Another weird day

Dunroamin

Registered User
May 5, 2019
418
0
UK
I attended the dental surgery recently and was left upset and confused for several days. Whilst there I did not know what was happening, could not understand what was being said (I acknowledge I lip read a lot normally) and generally felt totally discombobulated. On returning home I was apparently aimless and confused for a quite a while. This included (apparently) me adding washing sanitiser to a cup of tea instead of milk which I had previously put back in the fridge. I then slept for over 24 hours. My brain seemed to recover somewhat and on waking I felt more like me and able to more or less cope with everyday life again.

So basically out of my normal environment and routine I do not seem to cope. For someone who has always relished change and challenges this is an unwelcome (and inevitable) situation. I was also recently given n Autumn activity pack by a volunteer for people like myself and it brought home to me what the expectations of others are for someone with Alzheimers. Colouring packs, word search and so on. Very well meaning, but merely reinforcing my sense of increasing bereavement at what I am slowly losing. I can no longer understand scientific papers, read music, interpret graphs and other activities that I was more than capable of taking part in. My attention span is decreasing. I also have a great sense of guilt that my husband, with his failing vision, is coping with, and for the future. As a retired health professional I know more than most what is in store.

Apologies, just needed to offload I suppose. Who would have thought I completed a Marathon last month ?
 

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Cat27

Registered User
Feb 27, 2015
13,057
0
Merseyside
TP is the perfect place to unload @Dunroamin.
I’m sorry the dentist trip was so difficult for you. My dad always found things like that exhausting.
 

Just me

Registered User
Nov 17, 2013
502
0
I’m glad you offloaded @Dunroamin, hopefully it helped and it certainly gave me a little insight into how difficult everyday things can be for people with dementia.

I’ve got tinnitus and didn’t realise how much I relied on lip reading until we started wearing masks so I have a little idea of how it is for you.

I hope you will continue with your marathons.
 

Chaplin

Registered User
May 24, 2015
354
0
Bristol
I attended the dental surgery recently and was left upset and confused for several days. Whilst there I did not know what was happening, could not understand what was being said (I acknowledge I lip read a lot normally) and generally felt totally discombobulated. On returning home I was apparently aimless and confused for a quite a while. This included (apparently) me adding washing sanitiser to a cup of tea instead of milk which I had previously put back in the fridge. I then slept for over 24 hours. My brain seemed to recover somewhat and on waking I felt more like me and able to more or less cope with everyday life again.

So basically out of my normal environment and routine I do not seem to cope. For someone who has always relished change and challenges this is an unwelcome (and inevitable) situation. I was also recently given n Autumn activity pack by a volunteer for people like myself and it brought home to me what the expectations of others are for someone with Alzheimers. Colouring packs, word search and so on. Very well meaning, but merely reinforcing my sense of increasing bereavement at what I am slowly losing. I can no longer understand scientific papers, read music, interpret graphs and other activities that I was more than capable of taking part in. My attention span is decreasing. I also have a great sense of guilt that my husband, with his failing vision, is coping with, and for the future. As a retired health professional I know more than most what is in store.

Apologies, just needed to offload I suppose. Who would have thought I completed a Marathon last month ?

Your personal insights of living with dementia is incredibly helpful in understanding how our PWD feels. I hope I’m compassionate with my mum who is in the advanced stages of dementia I think we struggle as Carer’s to truly imagine how you feel and how routine things like dental appointments can have a devastating impact on a person.
I’m sorry that you feel you are losing the skills and abilities that make up your character, I cannot begin to understand how that feels but I think many will empathise with you.
Before lockdown in mum’s care home, we used to try and explain to Carers looking after mum what an active lady she was prior to her dementia, very practical, and the only person I know who could knit, read a book and still follow a TV program all at the same time! it was important to us to share my mum was more than a person living with the dementia. Most people get that and I’m sure all your friends and family still see you as the highly capable person you still are! As you say, as a health professional you know what is to come but enjoy your life now, don’t look too far ahead, and congratulations on completing a marathon ??
 

