Hi
I'm brand new to the site, having just discovered it minutes ago...
I'm afraid my story is all too familiar - my Dad, who's 86 has developed AD over the past couple of years but is now careering downhill at an alarming rate.
Dad was as fit as a fiddle, he's still got all his hair which up until this all started hardly had a grey hair in it...he was more like a 60yr old...which makes the onset of this awful affliction so much harder to bear....
I'm married with a young family and we live 250 miles from my parents - so Mum is the principal carer and gets absolutely no support or help from the local social services - apparently they'll only get involved when my Mum & Dad are physically incapable of looking after themselves...
The worst part of this for my Mum is that after 45 yrs of marriage, my Dad who was a wonderful Christian man has started swearing at her, threatening her with physical violence and generally become the absolute antithesis of the man he was...he's been diagnosed with vascular dementia, is becoming very paranoid as well. He's not allowed to be treated with the standard drugs as he has a totally unconnected issue with his heartbeat - it's nothing that is a problem otherwise but according to the consultant "treating" Dad, they would need a crash team on permanent standby if he were to take the drugs. It is SO unfair.
I am now seriously worried for Mum's mental health as she is not coping with this at all - social services are not interested, the mental health nurse doesn't seem to be bothered about helping - what do I or my Mum do?