I'm wondering ........ are there different types of dementias which elicit different behaviours? ...... i.e. Divi's husband talks to statues ........ Kadee's husband has started talking to someone in the mirror ....... Is it GC's wife who wants to invite the musicians on a recording to dinner? ...... do these folks all have the same defined type of Dementia or are they individually different ?
My husband doesn't do any of these things although he is/does live in his own little world ..... has Parkinson's Disease as well as AZ, is incontinent, seems to need an extraordinary numer of hours of sleep, needs to have his food cut up for him and does better with finger food, can't do up zippers and today buttons seemed to be a problem; his gait is very unsteady and on and on ...... but he isn't talking to *unseen friends* so I'm wondering if this is a phenomenon displayed by only those who have certain types of dementias or is it something I should be aware will happen in time?
Barbra remember be careful what you ask for..haha..i do believe there are certain processes in the dementias that can be triggers for hallucinations and odd behaviours that others never exhibit. i think my DH has some FTD or lewy bodys involved as he has very vivid actout dreams at times and talks not only to statues but lamp shades and other inanimate objects. i dont have him on AD meds so cant blame that for any of it. the if you 've seen one person with AD you have seen one person...is so true. i see some similiarties in others spouses behaviours but i think its to each his own and how the brain is being consumed and in what order that causes each victims symptoms. so i guess in answer to your question there are specific symptoms associated with the various forms of dementia but they overlap so often its very hard to k now. divvi
Bar-bra, your husband is a twin (symptom wise) to my husband. He doesn't scream or have rages, like others describe, but seems to forget how to walk...put one foot forward, then the other foot. When he gets out of the car, he'll just stand there until I say, "Come On.." and extend a hand to him.
Zippers can work, but he has to be reminded to zip his pants frequently. Since he wears polo shirts, we don't worry much about buttons. If he gets cold, he'll put a second shirt on over his polo shirt.
My question is the same as yours. Are the violent rages in our future, or did we just skip over that chapter. It's hard to imagine him going from sleeping all the time, in bed or in his chair, to a more active aggresive state. He's just so quiet!!!
Barbara, My husband has FTD & not Alzheimer's. He can tie his shoes, zip his coat, remember Courtney B. Vance's name on Law and Order Criminal Intent, however, sometimes doesn't remember my name, cannot remember his birthdate, address, SS# etc. It still amazes me when he pops up with something out of the blue.
i think you are pretty safe from rages if it hasnt allready happened at some point. they USUALLY mellow out later as they progress the exception seems to be for the FTD i think from what kadee/bluedaze and some others with the rage issues have said.
ps my DH passed thru the rage/aggitation stage about stage 3-4..divvi
Bar-bra, the business of my DW waving back at the TV and inviting the CD musicians to dinner is a fairly recent thing, but otherwise she sounds like she has much the same behaviors as your DH with the exception of incontinence -- we've had to deal with that only infrequently up to this point, but I fully expect it in the future. We've escaped rages and depression thus far, and I've got my fingers crossed that we'll never encounter these. Actually, my DW has been extra sharp and in good humor for the past week or so, but I know that can change.
My DH has such vivid dreams he thinks they are real. This week he was telling our visiting son O from daytime got religion. He said "really" when? DH told him "about a month ago". I told son I think that was a dream. Subject dropped until "next time".
The other day we went to see the neuro. For the first time that I remember, the doctor got out his reflex hammer and his bright flashlight on his forehead and looked into my husbands eyes and checked his reflexes. Didn't say anything after finishing. What would that indicate if his reflexes were off? (they weren't) Husband was his usual evasive self: what is today? The day after yesterday. Not remembering the date I never worry about, but not knowing he was in the USA or in Rhode Island is a bit weird. Yet he almost spelled world backwards, remembered his 3 things, identified things, followed directions, etc. Score of about 16.
Ummmm, well perhaps we're skipping the *friends in the mirror* etc. ...... but what we're NOT skipping is the poop on the toilet seat and the pee on the floor and down the wall .... both put there by somebody else ..... 'not me' says he! ..... roflol !! - I used to get so upset about this toilet issue but have decided to just clean it up and not point any fingers .... doesn't do any good at all and perhaps its a good *instead of* the raging and depressions ....... think maybe I should count my blessings on this one !
Yep, me too. But I just HATE folding up TP into wiping squares - I'm going to go looking for the kind they have in public buildings, the folded squares.
