Is fainting a recognised symptom of AD?
Brucie is the only one who has ever mentioned it, which I am a bit surprised about, since that was the catalyst that made me seek medical advice for my husband.
Apart from memory and cognitive problems, which we thought might be personality- and age-related (he was approaching his late sixties then, and had always been a bit of an absent-minded professor), he began experiencing sporadic faints, or passing out, never for long, but they were jolly scary to witness! Sometimes he did not quite pass out, but would appear to hold his breath and turn ashen for a few seconds. He always explained it that he felt as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him, but the sensation of cold water would rise upwards rather than from his head down .... On one occasion this happened during a consultation with a locum, but nobody ever found an explanation for it, his blood pressure was fine, etc. One female GP dismissed our concerns with a simple explanation: "There's nothing to worry about, you are just badly put together!". (I would have to be absolutely desparate to ever accept an appointment with her again).
It was many months later when my husband was referred to the local hospital for a brain scan, and then to the department of care for the elderly, where he had a memory test and was prescribed Aricept.
My husband has not passed out for a long time, but he has deteriorated a great deal since those days. I just wonder whether the faints should, perhaps, have given the medics a bit of a clue?
Does anyone else have any similar experiences?
Thanks.
Carmen
Brucie is the only one who has ever mentioned it, which I am a bit surprised about, since that was the catalyst that made me seek medical advice for my husband.
Apart from memory and cognitive problems, which we thought might be personality- and age-related (he was approaching his late sixties then, and had always been a bit of an absent-minded professor), he began experiencing sporadic faints, or passing out, never for long, but they were jolly scary to witness! Sometimes he did not quite pass out, but would appear to hold his breath and turn ashen for a few seconds. He always explained it that he felt as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him, but the sensation of cold water would rise upwards rather than from his head down .... On one occasion this happened during a consultation with a locum, but nobody ever found an explanation for it, his blood pressure was fine, etc. One female GP dismissed our concerns with a simple explanation: "There's nothing to worry about, you are just badly put together!". (I would have to be absolutely desparate to ever accept an appointment with her again).
It was many months later when my husband was referred to the local hospital for a brain scan, and then to the department of care for the elderly, where he had a memory test and was prescribed Aricept.
My husband has not passed out for a long time, but he has deteriorated a great deal since those days. I just wonder whether the faints should, perhaps, have given the medics a bit of a clue?
Does anyone else have any similar experiences?
Thanks.
Carmen