Capgras - treatment?

[evz1976]

Hello,

My mum is 70 and we believe has LBD. She is having a DAT Scan tomorrow, which we think will confirm a diagnosis of LBD. It still doesn't seem real.

We are trying to focus on getting my mum better than she is at the moment, rather than wandering to think about the longer term.

But I'll stop waffling. She is very anxious about the scan and her confusion has increased markedly over the course of the last week. She's been talking about 'the other Steve' a lot over the last weeks but it's got much, much worse of late.

I believe the Dr will put my mum of Ravastigmine for her general cognition deficit but, now she is displaying Capgras syndrome symptoms quite clearly, what do you think he will suggest to deal with the delusion? And I say delusion as it's the same thing every time. Can these cholinesterase inhibitors help with Capgras?

Any experiences/thoughts really welcome. The family is pulling together but this is so very hard on my dad.

Thanks, Simon.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

Hello,

My mum is 70 and we believe has LBD. She is having a DAT Scan tomorrow, which we think will confirm a diagnosis of LBD. It still doesn't seem real.

We are trying to focus on getting my mum better than she is at the moment, rather than wandering to think about the longer term.

But I'll stop waffling. She is very anxious about the scan and her confusion has increased markedly over the course of the last week. She's been talking about 'the other Steve' a lot over the last weeks but it's got much, much worse of late.

I believe the Dr will put my mum of Ravastigmine for her general cognition deficit but, now she is displaying Capgras syndrome symptoms quite clearly, what do you think he will suggest to deal with the delusion? And I say delusion as it's the same thing every time. Can these cholinesterase inhibitors help with Capgras?

Any experiences/thoughts really welcome. The family is pulling together but this is so very hard on my dad.

Thanks, Simon.

Some drugs can help control symptoms, others can slow down the progress of the disease for some people. But ultimately nothing will stop the relentless march of dementia.

If a part of the brain is damaged and not working properly it can't be fixed, though sometimes the brain manages to find alternative pathways for some things. We really understand very little about the brain despite what neuroscientists tell us. Capgras is difficult to deal with but may be a passing phase.

Mum is convinced that she has another daughter (she doesn't) or sometimes several. The 'other' JnF never visits apparently... When she thinks of me she probably thinks of a 'past' me, i.e. someone younger. The real me probably looks too old so she believes the real me is the other one. Unfortunately it's common in dementia. (All types, not just LBD)

Mum also struggles with where she is. It could be 'this place, the other place, the place I was before, home, my mother's home, the place we used to be, the other place down the road that's the same as here, the other place where I sleep,' etc. She's been in the same room in the same care home for 2 and a half years. I believe this is reduplicative paramnesia.

 

[Kevinl]

Hi and welcome to TP
If by "treatment" you mean cure, then no there isn't anything that can reverse a symptom sadly.
My wife called me by the wrong name for a couple of years before she gave up talking completely and I know from comments on here that it affect people differently.
I could live with the fact my wife called me by the wrong name but it obviously upsets some people and from comments on here some people get really upset by it.
Confusion over who people are is very common, one lady in care with my wife was convinced my wife was her daughter and insisted on feeding her and threated me with the police if I didn't stop, another lady keeps asking me if I'm her son but she's Jamaican and I'm not.
There are medications that may help slow down the progress of the disease but opinion varies on whether the have any effect at all and even if they do all they do is slow it down not reverse the condition or cure any symptoms.
K

 

[canary]

Hello @evz1976 and welcome to DTP.

I think @Jaded'n'faded has summed up the situation very well.

If your mum is very upset and agitated by the capgras then the doctors might try her with antidepressants, or antipsychotics, but unfortunately, there is nothing that can restore the damage in the brain.

 

[Anna T]

Hello,

My mum is 70 and we believe has LBD. She is having a DAT Scan tomorrow, which we think will confirm a diagnosis of LBD. It still doesn't seem real.

We are trying to focus on getting my mum better than she is at the moment, rather than wandering to think about the longer term.

But I'll stop waffling. She is very anxious about the scan and her confusion has increased markedly over the course of the last week. She's been talking about 'the other Steve' a lot over the last weeks but it's got much, much worse of late.

I believe the Dr will put my mum of Ravastigmine for her general cognition deficit but, now she is displaying Capgras syndrome symptoms quite clearly, what do you think he will suggest to deal with the delusion? And I say delusion as it's the same thing every time. Can these cholinesterase inhibitors help with Capgras?

Any experiences/thoughts really welcome. The family is pulling together but this is so very hard on my dad.

Thanks, Simon.

 

[Anna T]

Hi Simon

How did your mums DAT scan go? - was she ok? and how long before you receive the results?

I’m in the same position with my mum and suspected LBD she is due to have a DAT scan in a couple of weeks and the whole thing fills me with dread.

I’ve been the “other Anna” for 9 months - when the Capras began - at first we thought it may pass but it comes and goes - initially mum was able to question it and how horrible it felt to have believed there was “another”

Now it’s getting worse and more often than not Mum doesn’t recognise me as her daughter or has the capacity to question it - all of which I find brutal to say the least...

Mum is on Quetiapine - and yes it doesn’t seem real

Take good care!