Hi, I'm new here, have been reading some posts already. My 84 year old husband was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia 8 weeks ago, prob had symptoms for a year or more. His Dementia seems to have been caused by atherosclerosis rather than strokes, is it still likely to progress in the same manner, i.e in steps. It seems to be getting worse by the week, especially since diagnosis. He is in a wheelchair anyway but was managing a few steps with his walker, now I struggle to transfer him from wheelchair to bed/recliner. He thinks he's going to fall even when he's reasonably balanced. He also varies greatly from day to day, some days being so sleepy that I find it hard to get him to eat & then the next day quite alert. I am keeping a rough note of how he is, but no pattern is appearing as yet!! The only good thing is that I am a lot younger than my husband so can look after him ok at the moment. He also has quite bad COPD, heart failure, AF, has had several PEs as well as very limited mobility now. I know everyone is different in how they are affected by this disease but would be grateful for any information from others caring for similar carees. Thank you for reading
How will Vascular Dementia Progress?
- Thread starter chippiebites
- Start date
hello @chippiebites
a warm welcome to TP
there's no specific pattern ot progression with dementia, though it can be the case that vascular dementia has dips then a plareau then a dip and so on - it's often said here that if you've seen one person with dementia, you've seen one person ....
with my dad my mantra is expect the unexpected
here's a link to the main AS site's info on vascular dementia, to give you some info
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/search?keywords=vascular+dementia&Search=
I appreciate that you want to care for your husband yourself as much as possible - you are in for a long haul most probably, so I do suggest you arrange some support as soon as you can, contact your Local Authority Adult Services for an assessment of his care needs and for a carer's assessment for yourself, you both have a right to these
and keep posting here with snything that's on your mind
a warm welcome to TP
there's no specific pattern ot progression with dementia, though it can be the case that vascular dementia has dips then a plareau then a dip and so on - it's often said here that if you've seen one person with dementia, you've seen one person ....
with my dad my mantra is expect the unexpected
here's a link to the main AS site's info on vascular dementia, to give you some info
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/search?keywords=vascular+dementia&Search=
I appreciate that you want to care for your husband yourself as much as possible - you are in for a long haul most probably, so I do suggest you arrange some support as soon as you can, contact your Local Authority Adult Services for an assessment of his care needs and for a carer's assessment for yourself, you both have a right to these
and keep posting here with snything that's on your mind
Hello @chippiebites,
I am brand new here. My heart breaks for you. My father passed away from Alzheimer's Disease in April of 2015. My mom took care of him up until 3 months before he passed away. She had vascular dementia and we all knew there were issues, but she managed pretty well until a few months after he passed. I had to put her in assisted living (for about 4 months) then she progressed so quickly that I had to move her to a locked facility (about 9 months) and now she is in a nursing home. When I visit her now, she knows me and even says partially complete sentences. She is on hospice (something to consider earlier rather than later). The hospice nurses check her each week and provide medications to control her arthritis pain. This had made a HUGE difference in her demeanor. She is on methadone, just .25 mg. Its a very small amount. HUGE difference. I didn't realize that they can't express pain like they did before. Addressing this pain for her has awakened her, made her alert and so very compassionate again.
I wish you love and patience. It's not something you can do on your own. Have him assessed by Hospice, they can help immensely.
I am brand new here. My heart breaks for you. My father passed away from Alzheimer's Disease in April of 2015. My mom took care of him up until 3 months before he passed away. She had vascular dementia and we all knew there were issues, but she managed pretty well until a few months after he passed. I had to put her in assisted living (for about 4 months) then she progressed so quickly that I had to move her to a locked facility (about 9 months) and now she is in a nursing home. When I visit her now, she knows me and even says partially complete sentences. She is on hospice (something to consider earlier rather than later). The hospice nurses check her each week and provide medications to control her arthritis pain. This had made a HUGE difference in her demeanor. She is on methadone, just .25 mg. Its a very small amount. HUGE difference. I didn't realize that they can't express pain like they did before. Addressing this pain for her has awakened her, made her alert and so very compassionate again.
I wish you love and patience. It's not something you can do on your own. Have him assessed by Hospice, they can help immensely.
