When I spoke to Mum later it was of course my fault as I had not shown her how to use the phone
My mum also gets hallucinations and delusions. What you’re describing sounds like hallucinations, ie seeing hearing or smelling things that are not there, whereas a delusion is a fixed false belief, eg ‘my husband wants to divorce me (when he doesn’t). Of course hallucinations can lead to delusions, eg I see men in the garden (hallucination) leading to ‘my family have sent men to kill me’ (delusion). It is good that she knows her hallucinations are not real, although that wont’t, as you've discovered, necessarily stop them being frightening. The bigger problem comes when she stops realizing they are not real or they become so frightening she is in terror. The good thing about hallucinations is that there is medication - antipsychotics eg risperidome- that can stop them. I recommend asking for a referral to the mental health team for older people to see if they can help. It can take a long time to get seen so good to start as soon as a problem becomes apparent. Good luck!The good the bad and the ugly.
Good - blood tests all good
Bad - records show Mum is still on Aspirin although it was stopped in June when she was prescribed other blood thinning tablets. Would have been surprised if I had not read other people’s comments on here.
Ugly - she did mention the size of another patients stomach, fortunately he did not hear although others in the waiting room did. So glad I had read on TP this happening to others.
So great to hear of others experiences so these situations are not totally unexpected.
Good - we had a nice lunch out and Mum brought some new Pj’s
Ugly - mum is aware that she had delusions and is usually not too worried about them but this afternoon she told me that she was scared the other night when there were 3 men sitting round the kitchen table when she got up in the middle of the night. She knows it is not real now but totally believed it at the time
Bad - not sure if the self awareness of her condition is bad or good.
My mum has so many, that its only being on here that I have realised
- Walking behind me, I slowed, she slowed, I stopped, she stopped ( possibly unaware where we were going)
- Eating sweet stuff ( 6 cream eggs in 2 days - I had never seem mum eat chocolate at all at this time)
Hi. Yes I did mean hallucinations not delusions. You are quite right. Thank you for the suggestion about getting a referral and starting the process early. As you say once she does not realise they are not real it is in fact worse. I suppose I was thinking that if she she did not have the self realisation Mum would forget about them, however I am just starting to remember that it is the feelings that remain not the eventMy mum also gets hallucinations and delusions. What you’re describing sounds like hallucinations, ie seeing hearing or smelling things that are not there, whereas a delusion is a fixed false belief, eg ‘my husband wants to divorce me (when he doesn’t). Of course hallucinations can lead to delusions, eg I see men in the garden (hallucination) leading to ‘my family have sent men to kill me’ (delusion). It is good that she knows her hallucinations are not real, although that wont’t, as you've discovered, necessarily stop them being frightening. The bigger problem comes when she stops realizing they are not real or they become so frightening she is in terror. Good luck!
Yes I get that too and I gave up sugar 30 yrs agoWere still being asked on a daily basis how many sugars 4 or 5. None please mum.
Developing a sweet tooth is definitely a dementia symptom.
... He ate 3 twirl bars in about 3 hours Sunday morning.
The thing that made us smile though was when I had to buy normal muesli and not no added sugar (there wasn’t any) and he said ooh I’m not sure on that it’s a bit sweet. Made me smile, can eat 3 twirls happily but muesli with sugar was a bit much