Hello again. :(
- Thread starter LadyA
- Start date
Well so far, so good with them! Mum's got another appointment with them on Dec. 22, to see a physiotherapist and a dietician.
It's very disappointing that her hallucinations, which seemed to be damped well down while she was on the very strong antibiotic for her skin, are now back in full flow. I really hope that something can be found for her that will calm them down, although tbh, I'm doubtful if they can give her anything because she's on so much other medication.
It's very disappointing that her hallucinations, which seemed to be damped well down while she was on the very strong antibiotic for her skin, are now back in full flow. I really hope that something can be found for her that will calm them down, although tbh, I'm doubtful if they can give her anything because she's on so much other medication.
Well, so far, this Integrated Care clinic seems great!
Mum got an appointment for today with the consultant! We spent 2 1/2 hours there - and we weren't waiting at all! They are extremely thorough! First a nurse did BP check, weight etc. She would have done a mmse, but didn't because it's only a couple of weeks since the last one.
Then it was straight in to a doctor, who went through her medical history, medications, falls history, and the hallucinations.
Then the consultant arrived, and talked at length with mum about how she manages, etc, and about the hallucinations. Turns out that mum's mmse score is now 19/30, dropped from 24/30 last year. Mum talked openly about the hallucinations. At first, the consultant said she would start her on Remilyn which might help her cognitive function a little, or at least slow the deterioration, and could help with the hallucinations too. And if it didn't improve them, she would introduce a tiny bit of quetiapine. Thankfully, something the consultant said triggered mum to tell her all the details of the hundreds of people that were in her bedroom last night, and how they can open her living room curtains during the night, and on, and on! So the consultant decided to start both Remilyn and quetiapine straight away.
Fingers and toesies crossed!! I'll be hopefully collecting them from the chemist tomorrow.
Mum got an appointment for today with the consultant! We spent 2 1/2 hours there - and we weren't waiting at all! They are extremely thorough! First a nurse did BP check, weight etc. She would have done a mmse, but didn't because it's only a couple of weeks since the last one.
Then it was straight in to a doctor, who went through her medical history, medications, falls history, and the hallucinations.
Then the consultant arrived, and talked at length with mum about how she manages, etc, and about the hallucinations. Turns out that mum's mmse score is now 19/30, dropped from 24/30 last year. Mum talked openly about the hallucinations. At first, the consultant said she would start her on Remilyn which might help her cognitive function a little, or at least slow the deterioration, and could help with the hallucinations too. And if it didn't improve them, she would introduce a tiny bit of quetiapine. Thankfully, something the consultant said triggered mum to tell her all the details of the hundreds of people that were in her bedroom last night, and how they can open her living room curtains during the night, and on, and on! So the consultant decided to start both Remilyn and quetiapine straight away.
Fingers and toesies crossed!! I'll be hopefully collecting them from the chemist tomorrow.
Although it is a worry that your mother's cognitive skills seem to be declining and the hallucinations are perhaps increasing the clinic sounds really good. I hope the new medication makes a difference.
That really is good news, in that the doctor quickly summed things up. It will take a while for the quetiapine to take effect but it should improve your mum's quality of life. My mother was on it for quite a long time without any adverse effects that we were aware of.
I hope it will. William was prescribed quetiapine first, and his dose was increased twice, but it had no effect on his hallucinations at all.
Today, I had mum with an Orthopist which is sort of like a physiotherapist for eyes. Mum's had double and distorted vision for a few years, but her actual eyes are ok, and her corrective lenses are the right prescription. Seems it's to do with the muscles around the eyes getting weak, and causing one eye to move slightly, and causing a shift in focusing on that eye. She's put a temporary prism in mum's glasses, to see if that's enough (there was some difficulty in getting mum to keep her head still, at a certain angle, for some of the tests! Ended up with me having to physically hold her head steady!). If it's doing the job, then permanent prisms will be fitted in her lenses.
Just shows you. Mum's visit to the Orthoptist was well worth it. Saturday morning, I went in and she was sitting watching tv. Really watching it, totally engaged in the program. And you could see, she was so much more relaxed. It was a fashion program she had on, and she kept calling me in, "Come and look at this! And it's only €11.99!" I was honestly almost in tears to see her so relaxed and enjoying the tv again. It will occupy her mind. She said "Oh, it's so much better to watch, when the presenters have only one head and two eyes each!" Unfortunately, it was a bit spoiled when she started about "those people" who she thought were crouching under the tv unit and behind a small side table, but it's still very early days.
She did say yesterday that she had been vomiting on Saturday afternoon and evening. It could be just a bit of adjustment to the Reminyl, or maybe something simple like something she ate didn't agree with her. She was fine again yesterday.
She did say yesterday that she had been vomiting on Saturday afternoon and evening. It could be just a bit of adjustment to the Reminyl, or maybe something simple like something she ate didn't agree with her. She was fine again yesterday.
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It is odd, isn't it? I find it strange that she says that "I know they're not really there, but it's so hard to convince myself of that." Which makes me wonder if the issue is, in fact, her eyes. The Orthoptist said mum needs to look at things head on, because her sight distortion is much worse when she's looking to the side, particularly to the right. And the hallucinations she's seeing are usually to her side.
We'll see. She did say this morning that "they" hadn't shown themselves all morning, but that now (this was maybe 10.15) she could see faces on the cushions.
I get distorted vision like that @LadyA In my case it isn`t until I get close up to an object that I realise what it really is. Of course in my case I realise it`s distorted vision so no harm done.
My grandmother was in hospital and thought the large flowers on the screens round her bed were faces watching her.
Are the cushions plain or patterned?
They're plain mostly, although one or two do have a pattern. The pattern thing is something I'm watching though, because it certainly seems that things like shadowy areas (under tables etc. ) are where she's seeing things mostly (although last week, mum "saw" a whole row of people sitting along the curtain pole).
The care assistant rang yesterday morning, concerned about mum. She said she was "very persistent" about the large numbers of people in the house, and that she'd never seen her so very insistent about them. So, I'm bringing another sample to the gp this morning. The doctor did say on the phone that there is "loads of room" to increase the quetiapine if needs be, as she's only on 12.5mg. The consultant did say that it's only half the lowest dose. But so far, it certainly hasn't made any difference at all.
I think it's still early days yet for the quetiapine. Isn't it up to 6 weeks for it to kick in fully? Bringing in another sample is a good idea.
About the prisms, it does sound like they work. I had prisms in my glasses for years, as I developed a lazy eye. I've since had surgery so no longer need the prisms.
About the prisms, it does sound like they work. I had prisms in my glasses for years, as I developed a lazy eye. I've since had surgery so no longer need the prisms.
