Capgaras Syndrome

Feri

Registered User
Oct 15, 2021
50
0
Excuse my poor English

My wife of 76 has got Alzhemer’s and one of the rear consequence of it which called Capgras syndrome. Started nine months ago today. People with this condition see their carer or a place or even a pet as someone or something else. In her case she sees me as an stranger, imposter in the house and also our home is not our house.
Her life is extremely miserable, always asking for her husband and wanted to go home. Initially it was extremely hard for me and I didn’t know what to do and what is happening until we got a diagnosis and learned many tricks how to help her.
life and looking after her is extremely hard because most of the time I am imposter and can’t do what I am suppose to do. I wrote one example on another post that for days and days she doesn’t take a shower because she needs help and doesn’t want to get undressed in front of stranger (imposter).
I can write a book about my struggles with Capgras and difficulty doing my duties as a husband, to short the story I have not be able to give her a proper hug or kiss for nine months.
Now my request; is there any one with first hand experience of the similar situation to exchange our experience?
 

Clarinda3

Registered User
Apr 29, 2021
40
0
Hi @Feri yes I had this experience with my husband. The first time it happened we went to see my husbands GP who told us he had a mini stroke and it would resolve itself in 48 hours. However I knew it was Capgras syndrome from this forum. When he was admitted to a secure unit in a mental health hospital I was told that it was lack of facial recognition. But it only happened with me. He frequently asked me at home ‘ how long are you staying’? I would answer ‘as long as you’ll have me’. I was lucky he was always very polite to me because he thought I was a visitor. He definitely thought there were two of me. When he knew it was me he would ask me ‘how did you get rid of the other one?’ It must have been very frightening for him. It shocked me to the core the first time it happened. Thanks to this forum I went along with his thinking as I knew it would be very upsetting for him to be challenged. He truly believed I was someone else. Sadly it is part of the dementia experience for many of us.
 
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Feri

Registered User
Oct 15, 2021
50
0
Thank you very much Clarinda3 for sharing your experience. You were lucky that your husband was nice to you. Unfortunately my wife became very aggressive towards me when I am myself. During the month I managed to make her to like the imposter and is nice to him. It is str life. Could you please tell me how did it ends?
 

Clarinda3

Registered User
Apr 29, 2021
40
0
Thank you very much Clarinda3 for sharing your experience. You were lucky that your husband was nice to you. Unfortunately my wife became very aggressive towards me when I am myself. During the month I managed to make her to like the imposter and is nice to him. It is str life. Could you please tell me how did it ends?
@Feri I am so sorry to hear that. My husband has early onset Alzheimer’s. He is 65. He is on a lot of medication to help with his quality of life. He takes donepezil and memantine for his cognition and risperidone for his psychotic episodes. Sadly he is now in a nursing home. He is physically very well but has lost capacity. The medication has helped with the delusions and hallucinations and also with the agitation. We go out for day trips and lunch a lot. He knows that we love each other but has forgotten our life together. I’m not sure if this is of any help to you. Do you have carers helping you? It is too much for one person to cope with.
 

Feri

Registered User
Oct 15, 2021
50
0
Dear Clarinda. Your comment is very helpful. Firstly I learned that some medication may help although my wife doesn’t take any. Second, she had a stroke three months ago and when she came home we got a full time carer. After two weeks when she was a bit better didn’t accept any help from carer and refused her help So although it is very hard for a man of 79 but I am still doing it. Fortunately she recovered almost fully from her stroke and physically is fit but needs constant care. The problem is Capgras which makes it m difficult.
 

Clarinda3

Registered User
Apr 29, 2021
40
0
Dear Clarinda. Your comment is very helpful. Firstly I learned that some medication may help although my wife doesn’t take any. Second, she had a stroke three months ago and when she came home we got a full time carer. After two weeks when she was a bit better didn’t accept any help from carer and refused her help So although it is very hard for a man of 79 but I am still doing it. Fortunately she recovered almost fully from her stroke and physically is fit but needs constant care. The problem is Capgras which makes it m difficult.
@Feri you also have to deal with aggression and resistance which is very difficult. It seems that your wife has challenging behaviour which my husband was also diagnosed with and this happens to a lot of people with dementia. Medication has certainly improved my husbands quality of life. I have seen it written on this forum that what a person with dementia wants is not always what they need. Respectfully your wife may not be the best person to decide what she needs. You are more likely to know that.
 

Feri

Registered User
Oct 15, 2021
50
0
Fair comments Clarinda about wanting and need and i am fully aware that I am spoiling her. personally still I am not ready to force her despite our children insisting to employ a part time regimental carer.
you know, we got married as a class mate, medical student 54 years ago and because the Capgras Syndrome hurts her a lot I don’t want to add anything more to that. She is still aware of many aspects of life and I am planning to make a change when her memory got worse. what do you think having a personal experience?
 

Clarinda3

Registered User
Apr 29, 2021
40
0
Fair comments Clarinda about wanting and need and i am fully aware that I am spoiling her. personally still I am not ready to force her despite our children insisting to employ a part time regimental carer.
you know, we got married as a class mate, medical student 54 years ago and because the Capgras Syndrome hurts her a lot I don’t want to add anything more to that. She is still aware of many aspects of life and I am planning to make a change when her memory got worse. what do you think having a personal experience?
@Feri I think you love your wife very much and she’s lucky to have you. I totally understand where you’re coming from. If I had the choice I would have lived with my husband in his world. That’s the only way we survived as long as we did. I was in denial I suppose and normalised his behaviour to protect us both. I also resisted the voices of our children. We reached a crisis point and the choice was then taken away from me - my husband went into hospital for a diagnosis and treatment and never came home. He lost capacity quite suddenly. I am still traumatised by that. If it was up to me he would still be at home with me. Talk to your wife’s consultant about possible medication. My husband had a very thorough assessment in hospital and has also had his medication reviewed by a psychiatrist since he went into the nursing home. Only you know how much you can do but be aware of your own needs too.
 

Feri

Registered User
Oct 15, 2021
50
0
I appreciate your comments dearly. After her stroke she was in hospital for two weeks and unfortunately they didn’t make a full assessment of her Alzhemer’s. They were more concerned about the stroke . They wanted to send her to another hospital for rehab but I brought her home and now after two months she has almost recovered from the effects of stroke except not having a fully functioning left hand.
one big problem we have is that she doesn’t take any medication easily and I am sure she wouldn’t take any one related to Alzhemer’s. At the moment I have big problem with her blood pressure and heart tablets and you know that you can’t force any adults even with dementia to take one.

anyhow , have you noticed that no one else made any comments about Capgras Syndrome and this shows how lonely it’s sufferers are. We started about Capgras and we drifted away to our other problems . This is happening whenever I ask a professional about it as well.
 

Shedrech

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
12,649
0
UK
hello @Feri
a warm welcome to DTP

Capgras Syndrome regularly comes up in discussions and many members have some experience of aspects ... it may simply be that they haven't visited the forums today or aren't in a position to respond right now

a search brought up these results, some of these posts may be of interest