Capgras syndrome

[SouWester]

My OH has had Alzheimer's for about 11 years but has only recently developed what I learned yesterday is Capgras Syndrome. I relate to all the postings here and feel totally unsuited and unable to deal with it. We have had our first ride home at midnight in a police car after she was determined to 'go home' one night. She left our house and went up the High St and I dialled 999 as soon as she left and followed her talking to the police and guiding them in all the time. She stopped at a bus stop and they picked us up and took us home, came in and took down all the details but of course she remembers nothing of this and says I am lying. I got a 'Google Assistant' and if you ask it who you are it tells you. Once or twice this worked in convincing her but now it doesn't work so often. This week we had the reverse as she tried to kick me out of the house when I came out of the shower. Kept telling me that my home was not far away. Eventually I talked her into letting me sleep downstairs. I have read all about agreeing rather than arguing with them but personally find it nearly impossible to do. Whilst writing this post the Elderly Mental Health Team rang and said they are discharging my OH back to our GP. One thing they did recommend was a YouTube series of talks, I do quite like this one because it has a 'three stage' model of Dementia progress which the medical teams seem to like and a 'seven stage' one which carers (including me) seem to find more useful:-
https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/s...=e7e9a79a9498d145d7763dc19f3458fe&action=view

 

[Shedrech]

hi @SouWester
you're having a challenging time, I hope you have some support to take some of the strain
you did well to get the police to help and I'm glad you both got home safely
maybe have a chat with the GP to let them know how things are right now- maybe some meds might help your OH

 

[SouWester]

Thanks for setting up this thread, I am sure it will become relevant to many members at some point of time. Having been dropped by the Elderly Mental Health team I am struggling to find any useful guidance. The backdrop to this is that I was once paired up with someone whose wife was ahead (in terms of stages) than my OH. She had reached the 'Capgras' stage and inside two years had died. I have no idea if that is typical or not and as I was rather forcefully reminded by the EMH team that I am financially responsible for the care of my OH, I don't know how to plan for the future. On the subject of meds we have tried everything but there have been unacceptable side effects for every one and my OH has been on nothing for some time now.

 

[Shedrech]

hi @SouWester
I totally get that you want to plan for the future as far as possible
it's not, though, my understanding that YOU are financially responsible for your OH's care - any care fees should be paid from only your OH's finances ie income, savings and assets plus half of any shared savings/assets, NOT taking into account the value of your home which is disregarded as long as you both or you yourself live in it
here's a link to the main AS site's pages on paying for care
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/legal-financial/who-pays-care
once your Local Authority Adult Services have conducted an assessment of your OH's care needs, a financial assessment should take place - if her income/savings are at a certain level, she will be self-funding, but if her finances are low, the LA will begin to contribute towards care fees
your own finances are yours and are not part of the financial assessment - indeed, I would say be careful of spending your savings as you need to look to your own future, which isn't selfish, it's being prudent

this may be of interest
https://parkinsonsdisease.net/clinical/capgras-syndrome/

 

[SouWester]

Thanks for the response, yes I had not written clearly about the difference between my and my OH's finances and of course your point is correct.
The PD article is interesting as I had not heard about it in that context either. I think it rather confirms that this is a stage that does not improve along the way. I had wondered if it faded as time passed but I guess not.
The aggression is a point I had been concerned about as my OH would never be aggressive to anyone, but when she wanted me to leave the house I was starting to be worried.

 

[SouWester]

Since I last posted it has been the strangest of times. You may think it odd but once I had discovered the notes on Capgras I shared them with my OH. We both have some experience of medical matters, her more than me, and I have always been open and honest with her. The results were remarkable, it was as if her mind had subconsciously accepted the info and we did not have any re-occurance for nearly three weeks. Yesterday evening it did come back, she did not know who I was and wanted to go 'home'. Again her obsession with wanting to see her parents took over and she would not accept that her father died in 1984 and her mother in 2010. Death certificates etc were no use and she thought she might still have keys to their home but could not tell me where it was. In the end she stayed home and went to bed.
This morning I tried to review yesterday with her and she did not remember any of it (as usual) but suddenly said that she thought her parents may still be alive.
It is like one of those films where someone wakes up from a nightmare and then realises that the nightmare is real and still continuing.