Poppy44

Registered User
Aug 11, 2019
25
0
Hello Dunroamin, I’m just wondering whether your confusion and upset at the dentist was caused by the present COVID situation, with masks and all the associated paraphernalia? Last week my husband ( who has Altzheimers ) and I went to the dentist for the first time since lockdown. The dentist had on a huge mask ( rather like those seen in Intensive Care), and all of his body, apart from a bit of his arms, was totally covered by a medical type gown. It was absolutely impossible for either of us to understand what he was saying, and even I felt a bizarre and frightening sense of panic as to who he actually was - I almost started to ask him if he really was our dentist! The experience was really discombobulating for us both, and when we got home we were both absolutely exhausted.
I hope that this helps - you certainly aren’t the only one who found the dentist experience difficult and disorienting .
 

lemonbalm

Registered User
May 21, 2018
1,799
0
Hello @Dunroamin . I hope you feel better after offloading and thank you for posting such an honest account of how you are feeling. I often worry about activity packs being awfully patronising. They are only suitable for some people at some stages and obviously not for you. Perhaps you can re-purpose some of the contents as Christmas presents. It sounds as though the visit to the dentist was very stressful, exhausting and discombobulating (I'm enjoying seeing that word used, by the way. It's a great word) and it's not at all surprising that it upset your balance for a bit. I hope you are having a good day today. Well done on the Marathon!!!
 

Dunroamin

Registered User
May 5, 2019
418
0
UK
Thank you all for supportive replies. Much appreciated @Poppy44 - I was surrounded by gloved, masked and gowned interventionists throughout my career, and also wore them myself, so I don't think that was the problem. It seemed to be more literally being outside of the walls that are familiar to me.

I am pleased my insight may help others to understand what it is like living with this - and I take my hat off to all of you out there caring for PWD.
 

inquisitor1

New member
Jan 24, 2021
8
0
of which you said i have a question of which point did you understand your were not the person who was not there with in your action this is not a memory thing when wasn't you there

if you have and about it can be altered not to your assumptions/affect/actions
 

inquisitor1

New member
Jan 24, 2021
8
0
i am gonna say something else when i was 5 years old i stammed so bad i could not say a sentence , i would of killed god in my anger i didn't care i needed to say what i mean :
{ yours is the same fight and never stop}
 

DreamsAreReal

Registered User
Oct 17, 2015
476
0
I was also recently given n Autumn activity pack by a volunteer for people like myself and it brought home to me what the expectations of others are for someone with Alzheimers. Colouring packs, word search and so on. Very well meaning, but merely reinforcing my sense of increasing bereavement at what I am slowly losing. I can no longer understand scientific papers, read music, interpret graphs and other activities that I was more than capable of taking part in. My attention span is decreasing. I also have a great sense of guilt that my husband, with his failing vision, is coping with, and for the future.
I love your posts, @Dunroamin I suggested so many things to my pwd (mum) like the activity pack, before I realised how dispiriting it was for her. She was always very proud of her intelligence, she also feels bereaved for her lost skills. Although I’ve noticed she can do certain puzzles when I’m also doing them, that she can’t or won’t do alone.

Congratulations on doing your marathon! I wouldn’t even attempt one, I think that’s amazing and shows how strong willed you must be. ??.
 

silkiest

Registered User
Feb 9, 2017
865
0
Hi @Dunroamin, both mum and MIL have Alzheimer's and they make it very difficult for me to keep them safe as they always have been and still are narcissistic and bossy. I find myself avoiding seeing them if I can. Your insight and attitude to your situation gives me hope for my future. I took part in a study so I know that I have one of the alzheimers genes and an increased risk of developing it myself, I hope I will deal with it with your compassion and insight when/ if it comes.
 

