Hi my name is Tim and I care for my elderly mother of 87. I found out she had Alzheimers from an ambulance man who had been talking to the mental health crisis team.
My mum has had a gradually progressing poor memory for a couple of years now but no behaviour problems until 3 weeks ago when she suddenly multiplied our one dog into two or three then decided their sudden absence from the house was because I had sold them off (all in her head) and I got a lot of abuse. This came on pretty suddenly and I coped for a week on my own.
Over the last few weeks things have been getting worse at one stage she didnt recognise me and thought I had kidnapped her telling neighbours to call the police and wandering round the garden with a big stick.
Things came to head Monday when it took the mental health crisis nurses from midnight to 4am to settle her down (she didnt recognise me) despite a double dose of Lorazepan. She has had a Psychiatrist, her GP and 2 social workers give her a mental health assessment last week when she was prescribed Donezepril.
I have had a lot of help from the crisis team and numerous visits where they have talked her round but Monday was different so she has been sent to General Hospital for physical tests.
She has been in hospital about 4 days now and had a couple of episodes for instance I got a call from the ward nurse asking me to go down as mum was in a terrible state and it was thought a familiar face would settle her. As it happens she had already calmed down before I got there but she had been going since 2pm. She was agitated and wouldnt take her medication and luckily she took it before I got there.
The mental health team in the hospital is due to see her very soon for a review but she can be very difficult to handle at home when she doesnt recognise me and thinks I have kidnapped her.
So I am looking for support and suggestions as to what help I can get from Social Services who have assessed her also and advised me to let the nurse know I have difficulty coping at night when she seems to not recognise me, usually around bedtime or 10pm.
Any suggestions welcome!
My mum has had a gradually progressing poor memory for a couple of years now but no behaviour problems until 3 weeks ago when she suddenly multiplied our one dog into two or three then decided their sudden absence from the house was because I had sold them off (all in her head) and I got a lot of abuse. This came on pretty suddenly and I coped for a week on my own.
Over the last few weeks things have been getting worse at one stage she didnt recognise me and thought I had kidnapped her telling neighbours to call the police and wandering round the garden with a big stick.
Things came to head Monday when it took the mental health crisis nurses from midnight to 4am to settle her down (she didnt recognise me) despite a double dose of Lorazepan. She has had a Psychiatrist, her GP and 2 social workers give her a mental health assessment last week when she was prescribed Donezepril.
I have had a lot of help from the crisis team and numerous visits where they have talked her round but Monday was different so she has been sent to General Hospital for physical tests.
She has been in hospital about 4 days now and had a couple of episodes for instance I got a call from the ward nurse asking me to go down as mum was in a terrible state and it was thought a familiar face would settle her. As it happens she had already calmed down before I got there but she had been going since 2pm. She was agitated and wouldnt take her medication and luckily she took it before I got there.
The mental health team in the hospital is due to see her very soon for a review but she can be very difficult to handle at home when she doesnt recognise me and thinks I have kidnapped her.
So I am looking for support and suggestions as to what help I can get from Social Services who have assessed her also and advised me to let the nurse know I have difficulty coping at night when she seems to not recognise me, usually around bedtime or 10pm.
Any suggestions welcome!