Reaching out to touch things?!?!

[Careforme]

Has anyone ever experienced their loved one reaching out to touch something whilst awake and asleep?

Mum has Alzheimer's 8 years past and now in CH.




Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[Beate]

Things that aren't there? Yes, OH does that frequently. He doesn't seem anxious, so I usually either ignore it or squeeze his hand in reassurance.

 

[tigerlady]

yes my husband does it and he doesnt get distressed by it. He has had alzheimers for about 10years and has been in a care home for the last 2 and a half years

 

[Careforme]

Yes, my apologies I did mean things that are not there. Thank you!

Mum has being doing this a lot recently whilst lying in bed. I just wondered if this was common. Or me thinking she nearing end seeing things because of how poorly she is.

Thank you


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[LadyA]

My husband used to do that a lot. He had very poor eyesight, but also, hallucinations were part of his illness. Like Beate, I used to just take his hand to reassure him.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Talking Point mobile app

 

[Diannie]

Yes. My husband also does this. Any time he is sitting down (even in church). At night also he reaches out in bed and I am often woken with him touching all over my face or pulling my hair


Sent from my iPad using Talking Point

 

[LynneMcV]

Yes, my husband often reaches out into thin air for things.

With him though, it isn't so much reaching out to something not there but incorrectly calculating where item is.

For instance the clock is on the wall to the side of his chair but he perceives if to be right in front of his face. The other day there were monkeys being fed on tv and my husband saw them as sitting by his leg and then proceeded to try and stroke them and offer them bits of food by his leg.

We have a vase of flowers on a table across the room but he perceives them as being by his arm and on several occasions has let out a startled cry in the belief that he was close enough to have knocked them over.

When he was in hospital he and several other patients with dementia were continuously picking at unseen things in the air. Having spoken to my husband I found out that it was the wooden flooring that was causing the issue. It seems that they perceived the wood grain pattern and knot holes in the flooring to be floating around in the air rather than firmly on the floor where those without dementia could see them.

Generally, when he is picking or pointing at invisible things I just assume it is something somewhere in the room which his brain interprets to be located elsewhere.

 

[nitram]

My wife had LDB.
She suffered from lack of visual perception.
I finally realised that this lack applied to visual hallucinations which agrees with what previous posters have said.

Regarding the wood grained flooring what infuriates me is that supposedly 'dementia friendly' premises have a refit and end up with a floor pattern to guide people to reception/help desk, to a PWD this abrupt change can look like a step up/step down/low wall and they just freeze or try to walk round it.
I doubt if many unaffected people follow the pattern, it's only there because the architect/interior designer thought it would look nice.

 

[LadyA]

So, it's basically a depth perception problem- which is very common in dementia? When I was training in Dementia Care years ago, we were told that for anywhere used by pwd, floors should be plain with no hint of pattern or texture.
Also, as an aside one day, our tutor mentioned one day that lillies shouldn't be kept in vases etc in nursing homes, or rooms at home, because their strong scent is often disturbing to pwd.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Talking Point mobile app

 

[nitram]

OT to the thread title but maybe of info to some.

Blue Badge Application
Q Can you walk x meters without assistance?
A Yes, unless the pavement changes pattern/colour <remember town planners/architects like doing this>
Reply - not eligible

A letter from a consultant psychiatrist solved it for me.
I then took up the problem with the DFT (Department For Transport) with the support of the local DDA (Dementia Action Alliance) without much local success.

Enquiries have shown that LAs have varying interpretations of the guidance.

 

[Careforme]

I am now starting to wonder Which I did strangely the other day think.... could Mum think objects are much closer to her than she sees.

When I am next to her she literally jumps like I am right in her face which when infact I am not. I have noticed this a lot over last while. Infact I have noticed mum being a lot more frightened with noises. I put the brakes back on mums bed at CH Today and she just jumped out her shirt. It was a loud click but I am thinking she is hearing things so much louder within her head.

Mum woke from sleep this afternoon and went straight into like seizure activity mode. It's just frightening and have seen mum take seizures before but nothing like the facial expressions she has been doing recently whilst having jerk movements.

At one point her face kind of like froze and she looked so sad like she wanted to burst into tears. I have never seen her as bad as this.


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point