Time problems - Medication

[Jac86]

My mum hasn’t been diagnosed but we’re sure she has dementia.
There are various signs but the worst one is being anxious about the time. If she has something on she’ll be up during the night getting ready and wanting to leave hours before, she gets confused looking at the clock and thinks she’ll be late, she can get quite angry about it. We’ve spoken to her friends and asked them not to arrange anything with her in advance, just call her on the day but even then it causes issues, e.g. someone will phone at 10 to arrange to pick her up at 12 and she’s getting ready straight away and then thinking the person is late and wanting to phone them.

I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this with a loved one, and if so, will she always be like this now? Does anyone know if medication that helps with this? She’s already on medication for high blood pressure and for heart problems.

 

[Shedrech]

Hi @Jac86
Yes what you describe will be familiar to many here ... it's sensible to give your mum as little notice of events and appointments as possible, though of course that has its own issues if she becomes anxious about not having time to get ready

sadly anxiety can be part and parcel of dementia, not necessarily always about time, but around not being in control, feeling something is not right but not knowing what ... it can pass, though I think it's worth chatting with your mum's GP to see if meds might help ... dad's anxiety at times really was not good for him and he was better for some meds to help him settle

 

[Mabel_BD]

Hello,

I'm sorry that you are going through this, the clock watching and anxiety about time is something we also observed.

My dad was diagnosed with FTD after previously being misdiagnosed with depression in January. With the depression/anxiety diagnosis he has been taking sertraline for 8 weeks and his mood and anxiety have drastically improved (more affectionate, less worried about time, etc). Might be worth speaking to GP about SSRI (this class of antidepressants) as I have read that it can improve mood and behavioral symptoms that co-exist with dementia.

Another thing, my dad gets very sleepy in the late afternoon (probably too late to have a nap) and I have noticed that giving him a distraction e.g. going for a walk together or doing a word/number puzzle helps to perk him up a bit.

Hope this helps