Could it be dementia?

[Carrie85]

Hi

I was just wondering if anyone had some advice or been through a similar situatiom...my mum is 68 and 5 years ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumour,luckily it was benign and removed but it was very big and so the removal itself was quite a big trauma,since then her personality has definitely changed but I'm now worried that she's showing early signs of dementia that are being passed off by doctors as risidual trauma. She's not really forgetful but she doesnt enjoy the things she used to, she's very set in her routine and gets restless if it is interrupted even by visiting family, she used to love having us all around. She can't drive at the moment so there have also been a couple of occasions where she has walked several miles on fast roads (once along an A road!) to get to a bank or to get to one of my sisters,but she tries to just turn up without actually checking anyone is home! She also tends to get very confused and contradicts herself a lot in the space of a few minutes.

I don't know whether this is still trauma from her tumor but I'm worried about her safety,we have tried to talk to her about it but it's like she doesn't care whether something happens to her.

Do you think these could be signs of dementia? If so where is the best place to go for help?

Thanks for your advice

 

[pony-mad]

Hi, My sister had a benign brain tumour removed 4 years ago. Before the operation her short and long term memory were affected as was her personality. A year after the operation she was virtually back to normal.
What you describe of your Mum Is much more like my husband who in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease presented very much like your Mum.
A worrying time for you, I hope you get some help.


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[Kevinl]

Hi Carrie and welcome to TP
You really need to get some proper advise on this, on the one hand the symptoms you describe could be AZ given her history of brain surgery it's not possible for anyone to say without doing all the tests.
I have a friend who had a benign brain tumour removed a couple of years ago and while he is different he was someone who was a bit more OCD than most before, checking the door was locked 3 times, putting everything in it's place and hating it if you didn't and all the rest.
Basically the only place to go is the GP to start getting a diagnosis of the problem, but you could get her local social services to do an assessment as a vulnerable adult and see what they can suggest/offer in the way of help.
The first thing that needs to be resolved is does she have a physical problem as a result of the tumour or could there be an underlying condition like dementia and that means getting scans, tests, assessments...
It's really too big a thing to diagnose on here the symptoms are to similar.
K

 

[Sharon1969]

Hi Carrie, we are at that stage with mum who is 68, her behaviours and memory were getting worse, CT scan showed a benign brain tumour and was referred to neurologist, we thought ok good news no dementia but let's see what neurologist says, maybe an op and then we can look forward to the future with mum being relatively young, goes the neurologist who tells us it is a rare form of dementia and the tumour has nothing to do with it!! We are in limbo at the min because mum freaked out at the MRI scan so we have to wait see if they will give her anaesthetic so she can have MRI to find out what dementia it is and how advanced.
My advice go see GP and get her looked at as soon as. Xx

 

[Linbrusco]

My husband is now 53 but had 2 brain resections when he was 41/42 fir a malignant brain tumour, as well as radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
His was left frontal /parietal lobe just over his ear.
This has resulted in a loss of executive functioning which is planning, reasoning and judgement. He has at times ( worse when tired) short term memory problems and aphasia, which affects his word finding abilities.
Many of these traits are similar to Alzheimers.

My Mum 75 has Alzheimers and has just gone into care.

The only way of knowing for sure is to see her GP with all the concerns listed.
They will need to do necessary tests and possibly another CT/MRI.

 

[MrCanuck]

Any kind of brain surgery is traumatic. My father had surgery to place clips on a brain aneurysm. He was very confused for the next 6 months, which, looking back resembled dementia in many ways. Most of that eventually went away but he did have some permanent changes to his personality.

As mentioned keep track and write down any behaviours that are worrying and present them to the GP.

 

[Dayperson]

Does having brain surgery increase your risk of developing dementia in later life?