Hello Sacconcierge, Thank you for your reply. My husband is already under hospice/palliative care teams, has been since about March this year. He has COPD & heart failure & was considered to be end of life! At the time I thought that was just odd because although he was more or less wheelchair bound, he is over 14 stone & does not look frail at all. Since the Vascular Dementia diagnosis however he has gone downhill quickly. I agree the hospice team are great, they have helped with pain relief & come out quite often to see us. They also phone to check on progress & it is reassuring to have someone to talk to about my husband.
I am curious if anyone could tell me their experience as their loved one moved from the middle stage to the last stage. My mother is often confused. She refers to things as if you should know what she’s talking about. She has urinated in her recliner twice this week. Something she had done once in the last eight months. She has marathon sundowning session. Talking for six to seven hour. Repeating names or asking the time every four minutes. She has tried to bite me three times. My mother has progressed to this stage over the last year. As I understand that is quite fast so I am concerned that she will move into the last stage at the same speed and I am unsure what to look for. I am confused as to how a person moves from this stage to the final stage. It hard to imagine anything other than this at the moment but a year ago I would never have imagined this.
Hi Gremlinstail
It's all hard to imagine and deal with. I never thought my mother who was a lively vibrant person would turn into the shell of a human being she became. All on here will tell you that each person is different,. My mum declined quite rapidly and from diagnosis to the end was only a couple of years though in hindsight it was obvious the dementia was there way before diagnosis. ultimately in my mums case she basically shut down her brain no longer telling her she needed food or water and 9 days later she passed away. It is difficult to go through and still hard to cope with 3 years on but i know she would have hated being the way she was. Take each day as it comes and remember all the good times you have had and especially the ones you still will have occasionally. You will know when the end is coming as no doubt the doctor or care staff if she is in a home will mention her end of life care which will hit you like a steam train !! sorry if this all sounds bleak but better to be straight with you than sugar coat what is a very bitter pill. Above all make sure you care for yourself as well as your mum xx
Hello Gremlinstail, I think as Shedrech said "you've seen one person with dementia, you've seen one person" I have no idea, there is no normal progression, I am keeping a written diary, I thought I might find a pattern to my husband's good/bad days. How idiotic was that? I thought Vascular Dementia usually was a stepped decline with plateaus. We are on a slope going quite fast. I'm sorry this is no use to you at all.
I do wish you all the best & hope you get some better advice/ information. This is a great forum just because you now know there are many people dealing with the same horrible illness as you are.
I do wish you all the best & hope you get some better advice/ information. This is a great forum just because you now know there are many people dealing with the same horrible illness as you are.
With my mum's vascular dementia, you'd get one problem, think you'd found a workaround for it, and then the next month something else will have declined.As soon as you felt on top of it something else became an issue. It seemed like one thing after another with no plateau, just one day she could no longer do this, one day you noticed she was no longer able to do that.
Dad bought things to make it easier for her that rarely got used because the progression was so quick. So a wheelchair was used a handful of times, a twist around car seat for about six months, a reclining massage chair for a year and then she was bed-bound (bearing in mind she wasn't very mobile to start with).
But other people I knew with vascular problems remained stable for a long time.
Dad bought things to make it easier for her that rarely got used because the progression was so quick. So a wheelchair was used a handful of times, a twist around car seat for about six months, a reclining massage chair for a year and then she was bed-bound (bearing in mind she wasn't very mobile to start with).
But other people I knew with vascular problems remained stable for a long time.
I've been wondering about the progression of dementia too.
Following a fall at 86 some brief home care package and a stint in rehab residential I got my father placed at a very nice private nursing home in a nearby town. When he was in rehab the local social services team arranged for a dementia assessment and it came back as early stage vascular dementia
He has now been in his residential nursing home for over a year and has actually recovered a lot of his mobility now moving about with a walker. The home has done well for him.
The nurse says he can hold a good conversation with her and knows who she is, but when I visited a couple of days ago he looked at me blankly and said 'who are you' and took 30 seconds to recognise me, his son
He is also getting more paranoid, he is starting to display some unwarranted anxiety over money (I have PoA) and moaning to the nurse about me. Needless to say this is a bit of a kick in the gut after running around after him for the 5 years following my mother/his wife passing away. Every time I reassure him about anything, the next day he is right back on it again.
It is difficult to see the dementia progressing, my father has always been 'difficult' and so is this just his personality coming out more, or a result of dementia?
I sometimes wonder if in my circumstances it is more a personality issue than dementia.
