitors
Hello @Sue08 I have attached a link to the Alzheimer's Society information on hallucinations that @SherwoodSue referred to, I hope that you find it useful. You have received some good advice from our members which I hope reassures you a little.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Hallucinations and dementia
Dementia may cause a person to have hallucinations or see things that aren't there. This is most common in people living with dementia with Lewy bodies, although other types of dementia may also cause hallucinations.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Hello @Sue08 , my OH also thinks there are others in the house. He thinks there's more than one of me, that I'm part of his care team . There's no care team , only the two of us.
I think that some if the reason my OH thinks this is because he sees us in the mirrors that I have. He talks about the others in the bathroom and when we go out he always asks if the others are coming too. I have a mirror in the bathroom and in the hall by the door!
He talks to himself in the mirror and says the old man is his friend. He really doesn't recognise himself ,he thinks he's younger than he is!
Maybe your husband can see himself using the bathroom products and thinks it's someone else.
My OH can talk about a little boy and some times children but usually just extra adults, us!
I posted on the dementia funny thread how he wouldn't cooperate in m&s changing room because he was too busy socialising with his reflection 🤣 Took me ages to get him to try trousers on to the point I gave up and bought them to try at home 🤣🤣
He isn't bothered by these extras and neither am I now although it was a bit unsettling at first. My response is just the two of us. He accepts that xx
My husband often sees a man using our computer when it's actually me. The other day as I was sitting at the computer I asked him if he wanted to go to lunch. He said yes, but he didn't have any money and it wouldn't be right to let 'me ' pay. As we were getting ready he kept saying he didn't want to go to lunch with 'him' but would rather go with me. These sort of conversations take some getting used to, I 'm afraid.
My husband hallucinated for many years and mostly things were benign. Last year it changed and the hallucinations became faceless people who dictated what time we got up, what time we ate and became frightening. At that point they started to change his medication.
Through the years the pathway seemed to be
Do they know they are hallucinations : ok
Are the hallucinations frightening them : no ok : yes medication review or change.
Through the years the pathway seemed to be
Do they know they are hallucinations : ok
Are the hallucinations frightening them : no ok : yes medication review or change.
Hi. I have this situation every day with my OH. He asks all the time where people have disappeared to although they were never there. He gets upset that they didn't say goodbye to him before leaving. Sometimes he will make 4 or 5 cups of tea when there are only 2 of us. He tells me they are for 'the others'. At night he often refers to people at the bottom of the bed. I'm not sure if it's hallucinations or just where he is in his head. I think it is time shifting and he truly believes he is working as part of a team (which he used to do). Not sure about the people at the end of the bed though. Maybe just dreams. Most of the time U tell him that I haven't seen anyone and its only the two of us in the house.
Do you have a mirror in the room that he thinks your reflections are other people. My oH is always surprised when I say the bathroom is free. He says have the others gone? I have a fixed mirror.
My oh refers to the old man in the corner of the bedroom .room and I have a mirrored jewellery cabinet there!. Not hallucinating but misconceptions.
It doesn't explain the small boys he thinks are here but I think that's time shifting to when his children were small. I don't think he sees them.
Like yours , mine used to make coffee for the others as well. He can no longer make drinks as he doesn't remember how to.
I must share an incident that occurred yesterday morning.
In the past few weeks my mum has gone from mostly (or at least sometimes) thinking her image in the mirror is herself to thinking it's "that woman".
I was helping her on with her coat and she caught sight of us in the big lounge mirror.
"Oh there she is....….. and that's you. I always knew she liked you!"
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it, luckily she laughed too. Any attempt at explaining 'that woman' is her reflection is just not believed! Mind you, the concept of a reflection is probably not understood now, anyway.
This is so like us. Good to know it's not just us. I also deal with it the same way as you do.. It doesn't bother me or him. When I'm tired and have less patience, he'll come to me and call the other me names, I find it quite funny. Have they all gone? Is a regular line from the OH xx
🤣Mmm....I can be the horrible lady in the other room too when the patience is wearing thin! I try to walk away ,kick the wall and go back smiling 🤣🤣
