I have been caring for my MIL for 4 years now. She has severe sub-cortical vascular dementia. I knew her when I was in highschool, and she was very spacey (forgetful, disorganized, and always confused). She was in her 40's then. She didn't get diagnosed until she was 69 though as she always had people caring for her. All of her kids knew she wasn't right, but didn't know it could be dementia. Anyways, fast forward to today. She is 73, and in the severe stages. Her daughter is in her 50's and is just as bad as she was. She is going to ask her Dr. for cognitive testing. My husband is 44 now, and has been having issues as well.
Making things more difficult is the high prevalence of anxiety in their family. They all have anxiety, which can mimic symptoms of dementia.
So my husband has been really irritable, foggy headed, and asking for help a lot more in the past 2 or so years. He spaces out of our conversations, and has no idea I am talking a lot of the time. He can only focus on one thing at a time. He also doesn't feel he can do anything on his own. He wants me to attend all of his appointments because he won't remember what the Dr. says. (I can't because I am home caring for his mom). He gets lost driving, even with google giving him directions. Even driving home from work he will pass his turns and just not be focused. His mind wanders a lot. I have to keep track of all appointments, get him up for work. He relies on me to help him way more than he should. He is now pointing out every time he can not find the correct word to use in a sentence. He is convinced he has dementia like his mom.
I don't know if it is dementia, or anxiety, or what. He is treated for his anxiety and it has markedly improved over the last several years, with the exception of the above statements. So I told him to talk to his Dr. He did last year. The Dr. blew him off. This year though, the Dr. sent him to a specialist. The Dr. gave him a short memory test. My husband said he did fine with the clock, and the drawings etc. The part he failed was remembering the 3-5 words the dr told him to remember. The Dr. gave him a lab test for blood work, and also an MRI was scheduled for today.
My husband fasted, and left to go to get his lab work. He got lost, and frustrated and called yelling at me. I had to verbally instruct him to the lab. He hung up when he could see it, but still got in the wrong lane and was forced to turn another direction. He became angry and called me back. Unable to handle this minor set back. I couldn't help but be annoyed that he just didn't go around the block. How is this such a big deal to him...
So we are not sure if he has dementia. We know he has anxiety and could possibly have both. Lord help me. I am raising 5 kids, and taking care of his Mom already. Something has to give....
That is my frustration, but what is it like when you have early onset alzheimers? Are the behaviors I am listing something similar to early onset? I know something isn't right and I just want anwers. I am hoping it's not dementia, as I know there will be no relief to the anxiety, frustrations and angry outbursts. UHG!
Making things more difficult is the high prevalence of anxiety in their family. They all have anxiety, which can mimic symptoms of dementia.
So my husband has been really irritable, foggy headed, and asking for help a lot more in the past 2 or so years. He spaces out of our conversations, and has no idea I am talking a lot of the time. He can only focus on one thing at a time. He also doesn't feel he can do anything on his own. He wants me to attend all of his appointments because he won't remember what the Dr. says. (I can't because I am home caring for his mom). He gets lost driving, even with google giving him directions. Even driving home from work he will pass his turns and just not be focused. His mind wanders a lot. I have to keep track of all appointments, get him up for work. He relies on me to help him way more than he should. He is now pointing out every time he can not find the correct word to use in a sentence. He is convinced he has dementia like his mom.
I don't know if it is dementia, or anxiety, or what. He is treated for his anxiety and it has markedly improved over the last several years, with the exception of the above statements. So I told him to talk to his Dr. He did last year. The Dr. blew him off. This year though, the Dr. sent him to a specialist. The Dr. gave him a short memory test. My husband said he did fine with the clock, and the drawings etc. The part he failed was remembering the 3-5 words the dr told him to remember. The Dr. gave him a lab test for blood work, and also an MRI was scheduled for today.
My husband fasted, and left to go to get his lab work. He got lost, and frustrated and called yelling at me. I had to verbally instruct him to the lab. He hung up when he could see it, but still got in the wrong lane and was forced to turn another direction. He became angry and called me back. Unable to handle this minor set back. I couldn't help but be annoyed that he just didn't go around the block. How is this such a big deal to him...
So we are not sure if he has dementia. We know he has anxiety and could possibly have both. Lord help me. I am raising 5 kids, and taking care of his Mom already. Something has to give....
That is my frustration, but what is it like when you have early onset alzheimers? Are the behaviors I am listing something similar to early onset? I know something isn't right and I just want anwers. I am hoping it's not dementia, as I know there will be no relief to the anxiety, frustrations and angry outbursts. UHG!
