Hi again

[Kyron]

My Mum in Law is getting progressively worse but I was told dementia doesn't come on that fast. Perhaps its a
chemical imbalance. We therefore got a nurse to give the MiL a jab of B12. Initially, it seemed to add a little clarity. For instance, she actually read a newspaper instead of browsing through it in 5 seconds. However, her action are still
upsetting. She will strip naked in the night so my wife has to see to her etc. Unless the jab works wonders in the medium/long term what can I expect over the next 12 months. Will there be a levelling off or just a downward spiral. How long will it be before the MiL doesn't recognise anybody? Any guidance would be very welcome. Thank you. Trevor

 

[canary]

Hello @Kyron
Dementia is an unpredictable disease. There is, unfortunately no way of predicting exactly how it will develop or how quickly. Some types of dementia (particularly vascular) typically go down in "steps" so that there are periods of fast decline followed by a period of stability before another fast decline.

Other things that can progress the decline are things like infections, pain, anaesthetic (particularly general anaesthetic) and hospital admission. I noter that in a previous post you mentioned that your mum had broken her hip and had had a repair operation, so this could well be the reason for the sudden decline.

Does the GP/memory clinic know about the change in your mums behaviour? Has she been checked for a UTI? - infections can make everything worse.

 

[Agzy]

Hi @Kyron and welcome. I can only answer from my own experiences with my partner, Pauline, who has Alzheimer’s disease and was diagnosed over 5 years ago. Memory wise the decline seems to have been steady except when water infections happen and then things go ballistic and leave an accelerated memory loss it seems. Mood swings are the other issue where there are or seem to be many unpredictable phases when tempers, crying, hating, literally anything can happen and very upsetting. I dont think there is any way of telling the timetable dementia will take which of course makes things harder. Sorry not to be of more help but I am sure others will add to our understanding.