It is certainly starting to take it's toll on me as a single parent with full time job, I am used to a lack of gratitude from him (all my life...) but he seems to be stepping it up recently.
Following a fall at 86 some brief home care package and a stint in rehab residential I got my father placed at a very nice private nursing home in a nearby town. When he was in rehab the local social services team arranged for a dementia assessment and it came back as early stage vascular dementia
He has now been in his residential nursing home for over a year and has actually recovered a lot of his mobility now moving about with a walker. The home has done well for him.
The nurse says he can hold a good conversation with her and knows who she is, but when I visited a couple of days ago he looked at me blankly and said 'who are you' and took 30 seconds to recognise me, his son
He is also getting more paranoid, he is starting to display some unwarranted anxiety over money (I have PoA) and moaning to the nurse about me. Needless to say this is a bit of a kick in the gut after running around after him for the 5 years following my mother/his wife passing away. Every time I reassure him about anything, the next day he is right back on it again.
It is difficult to see the dementia progressing, my father has always been 'difficult' and so is this just his personality coming out more, or a result of dementia?
I sometimes wonder if in my circumstances it is more a personality issue than dementia.
It is certainly starting to take it's toll on me as a single parent with full time job, I am used to a lack of gratitude from him (all my life...) but he seems to be stepping it up recently.
Hello @james9876, welcome to the forum, which I hope you will find a friendly and supportive place.
Whilst it’s true that dementia can make existing character traits worse it can also bring about behaviors that are purely down to the condition. I have found it’s best not to take things personally as to do so never causes any good.
I’m glad that things have generally improved and hope that now that you have found us you will continue to post.
Whilst it’s true that dementia can make existing character traits worse it can also bring about behaviors that are purely down to the condition. I have found it’s best not to take things personally as to do so never causes any good.
I’m glad that things have generally improved and hope that now that you have found us you will continue to post.
This sounds like dementia - the paranoia, nastiness and particularly the worry about money. This is exactly what mum was like in middle stages.
Thanks
Yes, it would be easier if there was some consistency but every phone call or visit is a lottery as to whether it will be another 'moment' or not, more often the call leaves me down.
I try not to take it personally, but unfortunately he seems to reach out to everyone that visits him making out I am not doing enough or something, so then you have to deal with their 'judgement' too, he has always had a poor opinion of others and a narcissist opinion of himself.
Sometimes I just feel like turning my phone off for a day to get some space, but then you have the usual 'what if'...
Yes, it would be easier if there was some consistency but every phone call or visit is a lottery as to whether it will be another 'moment' or not, more often the call leaves me down.
I try not to take it personally, but unfortunately he seems to reach out to everyone that visits him making out I am not doing enough or something, so then you have to deal with their 'judgement' too, he has always had a poor opinion of others and a narcissist opinion of himself.
Sometimes I just feel like turning my phone off for a day to get some space, but then you have the usual 'what if'...
My Husband seems to be nicer with Vascular Dementia than he was before, has anyone experienced that with their PWD? Also in 3 months since diagnosis he has gone downhill constantly, weekly even. In June He could walk a few steps with his frame & transfer quite easily from wheelchair to bed etc, now I have to use his hoist for all transfers, feed him his meals (although He can eat finger food ok, just not use cutlery) apart from mealtimes He is asleep. Just as you get used to some change something else goes wrong, finding it hard to keep up with it all
From what I have read on the forum it is true that people can get more placid as they decline physically. It’s an unfortunate truth that as a person moves through the stages of this progressive condition one challenge gets replaced by another.
The members here have experience from all stages so do keep posting as and when you require.
The members here have experience from all stages so do keep posting as and when you require.
Thank you for your reply. My Husband's passiveness makes life easier for me at the moment, but I miss his grumpiness in a way, because that was part of his character & what i've known for 38 years.
Not vascular, but alzheimers. My OH was very very loving and appreciative in the first year or so following diagnosis. He was his old self again, like when we were students. He lost ability to use cutlery very quickly. so good to hear from you. Kindred.
My husband has vascular dementia and is in a care home. I turn my mobile off every night and then on again when I wake in the morning. The staff know if they need to contact me at night, to use the land line. This morning I woke to 24 missed calls. My husband had started calling me soon after five!
A bitter pill I would gladly swallow to know what’s to come.
Thank you for answering.