Dunroamin

Registered User
May 5, 2019
418
0
UK
of which you said i have a question of which point did you understand your were not the person who was not there with in your action this is not a memory thing when wasn't you there

if you have and about it can be altered not to your assumptions/affect/actions


Apologies but I do not understand this post at all
 

Peter Dee

New member
Jul 31, 2020
3
0
London
@Dunroamin thank you for this. This is my first post here, although I’ve been reading for a while now. Mum is experiencing similar things to you. Naturally my brother and I are doing all we can to support her, but we can only experience this from our perspective: it’s so useful to get an insight into how it feels, from someone who isn’t mum, if that makes sense? A window into what this feels like to her. Thank you, and wishing you calm clear days :)

P
 

unique name

New member
Nov 29, 2021
3
0
I attended the dental surgery recently and was left upset and confused for several days. Whilst there I did not know what was happening, could not understand what was being said (I acknowledge I lip read a lot normally) and generally felt totally discombobulated. On returning home I was apparently aimless and confused for a quite a while. This included (apparently) me adding washing sanitiser to a cup of tea instead of milk which I had previously put back in the fridge. I then slept for over 24 hours. My brain seemed to recover somewhat and on waking I felt more like me and able to more or less cope with everyday life again.

So basically out of my normal environment and routine I do not seem to cope. For someone who has always relished change and challenges this is an unwelcome (and inevitable) situation. I was also recently given n Autumn activity pack by a volunteer for people like myself and it brought home to me what the expectations of others are for someone with Alzheimers. Colouring packs, word search and so on. Very well meaning, but merely reinforcing my sense of increasing bereavement at what I am slowly losing. I can no longer understand scientific papers, read music, interpret graphs and other activities that I was more than capable of taking part in. My attention span is decreasing. I also have a great sense of guilt that my husband, with his failing vision, is coping with, and for the future. As a retired health professional I know more than most what is in store.

Apologies, just needed to offload I suppose. Who would have thought I completed a Marathon last month ?
You sound like you are about the same stage I am. I still like walking and running as well. I find it upsetting when people treat me like I'm not intellectually capable, when I still am, despite all of my other symptoms. It's like people make assumptions that aren't true, and the deterioration is a long, slow process, for me anyway.
 

RosettaT

Registered User
Sep 9, 2018
866
0
Mid Lincs
I find your posts so insightful @Dunroamin.
As someone who needs to speak for my PWD I can only make many best guesstimates in most cases. Tho' I have always understood him and know what he likes/dislikes it's not easy to always understand what upsets or confuses him. Thank you for being so honest.
 

evaaniko

Registered User
Feb 3, 2022
14
0
I attended the dental surgery recently and was left upset and confused for several days. Whilst there I did not know what was happening, could not understand what was being said (I acknowledge I lip read a lot normally) and generally felt totally discombobulated. On returning home I was apparently aimless and confused for a quite a while. This included (apparently) me adding washing sanitiser to a cup of tea instead of milk which I had previously put back in the fridge. I then slept for over 24 hours. My brain seemed to recover somewhat and on waking I felt more like me and able to more or less cope with everyday life again.

So basically out of my normal environment and routine I do not seem to cope. For someone who has always relished change and challenges this is an unwelcome (and inevitable) situation. I was also recently given n Autumn activity pack by a volunteer for people like myself and it brought home to me what the expectations of others are for someone with Alzheimers. Colouring packs, word search and so on. Very well meaning, but merely reinforcing my sense of increasing bereavement at what I am slowly losing. I can no longer understand scientific papers, read music, interpret graphs and other activities that I was more than capable of taking part in. My attention span is decreasing. I also have a great sense of guilt that my husband, with his failing vision, is coping with, and for the future. As a retired health professional I know more than most what is in store.

Apologies, just needed to offload I suppose. Who would have thought I completed a Marathon last month ?
Im so sorry your dentistry is difficult to you :( I hope you better now :)