CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN?

[trinity123]

Hello
my 83 year old mother in law lives with us and diagnosed with Alzheimer's - she barely remembers 10 minutes ago but when we start watching a film she ALWAYS! says "I've seen this" - I can assure you that she would not have seen it as most are brand new films that have only been at the cinema and we watch them on Now TV (so sky movies) - example, watching a film last night and she was adamant it was on TV that morning (although she cant remember what happened) and was on a childrens channel (that she wouldn't be on!) - so what is this about?? anybody else have this or have an explanation?? sorry if its an inane question, just baffles me (I guess as many things do and will!) thank you ☺

 

[jaymor]

It is very common, my husband who had Alzheimer’s was similar. Breaking news had been heard by him three weeks before, programmes on tv had seen before, places we had never been were familiar. We were in a queue of traffic one day miles from home in a town we had never been in. There was a garage along side of us and he commented on a car on the forecourt. He said no wonder it had been there for so many months, from the price they were asking they would never sell it. Why this happens I have no idea,

It also happened in reverse, places we had been many, many times became unfamiliar and frightened him because he felt we were both lost and had no way of getting home. The weekly supermarket trip we had done for 40 plus years had to stop because it upset him so much.

Dementia is a baffling and cruel disease.

 

[annielou]

Hello
my 83 year old mother in law lives with us and diagnosed with Alzheimer's - she barely remembers 10 minutes ago but when we start watching a film she ALWAYS! says "I've seen this" - I can assure you that she would not have seen it as most are brand new films that have only been at the cinema and we watch them on Now TV (so sky movies) - example, watching a film last night and she was adamant it was on TV that morning (although she cant remember what happened) and was on a childrens channel (that she wouldn't be on!) - so what is this about?? anybody else have this or have an explanation?? sorry if its an inane question, just baffles me (I guess as many things do and will!) thank you ☺

Sorry no explanation of why, I hope someone has one x but my mum says this a lot. Quite a few of the things we watch are things we've seen before but she doesn't often say it on those programmes, its mainly on new programmes. I do wonder if she says it as an excuse, either consciously or unconsciously when she is struggling to understand a program as often she'll want to turn over after she says it.

 

[canary]

Deja vous syndrome is quite common in dementia. Its due to faulty connections in the temporal lobe of the brain which is the bit that attaches emotions to sensation - particularly things that are seen. The brain wrongly attributes a feeling of familiarity and then fabricates a story to rationalise this (confabulation).

 

[Quite contrary]

My husband also gets deja vu. I read something about it a while ago and my understanding of it is that it sounds different to confabulation. Apparently, short term memories (ie, something new) goes into one part of the brain and then later moves over into the area storing long term memories. In dementia, because the short memory area is destroyed first, those experiences go straight into 'long term memory storage giving an experience of deja vu.

 

[trinity123]

thank you all for your replies - they are very helpful and now we know how to manage it

 

[Duggies-girl]

Same with dad, he's seen everything before and has been everywhere. He also recognises random people on TV as someone that he knew or used to work with or even went to sea with.

I never argue, just say 'Oh that's interesting dad' and let him carry on.

 

[trinity123]

another question - is there a sheet or leaflet that lists or explains different symptoms - such as sun downing, hostessing and confabulation etc?? please

 

[nae sporran]

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/symptoms-and-diagnosis/symptoms/sundowning and some of the links around that page may be a useful place to start. Sorry I can't find anything more comprehensive, trinity123.

 

[Lynmax]

Apparently my Mum has been on holiday to pretty much every country in the world and the wine is always awful to drink! She got to far flung places in a couple of hours by car and once swum from New Zealand to Australia!
That would have been good to see as she cannot swim!

Every time I take her out in the car, she sees people she has seen before and usually make rude comments about their appearance!

 

[trinity123]

thank you - I did find that too - every day is a learning day!

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

I do wish there was a more comprehensive guide to dementia somewhere (other than here on TP!)

My mum was just the same as @jaymor and @Lynmax - almost identical in fact, and I've read many times on here of others with the same behaviour too.

