Hi
I'm not sure if anybody will be able to help me but I don't know where else to look for advice.
I've recently found out that my mum (55 years old) has been struggling with her memory and doing simple calculations such as working out the difference between two times, eg. how long between 8:30 and 9:10.
I have found that during conversations she will completely forget she has already told me something and repeat the whole thing again.
There is no history of early onset dementia in her parents or grandparents, although her mum developed these same problems at about the age of 78.
She has been to the doctors and has been told it is due to stress and depression, but I don't see how these things could affect her memory and problem solving so severely. She hasn't talked to me about it but I got in touch with her partner as I was worried and he told me that the memory problems have been going on for about a year, but they only went to the doctors a couple of months ago due to her not being able to solve simple maths problems. I'm really worried and frightened.
I feel really selfish but I am also so worried that this may mean I have a good chance of developing early onset dementia too, to the point where I am having panic attacks every day and can't concentrate on anything else.
I can't seem to find much information on early onset dementia without family history, or even if it is possible to have early onset without a parent having it.
Sorry if it sounds really selfish. I'm just really frightened and don't know who to ask for help.
I'm not sure if anybody will be able to help me but I don't know where else to look for advice.
I've recently found out that my mum (55 years old) has been struggling with her memory and doing simple calculations such as working out the difference between two times, eg. how long between 8:30 and 9:10.
I have found that during conversations she will completely forget she has already told me something and repeat the whole thing again.
There is no history of early onset dementia in her parents or grandparents, although her mum developed these same problems at about the age of 78.
She has been to the doctors and has been told it is due to stress and depression, but I don't see how these things could affect her memory and problem solving so severely. She hasn't talked to me about it but I got in touch with her partner as I was worried and he told me that the memory problems have been going on for about a year, but they only went to the doctors a couple of months ago due to her not being able to solve simple maths problems. I'm really worried and frightened.
I feel really selfish but I am also so worried that this may mean I have a good chance of developing early onset dementia too, to the point where I am having panic attacks every day and can't concentrate on anything else.
I can't seem to find much information on early onset dementia without family history, or even if it is possible to have early onset without a parent having it.
Sorry if it sounds really selfish. I'm just really frightened and don't know who to ask for help.