Wandering

[Lotti]

Hi everyone,

I am new to posting on TP but have been reading for a while now. Forgive me if this question has been asked before but:-

I read that the wandering (outside) and 'wanting to go home' does not last, have any of you had any experiences of this and is there a rough guide as to how long it is expected. I know it varies from person to person.

Thanks
Lotti

 

[Grannie G]

Dear Lotti,

From personal experience, all I can say is I hope it doesn`t last much longer.

I have only been keeping a detailed diary since 2005, and it has been happening since then and probably before.

But we moved 5 years ago, when my husband was probably 3 years into Alzheimers without our realizing, and his `going home` is also linked to the move.

There are many other carers on TP who are also exoeriencing it, but I`ve no idea how long it`s been happening with any of them. Perhaps some of them will tell you their experiences.

It`s a very upsetting happening and you have my deepest sympathy.

Take care xx

 

[Margarita]

My mother even with medication would wonder outside the door if looking for me if I was not around she knock on every one door to see if I am they up till last year and mum was on medication for AZ .

so its was 3 years from being told she had AZ in 03, it only started to stop because her mobility got worse , I have to make sure someone sit with mum if I pop out , other wise if I go to the shop leaving her alone she open front door , she does not wonder out into street , because she scared she fall medication given her the awareness , but have to be careful because she does not close door behind her when she go back in , leaving front door open even with someone siting with her she up down opening front door wondering when I am getting back .

she won't settle until I get back

 

[Lotti]

Thank you Grannie G and Margarita for your replies.

Mum is also on medication but that doesn't stop the wandering. I was called out tonight/last night at 9.00 by dad, (he couldn't go after her as his hand is swollen with arthritis and he cannot walk fast because of his heart) but luckily she had got wherever she thought she was going and realised she didn't want to be there so went back home. What a worry. I am due to go away on holiday next week and worry what will happen if it happens then. We have a sw coming on Tuesday so hopefully they may help.

Regards
Lotti

 

[sparkle]

Hi Lotti

My Mum had terrible problems with wandering, being picked up by the police a couple of times as she got out without Dad realising. He had to resort to locking her in, much to his shock, but then one day she even climbed out of the bedroom window (they live in a bungalow, luckily!) - so he even had new windows put in.
When she was 'off on a wander' she could outwalk my Dad, whos a strong walker, almost going into automatic pilot, whic considering she's had 2 hip replacements and suffered hip pain anyway is amazing. I would say I think she was wandering for about 3 yrs badly.

The going home part - similar to Grannie Gs post, my parents moved before she was diagnosed - but had obvious symptoms. But her desire was to go home to her childhood home, not her previous house. This lasted as well for a few years, and caused many problems and heartache for Dad. About 5pm each day she'd get her coat on, ready to leave.

In a similar way she'd also hear things - children (when there were none) or she'd close the doors and tell us all to be quiet because the kids were in bed. Sometimes we'd correct her, and sometimes we'd go along with it... as it seemed to add to her agitation if she thought she was wrong.

Kathy

 

[Grannie G]

. But her desire was to go home to her childhood home, not her previous house. Kathy

My husband is confusing our previous house with his childhood home. He thinks they are one and the same.

This is because he lived longer in the area where our previous house was, than he did in his childhood home.

 

[barraf]

Hello Lotti

Margaret wandered for quite a few years starting with coming out of public toilets and invairiably setting off in the wrong direction and continueing to walk unless stopped. Then progressing to leaving the house and wandering until someone brought her back to just setting off from anywhere she was with no apparent destination.

It is very distressing for the carer and can be dangerous to the sufferer if not stopped.

Evenually I had to keep the doors locked and the keys in my pocket, and she would stand at the door trying the handle for ages at a time.
This state of affairs contuinued for at least 3 years and I think only stopped because she became too imobile to walk unassisted.

Sorry to sound so dismal but the only way I found was continual vigilance and securing the exits, as I was extremely opposed to medication because it turned her into a zombie, but I suppose in some circumstances it might be the only way.

Cheers Frank

 

[Lotti]

Thank you all for your replies, it looks like we are in for a couple more years yet then? only told dad it is a phase, I don't think he would cope if I told him the truth.

