Re hearing voices...
can someone help me with my problem,I keep hering voices coming from the other bedroom,mostly at night ,sometimes during the day too.no one else can hear them,i don't no what they saying .it sounds like someones in the flat,but I cant find anyone.i told my doctor today and she just nodded and smiled but couldn't help.then when it happened when my friend was here we went to look for the noise but couldn't find it.i feel really silly but I know what im hearing.its very scary sometimes.
Hello Muriel - Shame on the Dr who just smiled but made no attempt to try to get to the cause of you hearing voices.
My own Mom is practically totally deaf - she can only hear me if I stand right in front of her - the TV has been turned off so that there are no other competing sounds and I then speak loudly and clearly and she can then hear me. She also went through periods when she would say that she could hear a lawnmower outside in the garden - (there was no lawnmower) and she would also complain that the building cleaning staff were speaking so loudly in our corridors and that I should speak to them to speak more quietly to one another. (there was no sign of any cleaning ladies in the corridor) I took her to her Geriatric specialist who said that hearing voices in patients with AD often occurs when they are feeling very stressed. He did prescribe 2mg's of Valium for Mom to take in the late afternoon (she goes into the 'sundowning' phase after 4 in the afternoon when the sounds seem to occur. I DID notice that the voices and other sounds which she reported hearing totally disappeared once she was put onto the Valium. But it had so many other not so nice side-effects in Mom's case that I stopped with the Valium but I try to not let her watch any 'busy' or stressful programs on TV from about 2 in the afternoon - I play soothing music which she used to love when she was much younger. I no longer put the main overhead chandelier on when it gets dark and only have soft, side lamps on and it has made a HUGE difference! I believe it might be stress related in your case too as you must be feeling the tension in your daughter who does not quite know how to react to your illness and I know I, who do not have AD - with the slightest bit of stress in my life - my hearing tends to greatly increase, I get buzzing sounds in my ears, my head starts to feel foggy and if a neighbour comes home and bangs their front door behind them - to me it sounds as if 20 doors are being slammed at the same time. So it's easy to see just what side-effects stress can have and according to Mom's specialist, one of the most commonly reported problems are the magnification of noises in AD folks.
I don't know if you would be willing to try Valium - if your Dr is in agreement with it. (I stopped giving it to Mom because I found that she seemed to back slide in the AD dept quicker while on Valium) but then not everyone reacts the same.
I sometimes give Mom a finger high mini shot glass of wine when we get close to her Sundowning time and she then also does not seem to hear any noises or voices at all. I am *not* advocating alcohol at all but am simply saying what has helped to keep mom from hearing things which are not there.
I really feel for you because the last thing you need is to have someone be short or snappy with you - it's a shame that this is happening but then I also think that your daughter does not quite get how her reactions hurt you and stress you out.
Sending you warmest hugs
Colette xoxo