Hi everyone and a slighly belated Happy New Year to all
As per usual I'm strugging to understand things with my Dad and feel I'm getting to the end of my current tether.
Dad's dementia seems to be getting increasingly worse, he took a 'turn' and was very distressed by hallucinations a couple of weeks before Christmas and a visit to the NHS drop in centre (his doctor wouldn't come out immediately and said it would be at least a 10 hour wait if he did) resulted in the doc there saying it could be a UTI though Dad was totally unable to provide a sample, and gave a course of antibiotics anyway. He did warn me that it could also be his dementia moving on a stage.
We eventually got the course of antibiotics down him - Dad constantly forgets to take his tablets, and when reminded prefers to put them at the back of a drawer rather than in his mouth! - and he seemed to settle down until New Years Eve when he started to hallucinate quite badly again. He's now like this most days, doesn't know what time of day or what day it is, insists that every time he goes outside people are being aggressive to him and shouting at him, constantly hears things and can be quite aggressive towards me because he's obviously distressed about it all.
As he insists that no care worker ever darkens his door, I have no professional person to check on him and who I can ask if this is 'normal' and what action, if any, I need to take. I'm getting really frustrated because I just don't know how to handle all this and find that I then take it out on Dad. I feel sometimes that he would be safer and much better loked after in a care home (I work 30 hours a week) but there's no question that Dad will accept going into one. If I reduce my hours any more, I'll have to give up my job as I communute quite a distance and it wouldn't be cost effective for me, and jobs don't turn up on your doorstep the next day. Also, I discovered on collecting his latest prescription that his doctor has now reduced his dementia medication, possibly because Dad now has very low blood pressure and it's maybe having an effect on it. However, I'm not convinced that it was working anyway.
Can anyone give me any reassurance on his behaviour and how to cope with it? I'm starting to feel that because of my own frustrations with it all I'm making life very difficult for Dad instead of making his final years peaceful and happy.
AJay
As per usual I'm strugging to understand things with my Dad and feel I'm getting to the end of my current tether.
Dad's dementia seems to be getting increasingly worse, he took a 'turn' and was very distressed by hallucinations a couple of weeks before Christmas and a visit to the NHS drop in centre (his doctor wouldn't come out immediately and said it would be at least a 10 hour wait if he did) resulted in the doc there saying it could be a UTI though Dad was totally unable to provide a sample, and gave a course of antibiotics anyway. He did warn me that it could also be his dementia moving on a stage.
We eventually got the course of antibiotics down him - Dad constantly forgets to take his tablets, and when reminded prefers to put them at the back of a drawer rather than in his mouth! - and he seemed to settle down until New Years Eve when he started to hallucinate quite badly again. He's now like this most days, doesn't know what time of day or what day it is, insists that every time he goes outside people are being aggressive to him and shouting at him, constantly hears things and can be quite aggressive towards me because he's obviously distressed about it all.
As he insists that no care worker ever darkens his door, I have no professional person to check on him and who I can ask if this is 'normal' and what action, if any, I need to take. I'm getting really frustrated because I just don't know how to handle all this and find that I then take it out on Dad. I feel sometimes that he would be safer and much better loked after in a care home (I work 30 hours a week) but there's no question that Dad will accept going into one. If I reduce my hours any more, I'll have to give up my job as I communute quite a distance and it wouldn't be cost effective for me, and jobs don't turn up on your doorstep the next day. Also, I discovered on collecting his latest prescription that his doctor has now reduced his dementia medication, possibly because Dad now has very low blood pressure and it's maybe having an effect on it. However, I'm not convinced that it was working anyway.
Can anyone give me any reassurance on his behaviour and how to cope with it? I'm starting to feel that because of my own frustrations with it all I'm making life very difficult for Dad instead of making his final years peaceful and happy.
AJay