Regards
Lotti

 

[christine_batch]

When Peter was first diagnoise 4 years ago, a very dear friend of ours in her 70s was telling me about her Mother who had Alzheimer and her Mother lived with her. The Mother use to wander off almost on a daily basis. One day she really needed a break and decided to go to town by bus. She well and truely made house safe, locking windows, doors, so she could go by bus to town. My friend was only gone for a couple of hours and on her way back, she was looking out of the window and saw this naked woman slowly walking along the road. In complete shock. she realised it was her Mother. Then she added but Christine I locked the door before I came out. With that I could not stop laughing. I apologised to her and she said that was years after she still though of it and laughed. Christine

 

[Margarita]

Margaret wandered for quite a few years starting with coming out of public toilets and invairiably setting off in the wrong direction and continueing to walk unless stopped

reminds me of when my mother done that at airport in the departure lounge left her siting in wheelchair as I went to to a shop come back and she was gone, but wheelchair still they [ just before being told she had AZ ] found her with security woman.

it looks like we are in for a couple more years yet then?

yes it does hope SS can help with technical assessment as in a tracker .

they is a system that a woman invented for children , that can be hidden in pockets that can track them on computer , if they get lost .

its cost about 80 pounds , read it in the papers . If they had it in the days my mother went wondering I would of got one for my mother .

just found this link , says its for the elderly also http://www.bluetreeservices.co.uk/careUK.php4

not the one I read about but hope it some help in what they can offer with wondering .

 

[christine_batch]

Thank you all for your replies, it looks like we are in for a couple more years yet then? only told dad it is a phase, I don't think he would cope if I told him the truth.

Regards
Lotti

They say ignorance is bliss !!!!

They seem very happy between themselves so why is it the loved ones carry on worrying ?
Christine

 

[Margarita]

Lotti (he couldn't go after her as his hand is swollen with arthritis and he cannot walk fast because of his heart)

christine, how I perceive it is that lotti dad has a bad heart , the stress of walking fast worrying about his wife , it could give him a heart attack . [ sorry to say that Lotti] , but we must be realistic when caring for someone with AZ and looking after are own heath

as my father also had a bad heart and that happen to him, blood pursuer went up because mum was so demanding on him, that it gave him a heart attack that killed him . he never look after himself also with medication for blood purser , because he loved mum so much , that he had no time to care for himself

so asking for tracker that SS can fund , giving her father peace of mind less purser stress , looking after his own heath also

 

[Gill W]

Christine,

"Why is it the loved ones carry on worrying?" is a very good question that I would love to have answered.

My mam has worried herself sick over my Gran in the last few years, with every aspect of deterioration came another pile of woes.

Gran is now in a Care Home near me, which is what we were all waiting and hoping for, and now mam's worrying that she might be badly thought of if she doesn't go see Gran for one day!


We no longer have to worry about whether Gran has gone walkabout, whether she's eaten, taken her meds, had a bath, etc etc, and you'd imagine that the pressure is lifted. Nooooooo..........poor mam still finds things that worry her and imagines that Gran will feel like she's been dumped and forgotten if she doesn't go every day.

Lotti, every case of Alzheimers is different of course, but we found that once Gran started going on the wander, it just got worse, (sorry, probably not what you want to hear.). She started off late at night, then progressed to early evening, til eventually she was gone one morning before the carer arrived at 8.00a.m. Some silly person from SS did say once that her wandering may be a one off, but in our experience it went from bad to worse. She'd have been away in the hospital too if the door hadn't been a secure one with a press-to-release door lock that she wouldn't have known how to operate. She was wandering the wards all night according to her other dorm-mates, and would wake people touching them, talking to them and so on.

We got an alarm system installed by SS that helped in the end, in that it alerted someone back at base and they would send a warden p.d.q to go find her. They weren't happy for us to lock Gran in, and yet we couldn't fathom a way to stop her wandering I'm afraid.

Gill
xx

 

[linjean]

hi folks. about the wandering and how long it lasts : two years ago when my then 89 year old mother was living with me in my house full of people, she was constantly on the go. and speedy. and cross when deterred and so obsessive and repetitive and relentless, even thru deep snow in winter. sigh.

so now my mom is 91 has spent a year in a personal care facility where she was dosed frequently with a 'chemical restraint' that has most certainly slowed her down. turned her into a zombie. I have had my mom back in my now quiet empty home for a week now and she has had none of the chemical restraint in that time. the wandering has eased. stopped even maybe.

for what that's worth.
I think that statement that keeps appearing - if you've seen one person with alzheimer's you've seen one person with alzheimer's- is very true.
- linda