Hello,
My name is Jamie, I’m 24 and looking for some advice.
My family and I are becoming increasingly concerned with the signs my mother seems to be displaying at the age of 47. Her mother (my Nan) was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around the age of 55 and lived with it until until she died in 2016 at the age of 77. My mother is showing some of the same signs her mother did before she was diagnosed and during the last year we’ve all noticed these signs are displaying themselves more frequently.
She has became quite distant from conversation and doesn’t seem to be reigestering things we’re talking about. We’ll often be talking about one topic and she’ll start rambling about something completely different, then switch back to the previous topic after we’ve moved on. She’s also on a few occasions started walking past the house and forgetting where we live, as well as walking past the car. It’s also become increasingly common for her to blank anyone calling her, for example, if I’m calling “Mam” from the other room, she just doesn’t register it. I have to physically go in the other room and stand next to her for her to register me.
She’s also started having trouble spelling some of the common things she’d normally write on a shopping list and spelling people’s names correctly. Recently, she was also at a cash point and after withdrawing her money out she just stood there. My Dad asked her what the problem was from a distance and she just said “I don’t know, I was in a world of my own”. We’ve also had to start going with her to pay for things to make sure she doesn’t get flustered. Her communication with people, both out and about and to family and friends has declined. She doesn’t seem to be greeting people as she used to, she just starts off a conversation in the middle of a story and we have to work out what the conversation is about. She’s also started doing this shaking with her body when she’s watching tv. She just seems to become so fixated on what she’s watching and then sits there and rubs the palms of her hands back and forth whilst shaking her upper body from side to side. It’s something that I’m told my Nan did once she was diagnosed and its not something that she has always done.
Today, my Dad and her cooked everyone Sunday lunch and she put out a plate for my brother, my Dad explained that my brother wasn’t going to be here for dinner and was going round to his girlfriends house. She still proceeded to put out a dinner for him and my dad said my brother won’t end up eating it so there’s no point in doing one. She ignored him and did it anyway. As we sat down to dinner she said “who’s the other plate for?” and my Dad has to explain that she did it for my brother.
It’s all these things and her recent snappy behaviour that has made us think she may have early onset dementia just like my Nan did. Do these things sound like dementia? We want to try and talk to her about it all and try and convince her to take the step and go and see her GP. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? What is normally the first step a GP will take?
Sorry for rambling on, I just wanted to give an overview of some the things my mother does that is making us so concerned.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Jamie
My name is Jamie, I’m 24 and looking for some advice.
My family and I are becoming increasingly concerned with the signs my mother seems to be displaying at the age of 47. Her mother (my Nan) was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around the age of 55 and lived with it until until she died in 2016 at the age of 77. My mother is showing some of the same signs her mother did before she was diagnosed and during the last year we’ve all noticed these signs are displaying themselves more frequently.
She has became quite distant from conversation and doesn’t seem to be reigestering things we’re talking about. We’ll often be talking about one topic and she’ll start rambling about something completely different, then switch back to the previous topic after we’ve moved on. She’s also on a few occasions started walking past the house and forgetting where we live, as well as walking past the car. It’s also become increasingly common for her to blank anyone calling her, for example, if I’m calling “Mam” from the other room, she just doesn’t register it. I have to physically go in the other room and stand next to her for her to register me.
She’s also started having trouble spelling some of the common things she’d normally write on a shopping list and spelling people’s names correctly. Recently, she was also at a cash point and after withdrawing her money out she just stood there. My Dad asked her what the problem was from a distance and she just said “I don’t know, I was in a world of my own”. We’ve also had to start going with her to pay for things to make sure she doesn’t get flustered. Her communication with people, both out and about and to family and friends has declined. She doesn’t seem to be greeting people as she used to, she just starts off a conversation in the middle of a story and we have to work out what the conversation is about. She’s also started doing this shaking with her body when she’s watching tv. She just seems to become so fixated on what she’s watching and then sits there and rubs the palms of her hands back and forth whilst shaking her upper body from side to side. It’s something that I’m told my Nan did once she was diagnosed and its not something that she has always done.
Today, my Dad and her cooked everyone Sunday lunch and she put out a plate for my brother, my Dad explained that my brother wasn’t going to be here for dinner and was going round to his girlfriends house. She still proceeded to put out a dinner for him and my dad said my brother won’t end up eating it so there’s no point in doing one. She ignored him and did it anyway. As we sat down to dinner she said “who’s the other plate for?” and my Dad has to explain that she did it for my brother.
It’s all these things and her recent snappy behaviour that has made us think she may have early onset dementia just like my Nan did. Do these things sound like dementia? We want to try and talk to her about it all and try and convince her to take the step and go and see her GP. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? What is normally the first step a GP will take?
Sorry for rambling on, I just wanted to give an overview of some the things my mother does that is making us so concerned.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Jamie