hitting a bad patch

Lulu

Registered User
Nov 28, 2004
391
0
Hello, and sorry to bother you all again but I'm after some feedback.

Mum is well and truly into a phase of feeling unwell with headache. She puts this down to a cold, as she has done for the past 18 months or so, but it is now all the time, every day, with never a cold in sight. The symptoms are seeming to improve or disappear on the day she does something she enjoys (ie going to her social). The GP has seen her, we have tried her without the Aricept, but still it is there.

Can the illness itself be causing this, causing pain in the head? Could she be imagining it? Could it be a way of withdrawing from things she can no longer cope with? Perhaps it will eventually pass, but I would be interested to know if anyone has similar experiences. Thanks.
 

Michael E

Registered User
Apr 14, 2005
619
0
Ronda Spain
Lulu hi,

Not quite sure if its exactly the same but at least it is more definable... Monique has it in her head that she is constipated - spent Christmas in hospital being totally cleaned out and came out with a non constipation certificate just before new years day.....I now know she is not constipated and has nothing wrong with her intestines (hospital did xrays - blood tests - all required to verify the situation)

Every single morning she will come to me and tell me, tearfully, she is constipated! Now I know it is not true as later every day she will come to me triumphantly and tell me she has just had a ****! I will then be please and congratulate her. There is a slight possibility she will come to me a bit later and tell me she is constipated... I have suggested marking her calender, which she uses several times a day to confirmed the date, with a special sign to indicate when she has been to the loo but this does not appear attractive.

Sorry gone on a bit - similar symptoms - headache - constipation - easier for me cos I can physically check to see if its true - and I find proof in the loo daily almost but you have only your mums word for it... suspect that these worries by AD sufferers are commonplace but the problem is being certain it is not real.. Monique had me, the GP and the hospital fooled - all worried there may be something more than a fertile imagination and a lousy memory
love
Michael
 

Lynne

Registered User
Jun 3, 2005
3,433
0
Suffolk,England
A couple of suggestions?

Excuse me if these have been suggested before.
1.
Does Mum live in a house with gas central heating? Has said system been checked for carbon monoxide emissions lately?
2.
Does your Mum drink a reasonable amount of fluids and is it mossible she's dehydrated (not alcohol or strong coffee, 'cos they stimulate the kidneys & can make dehydration worse)

Whilst the fact that her 'heads' are less severe on the day-centre days might seem to imply she's imagining it, or that it's psychosomatic (not quite the same thing), IF she were suffering from CO poisoning it would be that the change of location would make her feel better, temporarily.

On the other hand, if they are tension headaches then perhaps her day-care visits are relaxing her a bit for a while.

Just my thoughts, I'm sure there will be others forthcoming.

Best Wishes
 

Lulu

Registered User
Nov 28, 2004
391
0
Lynne, we too have wondered about the carbon monoxide, but during recent plumbing works all that has been checked out. She has a detector in place and that is all OK. Fluid intake I'm not sure about as I have only her word that she drinks plenty, but perhaps I should start ensuring she gets plenty and see how it goes.

I could see how, like Monique, she could have a fixation about this headache/cold, and also how it could be that she's just trying to tell us in her own way that she isn't coping in some way, or is unhappy. She is able to talk and hold a conversation quite normally, so long as there's no stress on her memory-wise, though she doesn't often initiate conversation. We would sit in silence mostly if we didn't say something. Would it be possible for her to be thinking things, but be unable to say them -if that makes sense? Would she know 'inside' what she needs, but can't say? Sometimes, it has seemed as though when we have hit on the right thing, she lets us know -yet seemed unable to ask for it. For instance, as I was trying to pluck up the courage to suggest she showers, she seemed to be quite anxious about something, but as soon as I started prompting a shower twice a week, she has seemed happy that I do that. As though she were just waiting for my help. Her language as such is fine -perhaps she gets a few words muddled up, calls a squirrel a rabbit, that sort of thing .......

Perhaps what has generally worked for the last year is no longer sufficient?

Thanks everyone.
 

SallyB

Registered User
May 7, 2005
60
0
Hi Lulu,

My Dad seems to have things wrong all the time.
You couldn't imagine the trips to the doctor over the last two years only to be told they carn't find anything wrong. He too has a fixation with his bowels even when he opens them it is often'not enough'.

Having read the previous posts i am now wondering if it his way of expressing his worries as he doesn't like to talk about the problems caused bt AD.

Sally
 

Sheila

Registered User
Oct 23, 2003
2,259
0
West Sussex
Hi Lulu, the dehydration/constipation is something you could keep an eye on, I know it caused headache problems with my Mum and lately with my aunt too. My Mum sometimes complained of headaches, but they seemed to disapear if she was engrossed in something or out in her wheelchair, helping in the garden or eating etc. Maybe it is as the others say, a case of her mind feeling muddled etc? You could try distraction tactics and see if they helped perhaps? Love She. XX
 

Lulu

Registered User
Nov 28, 2004
391
0
Reading my first post, I perhaps sound a bit stupid, since AD is all about these sort of problems, I know. I am just trying to apply what I see happening to the theory, because nothing ever matches entirely, does it? Thanks for the replies -checking on the fluids and distraction ideas will be next.
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
138,109
Messages
1,993,071
Members
89,775
Latest member
Andrew Fargher