Hello,
I'm 29 and my mum (mid-60s)has started displaying some signs of dementia. Her mum had Alzheimer's. Mum's being very brave, and has taken herself to the GP (very supportive) on a number of occasions to talk about her memory. She's talking about it openly with myself, my brother and to a certain extend my dad, as well as our partners etc.
I'm no expert, but it seems it's her short-term memory that's changing - not remembering what she's just said, repeating herself a lot, and getting stressed and bogged down with 'organisational' tasks like account keeping (I have to say the same would probably apply to me!).
This isn't so bad, but her temper is shorter and she has lashed out verbally at me and my dad a few times with no provocation, imagining she has been challenged to talked down to, which hasn't been the case. While I'm trying to understand and adapt to these changes, of course it's distressing when these things happen.
Her sleep is also suffering; often she wakes at 4am, and only gets 4 or 5 hours sleep a night, which of course makes these symptoms worse and isn't great for her physically.
Myself and my brother live a couple of hours away from her and dad. I'd love to get any suggestions or ideas about dealing with these behaviours, anything about sleep, and also ideas about activities, classes etc that have been positive for other people - mum's very active and fit physically. I'd love her to be more relaxed and find a routine and lots of things to do that keeps her active mentally, physically, creatively and socially.
Thanks!
I'm 29 and my mum (mid-60s)has started displaying some signs of dementia. Her mum had Alzheimer's. Mum's being very brave, and has taken herself to the GP (very supportive) on a number of occasions to talk about her memory. She's talking about it openly with myself, my brother and to a certain extend my dad, as well as our partners etc.
I'm no expert, but it seems it's her short-term memory that's changing - not remembering what she's just said, repeating herself a lot, and getting stressed and bogged down with 'organisational' tasks like account keeping (I have to say the same would probably apply to me!).
This isn't so bad, but her temper is shorter and she has lashed out verbally at me and my dad a few times with no provocation, imagining she has been challenged to talked down to, which hasn't been the case. While I'm trying to understand and adapt to these changes, of course it's distressing when these things happen.
Her sleep is also suffering; often she wakes at 4am, and only gets 4 or 5 hours sleep a night, which of course makes these symptoms worse and isn't great for her physically.
Myself and my brother live a couple of hours away from her and dad. I'd love to get any suggestions or ideas about dealing with these behaviours, anything about sleep, and also ideas about activities, classes etc that have been positive for other people - mum's very active and fit physically. I'd love her to be more relaxed and find a routine and lots of things to do that keeps her active mentally, physically, creatively and socially.
Thanks!