Hi All,
Just looking for a little help here and to see if anyone else has similar experiences.
We have had recent escalation in problems with my father who has Alzheimer’s. The main changes seem to be his perception of reality. He seems to be hallucinating a lot now and imaginary friends are becoming very very real.
One very good example of this is television, which up till now has been an ideal disctration so my mother the main carer can get on with sorting out the day to day task. Dad now seems to find a lot of events on the TV real. For example, he was watching a TV show and someone was sick, he found this really disturbing and immediately asked if we could be help to cleared up, reassuring him that it was just TV did not help and he disappeared to find a cloth to help clear it up.
Another recent escalation in his condition is his 'fantasy friends' who he constantly communicates with in the mirror (in fact and surface with a reflection). At first it was the odd comment, like could you cook some extra food for them at dinner. But now it’s constant, he talks to his 'friends' all the time and we are finding it increasing difficult to distract him from this activity.
My mother would like to continue care at home as long as possible as she cares for dad deeply. We are working and nagging mum to get some additional help at home. But the bottom line is whether this is a slow change or a sever degradation of the condition.
I guess what I'm asking is that Alzheimer’s has been very gradual up to now, but is this recent escalation in dad's condition is a warning sign. He seems to be suddenly hitting a new level that is particularly worrying and I just wondered whether this is common progression of Alzheimer’s in the later stages.
Also, has anyone had experieces with hallucinations, particulary with reflections/mirrors.
Many thanks
Charlie....
Just looking for a little help here and to see if anyone else has similar experiences.
We have had recent escalation in problems with my father who has Alzheimer’s. The main changes seem to be his perception of reality. He seems to be hallucinating a lot now and imaginary friends are becoming very very real.
One very good example of this is television, which up till now has been an ideal disctration so my mother the main carer can get on with sorting out the day to day task. Dad now seems to find a lot of events on the TV real. For example, he was watching a TV show and someone was sick, he found this really disturbing and immediately asked if we could be help to cleared up, reassuring him that it was just TV did not help and he disappeared to find a cloth to help clear it up.
Another recent escalation in his condition is his 'fantasy friends' who he constantly communicates with in the mirror (in fact and surface with a reflection). At first it was the odd comment, like could you cook some extra food for them at dinner. But now it’s constant, he talks to his 'friends' all the time and we are finding it increasing difficult to distract him from this activity.
My mother would like to continue care at home as long as possible as she cares for dad deeply. We are working and nagging mum to get some additional help at home. But the bottom line is whether this is a slow change or a sever degradation of the condition.
I guess what I'm asking is that Alzheimer’s has been very gradual up to now, but is this recent escalation in dad's condition is a warning sign. He seems to be suddenly hitting a new level that is particularly worrying and I just wondered whether this is common progression of Alzheimer’s in the later stages.
Also, has anyone had experieces with hallucinations, particulary with reflections/mirrors.
Many thanks
Charlie....