Worried about mum

[Simon1965]

Hi all I'm a bit worried about my mum she's in her early 80's and appears to have been getting more confused over the last few months misplacing her glasses (found weeks later in her boots) and her house keys (found the next morning in the garden hedge She appears to manage the house ok she lives on her own since my dad died 5 years ago I visit at least twice a week She also continually confuses me my dad and my son not just getting names wrong but insisting that I've been somewhere with her and my dad when it was my son.Last week my wife and I took her away for a few days and she was extremely confused waking at 4 am saying she was being kidnapped she also thought there were more people in the holiday home than the three of us I did manage to get her to the doctor's on my return and he has ordered blood tests and a review in a couple with a memory test which she doesn't want to have and is worried about (she had one a couple of years back after a fall) I just wondered if this sounded familiar to anyone else

 

[karaokePete]

Hello @Simon1965, you are welcome here and I hope you find the forum to be a friendly and supportive place.

Your situation is extremely common so you are in the right place for support. Many treatable conditions, such as depression, stress, thyroid problems, vitamin deficiencies etc., can cause dementia like symptoms so it's important to have these check-ups. Please don't cause additional stress by jumping to the immediate conclusion that it's dementia. On the other hand, if it is dementia then a diagnosis may open up support for you.

I hope you have time to take a good look around the site as it is a goldmine for information. When I first joined I read old threads for information but then found the AS Publications list and the page where a post code search can be done to check for support services in ones own area if dementia is diagnosed. If you are interested in these, clicking the following links will take you there

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/publications-factsheets-full-list

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/find-support-near-you

You will see that there are Factsheets that will help with things like getting care needs assessments, deciding the level of care required and sorting out useful things like Wills, Power of Attorney etc., if any of that hasn't already been done.

Now that you have found us I hope you will keep posting as the membership has vast collective knowledge and experience.

 

[karaokePete]

By the way, there is a specific Society Factsheet about the diagnosis issue and I've added a link below. Just click the second line to read and/or print the document if you wish

Assessment and diagnosis (426)
PDF printable version