Hallucinations

[asearle41]

Hi there, my mum is 88 and has dementia (although I have never been able to establish what kind). She is experiencing hallucinations (sundowning) at night saying there’s water coming through her bedroom ceiling/the tiles are hanging down etc. It’s obviously very real to her as she puts buckets around to catch the water. It is distressing her and she can’t settle/sleep. She keeps complaining to her neighbours upstairs. They are very kind and reassure her but there isn’t any leak at all. I am a bit at my wits end as to what to do/say to her. I don’t live with her - she currently has carers coming in 3 times a week. Have put in a call to her GP to see whether there is any medication that might help to ease the hallucinations.

Any advice from anyone who has experienced something similar on how to cope/get through would be much appreciated.

 

[Red Shoe]

Hi there and I’m sorry to hear about your mom. The first thing you need to eliminate are there any health issues causing this. It could be a UTI or even constipation. Also it’s important to find out what sort of dementia she has. My mom has vascular dementia and has similar hallucinations. All infections were ruled out but she has been put on a long term course of antibiotics to prevent infections. She starts sundowning around 3pm and by 9pm she sees all sorts of things. Her consultant said her dementia was purely vascular and sadly this can cause hallucinations. Also Lewys body dementia can cause it.
If you can get the gp to do a urine test and also find out if she’s constipated then this is the first move. Some types of dementia have no response to medication but others do. Maybe gp can get her seen by the local mental health team and also allocate you an Admiral nurse.
Sending support x

 

[Bunpoots]

Hi @asearle41 .

My dad used to have delusions and hallucinations and I used to “deal with” whatever was nothing him appropriately (e.g. sweeping invisible- to me - bugs off the floor or firmly telling equally silent and invisible visitors to leave and shutting the door firmly behind them and then changing the subject).

I realise this is more difficult for you if your mum’s hallucinations are happening while you’re not around but would it be possible to arrange for her to have a stay with relatives, or even respite in a carehome, while you “sort out” the leak. Hopefully this will break the cycle. It would also give you the chance to keep an eye on her to see if she may be constipated or have a UTI or other infection brewing.

 

[MackTwelve]

Hi @asearle41 My mother also hallucinates at times, the last bad episode was over a month ago. She ended up in hospital due to falls. Diagnosis of 'Mixed Dementia'. Sundowning is a regular thing for her but can get really bad on occasions. They found that she had a kidney infection and was constipated. Also blood checks revealed she had an Iron deficiency, it's worth asking for checks to be done, possibly through your GP.

 

[try again]

People keep having parties in my mother's house and she's getting annoyed with them. I've told her to pho e me up and I'll go around and throw them out.

 

[Mr.A]

My wife; now sadly passed; used to hallucinate regularly and she always indicated that she was up a height somewhere and in fear of falling. I used to offer to support her but I had to let her imagine that I was holding on to her and talk reassuringly to her because otherwise she thought I was pushing her if I touched her. If her hands were on the move I put my hand out where she would come in contact with it and she would grasp it and hold it. I found out by observation and I can't substantiate this; that when these hallucinations occurred she needed to go to the toilet. I partly proved this by noticing that after her hallucinating period she would have disturbed her bed and was uncomfortable so I would buzz for the carers to reposition her. I would leave the room and I invariably found that whilst repositioning her they had also needed to change her because she had indeed `been to the toilet`. I wonder if this accounts for the presence of water in your mother's hallucination. Just a thought but something I picked up on during my daily and lengthy visits.