My brother, aged 68, was formally diagnosed in 2012 with early onset Alzheimers. By the time of diagnosis, it was discovered (after MRI scan) that the illness was probably at least three years into the process.
With varying ups and downs, his wife and family have soldiered on taking the good days along with the bad. My husband and I do what we can to support them; we visit every week and will phone or text throughout the week. We've been able to take them away for a short couple of breaks this year, as holiday trips are not so easy to arrange - especially when my brother is uncooperative about getting to meals on time and getting him to a toilet is difficult for my sister-in-law (until she recently acquired a RADAR key to use disabled toilets!)
However, in the last few weeks, the bad days have far outnumbered the good ones! The issue now is that my brother is rejecting everything his wife says, to the point where yesterday she had to ring me and ask me to speak to him on the phone to tell him he needed to take his tablets. That seemed to work! However, today he was having none of it!
He doesn't recognise her as his wife and gets annoyed with even the simplest requests and cajoling and even when I went round today to see if he would respond to a different person asking him he was polite but non-compliant.
Eventually, a couple of hours after I'd left, she texted me to say he'd finally taken his tablets and had a drink - but wouldn't eat and just kept going back to bed.
I want to support my sister-in-law but I'm at a loss to know how best to do that, other than big hugs and a shoulder to cry on. We think contacting the Admiral Nurses might be one way forward to see if they can suggest anything or provide support.
Does anyone have any ideas how to ensure he takes his medication? My sister-in-law is at her wit's end and I fear for her own emotional health.
Many thanks, in advance!
With varying ups and downs, his wife and family have soldiered on taking the good days along with the bad. My husband and I do what we can to support them; we visit every week and will phone or text throughout the week. We've been able to take them away for a short couple of breaks this year, as holiday trips are not so easy to arrange - especially when my brother is uncooperative about getting to meals on time and getting him to a toilet is difficult for my sister-in-law (until she recently acquired a RADAR key to use disabled toilets!)
However, in the last few weeks, the bad days have far outnumbered the good ones! The issue now is that my brother is rejecting everything his wife says, to the point where yesterday she had to ring me and ask me to speak to him on the phone to tell him he needed to take his tablets. That seemed to work! However, today he was having none of it!
He doesn't recognise her as his wife and gets annoyed with even the simplest requests and cajoling and even when I went round today to see if he would respond to a different person asking him he was polite but non-compliant.
Eventually, a couple of hours after I'd left, she texted me to say he'd finally taken his tablets and had a drink - but wouldn't eat and just kept going back to bed.
I want to support my sister-in-law but I'm at a loss to know how best to do that, other than big hugs and a shoulder to cry on. We think contacting the Admiral Nurses might be one way forward to see if they can suggest anything or provide support.
Does anyone have any ideas how to ensure he takes his medication? My sister-in-law is at her wit's end and I fear for her own emotional health.
Many thanks, in advance!