Worried about stepdad

[qfda3801]

I moved away from home in August of last year and have been back to visit about once a month since then. Every time I come home (and for awhile before I moved), I've noticed that my stepdad seems to really be struggling. My mom has noticed it too but won't talk to me about it seriously. Things I've noticed are a lapse in short-term memory, problems with directions, and general confusion.

Some examples: taking my boyfriend and I to the airport where he's dropped people off tens of times, he went into the wrong garage and got lost; just tonight he was talking about making dinner then stopped in the middle of a sentence and started talking about an email he got today. When my mom and I asked what he had been about to say, the last thing he remembered in the conversation had happened 5 minutes prior; he has even expressed to me directly that he feels like he forgets stuff, or that he thinks my mom is becoming forgetful because she says he has said stuff that he doesn't remember saying.

Does anyone have any advice? He's barely in his mid 70s and I'm only 19. He has a 2.5 yo granddaughter and I just don't know what to do. I'm worried to bring it up to my older siblings in case I'm seeing stuff that's not there.

 

[Louise7]

Welcome to the forum @qfda3801 I'm not sure if you're in the UK or not but the usual route to a diagnosis would be to get your step dad checked out by a doctor, maybe as part of a general 'health check-up'. There may be other health issues that could be causing the memory problems and confusion so best to have a check up to rule out anything else. You may find this fact sheet covering symptoms and diagnosis helpful, and keep posting as there is lots of support here:

Dementia symptoms and diagnosis

Find information on some common symptoms of dementia, how it differs from normal ageing and how to go about getting a diagnosis.

www.alzheimers.org.uk