Worried partner might have dementia

[duxburydame]

My 75 year old partner woke up this morning and asked if his sons were in the house as he'd heard loud music. I think he'd been dreaming but he was adament that it wasn't a dream. Should I be worried? His sons live many miles away.
Similar things have happened recently but only when he wakes up.

 

[Pollywobble]

My OH woke up one day and asked where he was. I made a doctor's appointment under the pretext of checking his blood pressure. The doctor did a memory test. This would give you a better idea. OH couldn't answer the questions. This was the start of our dementia journey. Good luck.

 

[duxburydame]

Thanks for your reply. I don't know if I'm over worrying as he's fine in the day, does lots of suduko and enigma puzzles without any trouble. He's only asked one other time if someone was in the house. He has woken a few times recently with bad dreams. His memory has deteriorated and he's not as good with technology such as phones. I'm a worrier and I don't know whether it's me being anxious

 

[SeaSwallow]

Hello @duxburydame and welcome to the forum, you will find lots of help and support from our members.
I would agree with @Pollywobble that it would be a good idea to arrange an appointment with your husband’s GP. You could email the doctor a list of your concerns prior to the appointment. There could be a number of things causing the symptoms that you describe so try not to worry too much in the meantime.

 

[PammieA]

I think you should definitely make an appointment to see the GP (as Pollywobble says). You know your partner better than anyone else, go with your instinct.

 

[Violet Jane]

@duxburydame, I would suggest keeping a diary and noting odd or worrying behaviours. That way you will get a picture of what's happening across a period of time and will be able to be very specific if you want to raise your concerns with the GP.

 

[canary]

Mmm, there are a few red flags in there @duxburydame
I would start keeping a journal of all the odd things he says and does, so that you can refer to it

 

[duxburydame]

Thanks, a diary of incidents sounds a good idea. He is fine after a minute or two that why I think he is half a sleep.

 

[duxburydame]

I should have said that he doesn't see anyone in the house he just asks if there are other people in the house.It's only happened once before, again when he just wakes up.

 

[SherwoodSue]

Hypnagocic and hypnopompic hallucinations are sleep related. One when you are falling asleep and one where you are waking up.

 

[duxburydame]

Thanks . Are they serious ?

 

[duxburydame]

I've looked up lewy bodies if anyone knows anything about it but he doesn't have any tremors. Can you have lewy bodies without tremors in the early stages? Does anyone know how quickly it progresses if it was lewy bodies? He has had a few acting out of dreams.

 

[SeaSwallow]

Hello again @duxburydame. There is a lot more to Lewy Body Dementia than just acting out dreams and tremors. I know the temptation is there to Google symptoms when we are concerned about a loved one but only a consultant can diagnose any form of dementia.
I would again suggest that you take a note of everything that you are concerned about and try to arrange an appointment for your husband with his GP. That is the only way to find out for sure what’s going on.
I know it is worrying, many of us have been through this stage and it is stressful.

 

[duxburydame]

Thanks. I realise that no one on the forum can diagnose & that peopke are just expressing their own viewpoint from their experience, just wanted to see what symptoms people who had experience of people with lewy bodies or hypnopompic hallucinations had seen just to give me some idea. My husband will not go to the dr at the moment as he thinks it's nothing and it's just me over reacting.

 

[Banjomansmate]

As far as I am aware The Banjoman never experienced tremors with LBD but did have hallucinations.

 

[SeaSwallow]

Thanks. I realise that no one on the forum can diagnose & that peopke are just expressing their own viewpoint from their experience, just wanted to see what symptoms people who had experience of people with lewy bodies or hypnopompic hallucinations had seen just to give me some idea. My husband will not go to the dr at the moment as he thinks it's nothing and it's just me over reacting.

If your husband will not go to the doctor you could email them a list of the issues that they are concerned about and as if they would call your husband in for a well man check up. That has worked for some of our members.

 

[duxburydame]

Thank you, that's useful. I can't decide whether what he's experiencing is hypnopompic hallucinations or not. It's over in less than a minute. Don't know whether hypnopompic hallucinations are always linked to lewy bodies. He isn't seeing anything/ one, but said he'd heard music today and thought his sons must have come over- I think he was dreaming and woke up. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[duxburydame]

If your husband will not go to the doctor you could email them a list of the issues that they are concerned about and as if they would call your husband in for a well man check up. That has worked for some of our members.

I'll think of that. Useful to know. Thanks

 

[duxburydame]

I know that googling can be dangerous but it says that hypnopompic halluc. Can often be not serious. Does anyone have any experience of cases where's it's not been a problem? Just trying to explore many possible causes.

 

[Violet Jane]

I wouldn't over-focus on the hallucinations. There is also the decline in his memory and skills that you mention above. Try not to panic but keep a detailed diary for, say, a month and see what it shows. If you are still concerned at that point then I would take things forward. There are other things that can cause cognitive problems which have to be ruled out before dementia can be considered as a possible diagnosis.