ailments and side effects

[Norman]

My wife seems to have many many complaints these days.
Sore feet,stiff neck,back ache etc etc.
Can these ailments be a part of AD or a cry for attention?
Can they be side effects of Aricept?
She has recently been checked by our (good) GP following feeling very giddy,he found no physical problems.
Norman

 

[susan]

Dear Norman
How do we know whether these things are real - my dad before his serious declne used to think that the GP gave him his hernia because he put him on medication for high blood pressure - nothing to do with heavy digging in the garden!
Dad was always in pain - yes i believe in his head he was but alot of it was his insecurity with what was happening to him - he just didn't realise that it was his memory - blamed everything else. This is my personal experience - maybe i am being pre judgemental?
This in security was very evident in the early days of AD that escalated as he got worse - initially we thought it was because he had retired not due to AD - looking back it makes you realise there is a pattern.
Don't know if this helps - but the brain is a complex thing and when the wires breakdown it creates some strange things.
Take care Sue

 

[susan]

Norman
addition oops - my dad was never on any medication as if you hadn't guessed he did not like GPs at all!! Sue

 

[storm]

hi norman, my mum is just the same i think she has complained about every part of her body, by the time ive sussed out which part hurts shes changed her mind and says its somewhere else. When she first started this i got really worried and was just about to phone the gp when i heard her having a good belly laugh at a film that had stated on tv she was fine and didnt mention the pain again i think the film distracted her. storm

 

[barraf]

Dear Norman

I have noticed no unusual complaints from Margaret apart from a cough which has persisted for about 3 months now. Been to see the GP twice and had an Xray of her chest which was clear The doctor thinks it could be a viral cough which apparently take a long time to clear.

If anything the reverse of complaints is the order of the day, she rarely complains about her health at all. In fact before the onset of AD she suffered from Asthma and was taking three different medicines for the condition.

When the AD developed she seemed to forget about the Asthma, she certainly forgot to take the medication. Now she suffers no effects from the Asthma and hasn't had an attack in the last 5 years.

She is certainly healthier physically than I am.

She has been taking Aricept for about four and a half years now.

Not much help to you I'm afraid.

Cheers Barraf

 

[Brucie]

It occurs to me that the combination of losing communication skills [speech etc], plus the signals from the body to the brain being lost or becoming scrambled, it may be that the person feels pain, but is unable to identify where the pain is, or to find the right words to specify the location.

When in doubt, I always trust what Jan 'says', even if I can't help, or confirm what she seems to be telling me. It is all too easy to reassure oneself that it is not real, to keep one's own peace of mind.

They don't call me "Worst Case Scenario Man" for nowt.

 

[Chesca]

Dear WCSM, As long as that's all they call you.

I think some sixth sense kicks in, developed over the many years by the intimate bond between two people, when you just 'know' if something is really physically wrong.

In the earlier and more lucid days, I used to think Mum's aches and pains were often attention seeking, at other times a coping mechanism as an excuse for her inability to cope with anything. She had ceased to be very active, spending most of her time sitting which accounted for the pain in her back, but despite many blood and other tests there were no findings for her other aches and pains. The GP did offer the opinion that it could be poor blood circulation through lack of exercise. Prior to AD she would have carried on regardless and we would have been none the wiser. But, if I remember correctly, all of this was prior to her being prescribed Aricept.

Chesca

 

[Sheila]

Dear Norm, it's a scary thing this one. When Mum was not too bad but on medication, though not Aricept. She continually said that she had pain and that her stomach was bloated. She had previously been treated for breast cancer. When the usual home remedies for constipation, wind, etc. failed to have any effect, I aproached her GP. He arranged for her to have a scan of the abdominal area. This was clear, and funnily the complaints of pain stopped about the same time. I never will know what it was about but it seems to be quite common to say something hurts but then to either forget or not be able to say where properly. As you say so often Norm, day by day. Love She. XX