My mums memory has been getting worse over the last couple of years. We finally managed to get her to go to the doctors who did blood tests and sent her for an MRI scan...both were clear. She has also done the same memory test at least 5 times now and comes out with a respectable 26-28 each time. This test consists of the same thing each time- copy a diagram, spell world backwords etc. The doctor says she has mild cognitive Impairment but both me, my dad and sister think it is more than that. She constantly asks the same questions over and over again in a short space of time, doesn't know what day of the week it is, repeats things and forgets where things are in the house. She also forgets who people are- thankfully not her immediate family at the moment. She has no problem remembering memories from a long time ago. I am sure she has the start of Alzheimers but really don't know where to go from here. The memory test they keep doing doesn't seem to be a good indicator as to the problems she has. Surely family are the best indicator when they notice changes to a loved ones memory? Any pointers from here please? Does anyone know of any different tests available?
Worried about my mum
- Thread starter SharHen
- Start date
Hi
My Mum was the exact same last year in Feb, she passed the same test and she also passed it in 2009 when we were concerned, and the CT scan was clear, this April one of my friends had seen her out on her own and seen that she look lost and confused in a local shop so I obviously got her straight back to the doctors and she was seen by the consultant who did the same test and she went to pieces in the test and scored a lot less and was diagnosed with mild alzheimers. There is a thing on the alzheimers website called the 7 stages and if you have a look your Mum is at the stage before my Mum. I know how upsetting and awful it is when you know your Mum is not right, and then she may even have a really good day and then you think she is fine then bad the next day, I have said since 2007 my Mum was showing signs of Alzheimers because we know our Mums best My Mums blood tests were also clear every time. Maybe ask your GP can she be referred to an Old Age Psychiatrist they will defo spot it. What I also did this last time was type up lots of different examples so there was no way they could fob me off. I hope this had helped a little and if you need anything else please let me know, lots of love
xxxx
Thanks for this. I have been documenting things that have happened but it is my dad that deals with it on a day to day basis. He is also not well with Parkinson's so that is another worry. I'll just have to keep going...it's nice to hear from someone that has experienced the same...thanks for taking the time to reply x
Hi SharHen and welcome. It's really hard with two parents who are poorly, a double worry. Both mine lived with our family, Dad had kidney problems and very wobbly on his feet, and then mum was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago, with the same symptoms as you describe, same test although she began to get worse scores. I don't know if you have to get to a certain score before any medication, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along and help with that. She did also have a brain scan that showed the problem area. She did quite well on Aricept for a couple of years, but then did deteriorate, and began wandering. The problem is that every sufferer is different and can follow a different pattern and pace of the disease. Mum was checked out every six months and I kept a diary on a calendar of different issues, it was a good idea as I would have just forgotten them, so you will need to get your dad on board with helping with this. All the while that mum could wash and dress herself, albeit needing to be reminded to do so and to change her clothes, there was no help to be had (Dad was in a nursing home by this stage). It was only when she began to wander and became incontninent and I spoke to our doctor, were we referred to our local elderly mental health team, and a CPN came and did an assessment. This differs for different health authorities/ social services teams, so if you are worried, I would see if you can talk to your mum's GP, especially if you are worried about the impact on your dad's health. Also your local AS will be a good source of information and advice. There are also lots of really good fact sheets on this website that may help you. One thing I have learned is that no one will actually offer any help without you asking for it - other than on TP that is! I hope you will keep posting and that you manage to get some help for your mum and dad. xxx
Thanks for this. I am glad that I have found this site and can hear from other people in the same position. On the news today it says that it is taking far too long to diagnose dementia...up to 18 months...so I will just keep going because I know that it just isn't general memory loss. She is now on anti depressants to control her moods and temper which has helped a little but her memory is still really bad.
Hi SharHen,
This is very sad and it sounds as though the medical profession are not listerning to your concerns, do you have an older adult mental health team in your area, could be worth trying them rather than the GP. The fact that she is taking anti-depressants should be a signal to 'professionals' that all is not well, maybe she is suffering from other neurological illnesses which are not picked up by an MRI scan. There are trials in the UK for people with mild to moderate AD, your mother may very well qualify for these if she has this condition in the early stages, also has the GP ruled out prion disease, only a blood test can rule this out.
All the best
I took my father to see his GP because he didn't know who my brother was when we were talking about him one day - and that was what I told the GP. He still scored 26 on the MMSE and said things like he'd never noticed the names of local roads or cared who the PM was, though he'd been a frequent driver and had listened to Radio 4 all day long! I don't know how they scored those particular answers, but thankfully the Memory Clinic doctor said that, given he'd been a headmaster, they considered the moderate score to be more of a dip than it might appear to be. They diagnosed mild to moderate Alzheimers and said they were prescribing medications earlier now in the hope they would be of greater help to those at the beginning of the disease.
He was put on Exelon/Rivastigmine within about 4 months of going to the GP and it made a significant difference. We're now more than 18 months on from then and I consider we've dropped back past where he was at that point, though we have lost my mother in the meantime which can't have helped. At the last MMSE in Feb this year I was told he's dropped 'a few points' as if I wasn't to worry about it. I wish I'd asked how many, but it didn't really matter. Considering that he frequently has problems with getting dressed now, what he scores on the test is pretty irrelevant.
I think what made the difference was when they asked him about what he'd done as a job and he told them all about when he was in the RAF and never mentioned the 30 years he'd spent teaching or the 20 years post-retirement caravanning. When I brought these up, he was quite amazed as he couldn't remember them and that was when the nurse who was administering the test got an idea of how significant his memory loss really was.
He was put on Exelon/Rivastigmine within about 4 months of going to the GP and it made a significant difference. We're now more than 18 months on from then and I consider we've dropped back past where he was at that point, though we have lost my mother in the meantime which can't have helped. At the last MMSE in Feb this year I was told he's dropped 'a few points' as if I wasn't to worry about it. I wish I'd asked how many, but it didn't really matter. Considering that he frequently has problems with getting dressed now, what he scores on the test is pretty irrelevant.
I think what made the difference was when they asked him about what he'd done as a job and he told them all about when he was in the RAF and never mentioned the 30 years he'd spent teaching or the 20 years post-retirement caravanning. When I brought these up, he was quite amazed as he couldn't remember them and that was when the nurse who was administering the test got an idea of how significant his memory loss really was.
