Delusions of being poisoned
Since my wife's demise earlier this year I have had time to look back and consider how I could have done more for her; and the first thing that I regret most is visiting the Memory Clinic and allowing "professionals" to conduct recognition and memory tests, prescribe medication and generally speed up her decline from absentmindedness to demented. Aricept brought about aggression, Memantine quietened the aggression but created fears (one was of being poisoned) that invisibles were attempting to, and wanting to, murder her, and then Risperidone turned her into a zombie. She wasted away refusing to eat, etc.
Check up on her drugs. Ignore the horrid Memory Clinicians. Get on to your GP so you can get extra help from the local authority. Trust your instincts. And finally seek help here. Best wishes.
I just feel so depressed. My mum suffers from extreme delusions including that she is being poisoned. It is a nightmare to get her to take her medication. She accuses me of all sorts of things like trying to kill her, being cruel to her dog (even though I dote on him).
She makes random comments about how nasty I am and how she hopes I never have children and if I do she hopes they will be born deformed. She is also doubly incontinent and I spend a lot of time cleaning her up and the house.
People say to let the comments roll off me and it is the dementia talking but what they don't realise is that she used to say nasty things like that before the dementia.
I told the consultant that she has always been strong-minded. I actually meant domineering. I was trying to explain that I think that is why she is so difficult. The consultant just dismissed it and looked at me with a disgusted expression. He said that there is nothing wrong with being strong minded.
They also brushed off my worries about being stabbed by her. I said I was worried she would mistake me for a burglar or creep up and do it in the night. They just laughed and said dementia patients rarely attack anyone and implied I was being a silly hysterical sort of woman (not that I was even crying in front of them or anything).
I do have grounds for this worry as she has already done something that makes me think this is a possibility. I am worried about saying too much and identifying myself on here.
They also treated me like I was thick saying why didn't I hide the knives. The problem is that my parents house is small and jam-packed with junk. I have been steadily clearing it for some time now but it would be difficult to remove all the knives and still have access to them. We seem to have hundreds of kitchen knives and I think my dad would refuse to let me move them anyway.
I felt like a small silly young teenager. It was awful. Thanks for all the advice. I am going to start a diary and try videoing some stuff with my iPod.
Since my wife's demise earlier this year I have had time to look back and consider how I could have done more for her; and the first thing that I regret most is visiting the Memory Clinic and allowing "professionals" to conduct recognition and memory tests, prescribe medication and generally speed up her decline from absentmindedness to demented. Aricept brought about aggression, Memantine quietened the aggression but created fears (one was of being poisoned) that invisibles were attempting to, and wanting to, murder her, and then Risperidone turned her into a zombie. She wasted away refusing to eat, etc.
Check up on her drugs. Ignore the horrid Memory Clinicians. Get on to your GP so you can get extra help from the local authority. Trust your instincts. And finally seek help here. Best wishes.