Medication.

Rosie

Registered User
Jun 10, 2004
235
0
South East Wales, UK.
Hello everyone, I'm droping a line for some information really, if anyone can help. Before my mum developed AD, or was in the early stages she suffered a lot with headaches + used Syndol to help with the pain of the headache . After mum was admitted to long term care my dad + myself found the tablets in her bag + various other places . My concern is do you think the tablets or any tablets have some contribution to the illness in any way. There was a substance in Syndol , I think it was some colouring, + it made me think did these tablets affect my mum in any way? Maybe it's just clutching at straws really, trying to understand the illness + trying to understand why it develops .
I also take these tablets for headaches + my dad + brother are a bit concerned , I must be honest + say the thought has crossed my mind whether I should take the tablets + at the end of the day it most probably has no connection to my mums illness, but because my mum developed AD at quite a young age , different things go round + round in my head. I even thought at one stage about having a blood test but then I thought would I really want to know. Hope someone can understand this note + I'm sure other people have had concerns about the illness being hereditary. Maybe I should stop thinking + enjoy things as they are, no-one really knows whats around the corner at the end of the day, thanks for listening . Rosie. x
 

Brucie

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
12,413
0
near London
Maybe it's just clutching at straws really, trying to understand the illness + trying to understand why it develops .
We all do this, of course, with different things.

If you are concerned, why not just change medications for yourselves now, especially if you are concerned at colourings?
 

Lynne

Registered User
Jun 3, 2005
3,433
0
Suffolk,England
Rosie, I do so feel for the mental turmoil you are in. My Mum is (I think) in the early stages, although not actually diagnosed yet. I don't just say that on a whim, she has changed so much in the last couple of years (to anyone who knows her well). My brother lives in Australia and was home this year to visit, and noticed immediately how changed she was from his previous holiday 30 months ago.

But still, I get times when I'm asking myself 'Is it me, am I getting paranoid about all these little things that I notice? Perhaps she doesn't have AD at all?' Other people say to me "Isn't your Mum marvellous for her age, she keeps so fit" but actually she hardly goes out any more on her own, and when she does she forgets what she went out to do (or buy).

I'm sure so many others go through these questioning stages; Is it dementia, could the behaviour be due to something she eats, something she takes (this pill or that medication). And as you/I get more exhausted and distressed, we also get ratty and forgetful and overwrought; is it just tiredness, or have we got 'something' wrong with us too?

Did anyone else feel this way, or am I just being pathetic. Help ...

Lynne
 

Brucie

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
12,413
0
near London
And as you/I get more exhausted and distressed, we also get ratty and forgetful and overwrought; is it just tiredness, or have we got 'something' wrong with us too?
Funny you should say this because I lay in bed last night, before dropping off to sleep, and these were exacly the thoughts that were going through my own mind.

I tell myself that the past 15 years has exhausted me, and now I'm living sort of three lives in one [#1 caring for Jan at arm's length #2 kick starting a new life with Nina #3 the rest of the time]. I think that this is the reason I can't concentrate so well, that I forget things, etc.

But the unwelcome thought comes in that maybe I'm trying to cover something I am beginning to detect. The first time I took Jan to our GP and when he sort of tested her for dementia [his own version of the MMSE] he said "no, if she had dementia she would use all sorts of excuses to explain why she can't remember".

Well, isn't that what I'm doing? At least that is what I ask myself.

The fear is always there, and I want warning if it is ever true, because I sure ain't going to hang around to develop the full set of symptoms.

Yesterday, among other things, I managed to write 15 Christmas cards. At one time - with Jan - we would get through 70 in a day. One of Jan's symptoms was getting slower and slower in her writing, before losing it entirely. More bad thoughts.

But then I thought, well, I didn't really sit down and concentrate [another thing - concentration :eek: ]. The caring business has meant that I do flit from thing to thing.

The reason for this is that I'm like an engineer in the engine room of a ship that has some major problem. I don't stand looking at a single dial watching things.... I constantly move from dial to dial, from lever to lever, making sure everything is working.

Only with me, I am always on the alert for that first moment when I may detect I have lost some faculty to a dementia that has not happened, and will probably never happen. So I'll do something for 20 minutes, then shift to something else, then something else.

It has made me useless for employment, among other things.

All you say in your last post has resonance!
 

daughter

Registered User
Mar 16, 2005
824
0
"So I'll do something for 20 minutes, then shift to something else, then something else."

I'm meant to be able to do four things at once (being a woman) and over recent years sometimes I've not been able to concentrate very easily on one at a time, let alone four. This is exacerbated because I'm a naturally cautious person anyway, never been able to make decisions very easily, so I wonder how, nowadays, anything gets done at all!

I sometimes think that I'm losing it - but then, we really are, in some small way aren't we - it's the natural ageing process. Oh, and of course I can blame the menopause! You're right Rosie, "no-one really knows whats around the corner ". Why did my Dad get Alzheimer's and not my Mum? Still, I take heart when I look at my Mum and see how she's still so very astute and agile at 82.

Dad's Home had their Christmas Party this weekend (a big turnout, lots of relatives of all ages - brilliant) and Mum was up dancing the 'Dance of the 7 veils' My sister was a meany not letting Mum borrow here chiffon scarf but Mum was quite happy to use my woolly scarf instead! Dad was clapping her and gave a few small smiles. He was less enthusiastic about dancing this year but he did a couple of waltzes with Mum. It's nice to see my Mum enjoying herself despite the situation. She now often says, "You can't be sad forever".
 
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connie

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
9,519
0
Frinton-on-Sea
Hello Hazel : thank you for mum's line "You can't be sad forever".
What a lovely way to look at life. Cheered me up no end. Connie
 

Brucie

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
12,413
0
near London
I'm meant to be able to do four things at once (being a woman)
and
I'm a naturally cautious person anyway
and
never been able to make decisions very easily
It's the season to be merry - and contentious, so, tongue firmly in rosy cheek, I'll just say that being a man and one who worked with Cray supercomputers, I was always one to do very many things at once [though like Morecambe and Wise said "not necessarily in the right order"]. being a man I blundered through everything, never cautious. Being a man decisions were my bread and butter.

Dementia experience - the great leveller
 

daughter

Registered User
Mar 16, 2005
824
0
I sometimes hesitate posting anything positive because I know that people are going through such difficult times. Still I suppose we all draw strength from each other and I know there will be times ahead I'll need a lift. My Mum is such an inspiration to me, Thanks Connie.

Bruce, I guess you could blame the 'men-o-pause' {groan} :rolleyes: ;)
 

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