Mum has early dementia. Yes, I've told her as much, she isn't impressed! She jokes that at least she still knows who I am! It mainly exhibits itself as very bad memory, and asking the same questions. I usually answer them, but know she won't retain the info. After a day with her, I can be mentally exhausted - and yet I know she just has early symptoms - it could get worse. She's kind of managing on her own in a sheltered flat, with a carer going in for 30 mins each day (I live 60 miles away and have a full time job). She has better days than others. But how quickly might it get worse? Does it very much depend on the individual?
General help and advice appreciated on what to expect
- Thread starter EPS
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She could stay at a similar but slowly worsening level for years and years, it depends on what physical cause underlies the dementia. MIL got very slowly worse after her diagnosis of vascular dementia. It took about 5 years before family members needed to give her a lot of support and another year after that before she was regularly doing things that were dangerous.
Other people find that the decline is much more rapid. Symptoms and problems also vary. Some people have incontinence early on, or hallucinations. MIL got by on "it's just my age you know, I've got a bad memory" for a long time. Her abilities to reason and to be oriented to time, day and place have now gone, but were still with her for several years.
She can still do crosswords, with a bit of help, but she cannot write a sentence any more. Her speech is frequently garbled and a mish mash of bits of sentences and thoughts all stitched together with the right intonation. Then you'll have a couple of hours where she is lucid and able to crack a very sharp joke at someone's expense. My advice is to read up on things but to use other people's experiences as a very general guide, taking from them what is useful to you at any one time. There is a well known saying
"If you've seen one person with dementia, you've seen one person with dementia."
Other people find that the decline is much more rapid. Symptoms and problems also vary. Some people have incontinence early on, or hallucinations. MIL got by on "it's just my age you know, I've got a bad memory" for a long time. Her abilities to reason and to be oriented to time, day and place have now gone, but were still with her for several years.
She can still do crosswords, with a bit of help, but she cannot write a sentence any more. Her speech is frequently garbled and a mish mash of bits of sentences and thoughts all stitched together with the right intonation. Then you'll have a couple of hours where she is lucid and able to crack a very sharp joke at someone's expense. My advice is to read up on things but to use other people's experiences as a very general guide, taking from them what is useful to you at any one time. There is a well known saying
"If you've seen one person with dementia, you've seen one person with dementia."
Love this post Katrine. My sister`s father in law was fairly slowly getting worse at home and his wife was telling the authorities she is ok. One fine day recently the GP called police as he tried to throttle his wife. Now on section, care home has been found too.
Have I just been flamed?
What's up Katrine? What does "just been flamed" mean to you?
I hope you don't feel flamed - what ever it means, sorry I don't know that saying.
It's forum-speak for 'insulted'. Please don't worry 2jays, I just meant I couldn't understand the comment about my post when taken straight, so I assumed it had been written with tongue in cheek as if my post was a bit naive, and was checking that out with the poster.
Sorry about your mum's early dementia EPS. The sad fact is that dementia always gets worse, but everyone is different. From what I understand, the type of dementia can determine how rapidly the decline will be. Alzheimer's typically causes a slower decline than vascular I believe. That's it in basic terms, but there are clever people on here who will be able to give you more advice.
Thanks all
Thanks all, I'm still 'new' to this, so all thoughts and feedback as to what I might or could expect are welcome. Fortunately Mum was always such an easy going sort of person, and very trusting, so I think (hope) that that will continue to shine through and ease the situation for me. Had my dear old Dad succumbed to this illness, it would've been a very different kettle of fish!
Thanks all, I'm still 'new' to this, so all thoughts and feedback as to what I might or could expect are welcome. Fortunately Mum was always such an easy going sort of person, and very trusting, so I think (hope) that that will continue to shine through and ease the situation for me. Had my dear old Dad succumbed to this illness, it would've been a very different kettle of fish!
I thought your post was very informative and well written.
I also understood the one below you to mean they agreed with you and then gave an example of what happened to them.
That is how I read the posts.
The written word can give so much help, but it can also be misunderstood can't it xxxxx
I hope the OP gets the support they need. Xxxx
Actually it was an excellent post. I will never use sarcasm.Thank you, I'm pleased to hear that I neither gave nor received offence.