Hi everyone I'm a newbe here, I've been reading your stories for weeks, I've plucked up the courage to tell my story as it is so far.
I've been with my partner for 8yrs now, he's now 64 and I'm 53. We're very close but he's not a very affectionate man but warms my heart with his constant banter when I met him. I'm a talker and love to talk and listen to his story's when I met him he made me laugh and feel good with his happy go lucky don't give a dam attitude ☺
We have a love for gardening and the outdoors and days away camping etc.... well that's when I first really took notice that his ramblings were becoming muddled, repeating sentences over and over. That was just about 3 years ago. We were away in our van camping in the west of Ireland (I'm from Northern Ireland btw) we had laid down to sleep and he said " hey P, (that's what he called me, never my full name just P) did we drive down through the Midlands (middle of ireland) I says no we came via Sligo & Galway along the coast, he was so confused at the time, I just brushed it off, but he kept asking me it as if I was wrong, then it was repeating the same question over and over, I lost it and said some nasty things as my patience wore thin and I believed he was winding me up.
Fast forward:
After a year of just forgetting stuff I became concerned, got an appointment and the doctor done a memory test, the doctor noticed his memory wasn't so great and referred him to the memory clinic, we went there and done much the same thing plus a hundred questions lol, referred for a MRI, results were Early onset Alzheimers!
He didn't seem to take it in, he just rambled on about his dad having hardened arteries, telling his story. We left there and I explained that he was lucky his dad didn't have the medication he has, and that we would take it one day at a time, which fortunately is how he's doing it, he never mentions it only if he's speaking off his dad, he was prescribed 5mg donezipil to take for a month then was increased to 10mg, a month later he was prescribed 15mg ... the consultant said he would try him on a higher dose to see if it helps slow progression I think as a trial because he was young. He's still on that dose 2 years later, it seems to be working as his last memory test was the same, although i see changes in his memory daily.
So atm were still at early stages with mainly memory loss, and delusions on one occasion throughout the night. I've found the information and experiences you've all had invaluable. I've a long stretch ahead and getting prepared as best I can
I've been with my partner for 8yrs now, he's now 64 and I'm 53. We're very close but he's not a very affectionate man but warms my heart with his constant banter when I met him. I'm a talker and love to talk and listen to his story's when I met him he made me laugh and feel good with his happy go lucky don't give a dam attitude ☺
We have a love for gardening and the outdoors and days away camping etc.... well that's when I first really took notice that his ramblings were becoming muddled, repeating sentences over and over. That was just about 3 years ago. We were away in our van camping in the west of Ireland (I'm from Northern Ireland btw) we had laid down to sleep and he said " hey P, (that's what he called me, never my full name just P) did we drive down through the Midlands (middle of ireland) I says no we came via Sligo & Galway along the coast, he was so confused at the time, I just brushed it off, but he kept asking me it as if I was wrong, then it was repeating the same question over and over, I lost it and said some nasty things as my patience wore thin and I believed he was winding me up.
Fast forward:
After a year of just forgetting stuff I became concerned, got an appointment and the doctor done a memory test, the doctor noticed his memory wasn't so great and referred him to the memory clinic, we went there and done much the same thing plus a hundred questions lol, referred for a MRI, results were Early onset Alzheimers!
He didn't seem to take it in, he just rambled on about his dad having hardened arteries, telling his story. We left there and I explained that he was lucky his dad didn't have the medication he has, and that we would take it one day at a time, which fortunately is how he's doing it, he never mentions it only if he's speaking off his dad, he was prescribed 5mg donezipil to take for a month then was increased to 10mg, a month later he was prescribed 15mg ... the consultant said he would try him on a higher dose to see if it helps slow progression I think as a trial because he was young. He's still on that dose 2 years later, it seems to be working as his last memory test was the same, although i see changes in his memory daily.
So atm were still at early stages with mainly memory loss, and delusions on one occasion throughout the night. I've found the information and experiences you've all had invaluable. I've a long stretch ahead and getting prepared as best I can