Is there a Tipping Point?

[NotTooLate]

The more I read, the more it seems that the progression of dementia follows a similar path. There seems to be this gradual awareness as problems get worse and this tipping point and a rapid decline!

I know that every case is different.

It seems that as our brain cells die, our brain tries to cope by regeneration, or reconfiguring, but then it gets to a point that there are not enough brain cells left to cope. Brain cells seem to die exponentially and this could be the reason for the rapid decline.

Is there a Tipping Point?

 

[Canadian Joanne]

Because the term dementia covers so many different diseases, I don't think there is a tipping point that can be named as such. There are some diseases which progress quickly, others quite slowly but then there are the individuals whose disease progress defies all current prognoses.

Not dementia but look how long Stephen Hawking lived with MND. He was told at the age of 21 that he had 2 years and yet he died at the age of 76.

So, yes, you're right, every case IS different so I don't think there is a 'universal' tipping point.

 

[canary]

Hi, @Richard and Fin
When you talked about a Tipping Point on another thread, thought you were talking about a point when the progression meant that you would be better off (and possibly happier) in a care home. This Tipping Point often does coincide with quite rapid decline (otherwise a care home wouldnt be an issue), but how and when this happens is different for everyone.

I think the idea that you go for a long time with very gradual decline and then everything changes quite rapidly at the end is an interesting one. The fact that people can have dementia for decades, but the average stay in a care home for someone with dementia is only 2 years does, to a certain extent, bear that out.

 

[NotTooLate]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply and giving great comments!

Symptoms of dementia do vary greatly, but there are similarities, both physical and mental, that's is why we are grouped under this umbrella called dementia...

I certainly don't think there is a universal tipping point, but are the symptoms at that time similar for many? You can read about early, mid and late stage dementia, so although we all have differences, there is obviously similarities too?

Interesting comment about the time people may go into a care home and then the average time they live after? So maybe my question should be, 'What was happening at the time you decided to take the care home option?'

For many this does seem to be the tipping point!?

I'm hoping to be around for decades, but you never know... in fact none of really knows, do we?

 

[canary]

'What was happening at the time you decided to take the care home option?'

There were lots of things happening to mum at the point when I took the care home route.
She wasnt able to look after herself any longer - not washing or changing her clothes although she was becoming incontinent, not able to prepare herself a meal or even a cup of tea, but, more to the point she did not recognise this and refused help. She would not allow carers into her home and half the time she wouldnt allow me in either. If she had accepted carers she would probably have been able to stay in her home for much longer.
She was lonely, but did not know how to find company and she could not remember how to use the telephone or the TV
She became anxious because she felt that she should be doing something, but could not remember what.
The final tipping point, though, was when she no longer recognised her home and started walking out of it during the night, very inadequately dressed, looking for her home and getting lost, which wasnt safe for her.

So, you see, she was no longer happy in her own home. In the care home she made friends and wasnt lonely, If she became anxious there was always someone to re-assure her. She accepted the carers helping her, so she became clean and properly dressed again. She also accepted her care home as her actual home - probably because she felt safe there.

 

[NotTooLate]

Hi Canary... you must have been living on tender hooks, just waiting to see what will happen next. At least in the home, you knew they would be safe.

I'm becoming self centred... like kids are... me, me, me... but.. although I know it, I can't do anything about it... I hate the fact that I know what is happening... it would be so much easier, if I was oblivious! I hope that comes if this one way journey continues.

 

[canary]

((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))) @Richard and Fin
That must be very hard for you. Knowing its the dementia, not you, doesnt always help, does it?