Diagnosis help…….

[Maryhelen56]

My mum seems to be experiencing cognitive decline. This has been happening for over a year but has taken a drastic turn in last 6 months. We originally thought it was anxiety related memory loss but she has had several medications to treat anxiety and no improvement.
In the last 6 months she has lost all confidence and has lost drastic amounts of weight. She no longer drives and it appears she is forgetting to eat and even wash.
She is a shadow of who she was.
She has had CT scans which have come back clear and has also had ecg tests and blood tests. Everything has been clear.
This is all so new to us. We have an appointment with the psychiatrist on Monday and I have no idea where to start with what to ask for and how to access support.
How do we even confirm it is dementia if that’s what it is? I thought it would show on a ct scan but the doctor said it doesn’t always show.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Louise7]

Hello @Maryhelen56 and welcome, although I'm sorry to hear about your mum. It's not always easy to diagnose dementia and it may be that at the appointment on Monday the psychiatrist will suggest a SPECT or PET scan as these are more detailed than an MRI and are also used to diagnose dementia. Sometimes a diagnosis can be made without anything showing on a scan so the psychiatrist may be able to come to a conclusion after looking at all the available information. You may find the factsheet below useful as it contains a lot of information about the diagnostic process, the various tests/scans that may be used, what to expect when meeting with a specialist and also a section about support available. This is a friendly, supportive group and there is a lot of shared experience here of all different types of dementia, so please let us know how you get on at the appointment on Monday.

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-05/Diagnosing%20dementia%20booklet.pdf