Hi
I have been trying to get mum a diagnosis for almost 12 months now and I'm not getting very far. So far we have attended 3 memory clinic appointments and her consultant has assessed mum as having a mild cognitive impairment, but mum's GP does not agree, he thinks mum has vascular dementia on the back of a TIA.
I have no idea what is wrong, but something is and mild cognitive impairment does not seem to be a reasonable assessment of mum's condition, but then everything I've read about vascular dementia says it progresses in steps, with periods of stability then followed by a decline. I don't see this in mum. I see a steady and speedy decline.
The change in mum since Christmas is scary. She cannot retain any sort of current information. She cannot remember what she did in the morning by the afternoon and now she is imagining things which are not true and she's doubling people up, like there is my brother in law and the other bloke (also my brother in law) and all her friends are doubled up, eg there is the "real" Julie the Julie double who lives by the actual person.
What worries me is that mum might have some sort of mixed dementia and that by not treating any Alzheimers element to her illness she is slipping away from us faster than need be if medication could slow things.
I may be asking the impossible here as I know there is no blue print when it comes to dementia, but could anyone who is caring for a person with a mixed dementia say if my mum's deterioration sounds like something they have experienced and if so is the person is they care for on any medication for Alzheimers?
I just keep remembering that advert about getting help asap and think I'm failing mum because I may not be getting her the help she needs.
I have been trying to get mum a diagnosis for almost 12 months now and I'm not getting very far. So far we have attended 3 memory clinic appointments and her consultant has assessed mum as having a mild cognitive impairment, but mum's GP does not agree, he thinks mum has vascular dementia on the back of a TIA.
I have no idea what is wrong, but something is and mild cognitive impairment does not seem to be a reasonable assessment of mum's condition, but then everything I've read about vascular dementia says it progresses in steps, with periods of stability then followed by a decline. I don't see this in mum. I see a steady and speedy decline.
The change in mum since Christmas is scary. She cannot retain any sort of current information. She cannot remember what she did in the morning by the afternoon and now she is imagining things which are not true and she's doubling people up, like there is my brother in law and the other bloke (also my brother in law) and all her friends are doubled up, eg there is the "real" Julie the Julie double who lives by the actual person.
What worries me is that mum might have some sort of mixed dementia and that by not treating any Alzheimers element to her illness she is slipping away from us faster than need be if medication could slow things.
I may be asking the impossible here as I know there is no blue print when it comes to dementia, but could anyone who is caring for a person with a mixed dementia say if my mum's deterioration sounds like something they have experienced and if so is the person is they care for on any medication for Alzheimers?
I just keep remembering that advert about getting help asap and think I'm failing mum because I may not be getting her the help she needs.