When to contact Doctors for a review...???

DaisyG

Registered User
Feb 20, 2006
183
0
North West England
We've been having a rollercoaster few weeks... with LOTS of changes... ups and downs.... etc...


My husband is not due to see his Neuro Doctor ..... and his Stroke Doctor till October.


While we have been given a Primary Diagnosis of MID ... I'm beginning to wonder if it is one of the other 'dementias'. (not that it changes much....)


Since Christmas his memory is rapidly going downhill FAST.


Just about EVERY day he asks for AT least one of his meals again.
He's becomming A LOT food obsessed....
Wants to eat ANY left overs on my plate... even hard / burnt 'toast crusts' ....


Always hungry ... though can't possibly be...


[At what stage should I get a lock for the fridge and cupboards?
He's angry that he 'has not' been fed for hours... sometimes days !!!

He acuses me of stealing food of his plate....]I have to hide biscuits (not that we have many) as he really would eat the lot!!


His 'pickyness' has increased over these last few weeks.
If there is someone on the TV that he does not like ... or like the sound of ..... he will INSIST that the channel changes....


He 'complains' that something on the TV is not 'being done' in the manner that it 'should' ....
I've tried to explain that in TV world... things are done in a 'different time'....


I've been 'having words' with him these last few days about NOT going out with his WINTER Ski Jacket on ... as it's too hot ...


How can I convince him that he really does not need a hat / scarf / gloves etc.. when it is blazing hot outside ?


Thankfully he has stopped 'playing' with the gas controls on the central heating in the middle of the night.... BUT for how long?


A new thing of his .... is to ask...
"What are you doing in my bed?" .. when he wakes up in the night...


I've had him 'not recognising' neighbours ... but to not recognise 'little me' is a new thing...
Has anyone else has this experience / or same question ?



He finds tone of voice hard to 'judge' now ... and quite often thinks I'm cross... when I am just 'calling him' for lunch etc....


He thinks I am 'out to get him' .... and want him gone (his words)....


HIS behavior has DEFINATELY deteriorated since we last saw his doctors... and I really don't want to 'bother' them 'for nothing' .....
As we are due to see them in 2-3 months anyway ... should I ask for an earlier appointment?


My GP is looking to change his drugs as his 'aggression' is increasing ... so it may be that they call us in to be seen sooner.....


Any advice out there would be appreciated.

Take care

DaisyG
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Daisy,
See your GP. Tell him all this. See if he feels an earlier referral is warranted.
Take care.
Love Helen
 

May

Registered User
Oct 15, 2005
627
0
Yorkshire
DaisyG

Please..please don't leave this until you are between a rock and a hard place! Ask for an earlier appointment/meds review etc etc NOW.. Having just gone through a period where Mum was becoming more and more paranoid and suffering from dreadful delusions all day every day, and then had to be admitted as an emergency to the hospital because we couldn't control the situation....Please.. get that help now. The difference in Mum now she has settled on the new meds, is the difference between an angel and the devil:eek: . Life for us all is now 150% better. Have to say though I don't know whether you will be able to 'cure' the food thing, Mum constantly says'When is breakfast/dinner/tea'? Even when she's only just eaten,:) I reckon in some way that the centre in the brain that controls the appetite is being affected, so I'm afraid it's 'lock up the cupboards time' (or at least hide the 'goodies':D )
Take care, thinking of you.
 

Kayla

Registered User
May 14, 2006
621
0
Kent
Lack of time awareness

My Mum has told me that she has not eaten anything for days, when I know that she has had breakfast and her morning cup of tea. One morning she said that everyone had just ignored her all day. It was 10.45am. and she had been washed and dressed, had breakfast, her bed had been made and her room vacuumed by a cleaner who had left as I arrived! I don't think she remembers events on a short term basis.
It sounds as if your husband needs to have a review of his medication as soon as possible, as he seems in a very unstable condition. My Mum was very tearful and depressed, but the NH seem to have adjusted her drugs so that she is more cheerful but still alert. Perhaps the hot weather is making him worse.
Kayla
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
My mother had a stage and was like that

He's becoming A LOT food obsessed....

Every time someone went in to the kitchen to make themselves something to eat mum would be hovering around then , if I was in another room mum would be opening the cupboards in the kitchen to look for something to eat , sometime I thing it was out of boredom and sometime that she just forgets that she eaten , with mum I just had to say be care full as its has high fats and not good for your diabetic and it seem to work , other time it did not & mum would get angry with me , then it pass and now mum says to be do you think I am hungry ?
 

BeckyJan

Registered User
Nov 28, 2005
18,971
0
Derbyshire
How can I convince him that he really does not need a hat / scarf / gloves etc.. when

Hello DaisyG - how I relate to this one - David has actually not had a cardigan on today (maybe because its the hotest day on record!).

I do agree with previous reply - you must see your GP and hopefully he will bring forward an early assessment for you. (Have you the facility of ringing up the CPN when you have these concerns - I have and would not hesitate to be phoning with the concerns you have).

David had a stage of fiddling with central heating - still would except his mobility is making it difficult for him to move around.

I dont think he knows whether he is hungry or not - will just eat what is put in front of him (very gratefully) - and then would happily go for another 12 hrs or so or would eat again if a meal was offered.

I had an aggressive stage at the early onset of AD but these days he is very grateful and emotional with me. His memory is dreadful - asked my eldest daughter - 'is she your mother or mine' - oh then she must be my wife!!'
Does always know where the toilet is or where the rooms in the house are. Hardly knows who is who.

My biggest worry at present is 'mobility' - he refuses to use a wheelchair but is finding it extremely hard to get around. I am not sure whether this is AD or not and I do worry for the future on this one.

Our GP told me at the start of Aricept prescription that we would probably have a couple of years on a plateau and then a sudden drop down. I suspect we are on the verge of the sudden drop! Having said this the mini assessment score was 23 (albeit the CPN did answer some of the questions for him!!!).

What a dreadful disease - made harder as we just cannot anticipate what is ahead of us.

Keep your chin up DaisyG Best wishes Beckyjan
 

Lynne

Registered User
Jun 3, 2005
3,433
0
Suffolk,England
Yes, get a sooner appointment if you can

with the specialist if possible, or with your GP if that's the best you can get (or, of course, BOTH)

Best wishes

PS: Have just read your other "Bad Weekend ..." thread. Daisy, when you see the doctor (or whoever) SOON, print off your threads to TP & tell it just like it is. No covering up for embarrassing behaviours, or abusive ones, your health (physical as well as mental health) are in serious danger here. Have anti-psychotic meds (for your husband, not your MiL!!) ever been suggested or discussed? Perhaps it's time to introduce the subject.
 
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