It would be nice to see a guide to dementia, not just with the 'classic' symptoms as doctors see them, but with a selection of some of the things you might come across and hopefully some coping strategies. The existing guides do tell you useful things but don't really explain what the reality might be. One example: I've often seen it mentioned that PWDs lose their sense of night and day. But the implications - that they may be wandering all night or getting up every hour and going downstairs, or asking eleventeen times a day/night what time it is and when their appointment is... these things are rarely discussed. Same with incontinence. Yes, they tell you it will happen but not that the person may be resistant to wearing inco pads or to personal care or may choose to pee in the waste bin or all over the house.

Even the best guides seem somewhat economic with the truth to me. That's not helping anyone.

 

[Helly68]

I agree @Jaded'n'faded and i feel this is why Talking Point is so great.
When surrounded by dementia confabulation etc, it is very hard to keep your own sanity, for want of a better term. Mummy has "seen" dead people (as in my father visited me - unlikely) but I think this is more about returning to a time of safety than a specific behaviour. I have learned to smile and say that is nice....

 

[canary]

@Jaded'n'faded - I suspect the reason for this is due to general feeling of reticence to discuss the symptoms of more advanced dementia. All this talk of "living well with dementia" is fine and dandy in the early stages, but IMO, no one wants to look any further. Everyone knows about the memory loss, but very little is mentioned about other symptoms so the reality often comes as a big shock to carers and if the memory is not much affected then carers can be very confused.
We need to get the message out there that it isnt just memory loss.

 

[annielou]

I do wish there was a more comprehensive guide to dementia somewhere (other than here on TP!)

My mum was just the same as @jaymor and @Lynmax - almost identical in fact, and I've read many times on here of others with the same behaviour too.

It would be nice to see a guide to dementia, not just with the 'classic' symptoms as doctors see them, but with a selection of some of the things you might come across and hopefully some coping strategies. The existing guides do tell you useful things but don't really explain what the reality might be. One example: I've often seen it mentioned that PWDs lose their sense of night and day. But the implications - that they may be wandering all night or getting up every hour and going downstairs, or asking eleventeen times a day/night what time it is and when their appointment is... these things are rarely discussed. Same with incontinence. Yes, they tell you it will happen but not that the person may be resistant to wearing inco pads or to personal care or may choose to pee in the waste bin or all over the house.

Even the best guides seem somewhat economic with the truth to me. That's not helping anyone.

So true I agree and would love a guide like that. There seems to a surprise round every corner but when look on here quite often someone else has experienced it or similar so could do with listing in a guide somewhere.

 

[trinity123]

agree with everything that has been said - I regularly come to this site and randomly click on posts and relate to most of them! it is so helpful. We have had talks with the memory loss team, GP's, nurses and carer support groups but not many behaviours have been discussed, as you said its not just memory loss, there are so many other different symptoms which seem to materialise out of the blue!

 

[nae sporran]

another question - is there a sheet or leaflet that lists or explains different symptoms - such as sun downing, hostessing and confabulation etc?? please

This looks good for explaining confabulations https://www.verywellmind.com/confabulation-definition-examples-and-treatments-4177450

 

[Lawson58]

I think it would be pretty difficult to write a comprehensive set of guidelines/explanations/instructions whatever you want to call it as there are so many different manifestations of this disease, that you couldn't really do it. My husband doesn't have many of the problems that others experience and his memory problems are radically different to others.

He is a very high functioning individual but extensive testing reveals gaps in some quirky areas of his cognitive abilities and scans confirm the diagnosis. Fortunately, with medication, he is usually OK to manage but that wasn't always the case. His consultant can't explain the differences my husband has to others with Alzheimer's but I am sure he would love to know.

 

[It's Life Jim just not]

From experience I would kindly offer .. Yes had a lot of "seen this before" scenarios in particular watching Live Sport .. "I knew he would score then ! .."
In truth it really doesn't matter … simply agree and never correct or argue with your Mum... it's her World that we may never understand .. let her believe what makes her feel comfortable and keeps her happy ! Good luck and best wishes

 

[It's Life Jim just not]

From experience I would kindly offer .. Yes had a lot of "seen this before" scenarios in particular watching Live Sport .. "I knew he would score then ! .."
In truth it really doesn't matter … simply agree and never correct or argue with your Mum... it's her World that we may never understand .. let her believe what makes her feel comfortable and keeps her happy ! Good luck and best wishes