The last time we were at the neurologists, they checked his eyes for cataracts. A later call to his/my Clinical Psychologist revealed that they look for a type of cataract that forms in the eyes of Alzheimer's patients. His eyes, incidentally, have begun to develop cataracts. "Google Alzheimer's cataracts" for more info.
ok, who would think we'd be grateful for the poop patrol instead of some other issue?? they'd think us crazy for sure. but you are doing the right thing bar-bra, clean it up and move on..it will keep you sane to not fight it. it will happen even if you point the finger and that will only raise your blood pressure. :) yeah...i have some allies in the poop/pee patrol i see--there will be an alliance at some point i promise..hehe...you better FESS UP if you are doing pooduty or pisspatrol - i have bared it all here, not fair. divvi
ps the clorox wipes does an excellent job of toilet touchups.
I should have stock in Clorox wipes...I would be a very wealthy women. The first few times of wiping the toilet seat down & flushing the stool drove me crazy, now it has became a way of life. At least he still goes in the toilet.
I have Clorox wipes on the backs of both toilets and another in the kitchen for hands and to wipe the counter off with. I just have to remember to go to the bathroom early enough to wipe it down in case he went without me! <grin>
Why do they fold the toilet paper in neat little squares? This is something new this year.....
My DH just woke up (?) after sleeping 20 hours straight. He was groggy yesterday and we had to leave for 2 hours so our Realtor could hold an OpenHouse. He dozed in the car. On the way home, I picked up chinese take out, and when we got home, he said he was going to 'rest his eyes' for a while and would eat later. He went to the spare bedroom and went sound asleep. I tried to wake him at 6:30 and again at 8:00...finally gave up. He slept until 12:00 NOON today.
He sleeps more and more. Is this more common than I thought?
mine has all of a sudden starting sleeping aftr breakfast too. i just woke him up took me 30min to get him up long enough to eat a grilled sandwich granola bar and peach cobbler. he is back asleep now. i am seeing more and more sleeping during the day too. the neuro says it goes with the disease as it progresses it will become more pronounced. divvi
My husband has always CAREFULLY folded five squares of TP into one. Used it for one swipe and on to the next. This requires MANY swipes. He used to do the folding himself but lately forgets so I do it. And I must do it properly. At least he still uses it if I do it.
Bar-bra, to sum up your question with all the great answers, I would say that YES they are the same but NO they aren't! LOL............ Big help I know! But what I wanted to say, as for seeing/talking to people my FIL didn't do that till later stages. So it may happen in time. Who knows, my Dh is in what I would say stage 5 slipping into 6. No seeing people who are not there, (yet) but has been talking up a storm while sleeping, (which he kinda always did once in awhile) But now it's every night! crystal clear, more of a conversation then just a few blurbs. As far as your dh having Parkinsons as well, Once my FIL was diagnosed with parkinson's syndrome and started taking meds for that as well as the meds for Ad he actually improved so I hate to say, having Parkinson's may be helping not to have some of the Ad issues. (just my opinion, cause like I said my FIL seemed to improve once he was put on Parkinson's meds) but that was just my observation.
As for the blame someone else issue, heck I thought it was cause my Dh was a middle child. LOL.................. I always just called it the middle child syndrome! Cause he has always said, it wasn't me, I didn't do this or that! hmmmmm,
My wife doesn't talk to people who are not there, but she does talk to her stuffed animals (2 cats and a bear). There are times when she seems to see things that I can't see. She has recently been talking about 3 birds in a tree outside our window. I finally figured out that it was 3 dead leaves, the only ones left. She sleeps well through the night, and dozes off during the day if nothing is going on. She frequently complains of being tired. Appetite is still VERY good (she has gained at least 25 pounds in past year or so), but I do have to cut up some of her food.
Most of the time now when I mention someone's name, unless it's one of her siblings, my DW seemingly can't remember who I'm talking about, so I decided a couple of evenings ago to give her something of a slide show on my computer screen of various friends and family members. She seemed to enjoy it, and even waved at a few, and when it was all over she asked if they'd been able to see us too. As divvi would say, awwww...
But all in all, she's been doing really well these past few weeks -- sleeping less, seemingly enjoying company, joking, etc. I was even tempted this past weekend to take her for some sort of an outing (she hasn't been out of the house -- except for the porches -- since early January), but then concluded not to because of the awkwardness of getting her in and out of the car and concern about getting her out of a routine here at home that seems to be working well. She spent several hours yesterday watching videos of family reunions and singing along with her sisters (the four sisters harmonizing together is always a big part of the reunions), and told my son, when he got home from work, about the "company" that we'd had. Another awww...
GC ...... I'm so happy to hear your wife is having some better days and seems a little more relaxed ..... would she enjoy going out for an ice cream treat? maybe you could work that into your weekly routine and it would get you out with the public too ....... just a thought :)
The Diary Queen has a plastic card, like the Starbuck's Coffee Cards, that you can buy and then put more $$ on it from time to time. Our Son gave R one at Christmas and since R is the biggest of big ice cream lovers he really enjoys going for a treat and just gives the lady his card ....... no need for money, which he can't figure out anyway. Works for us :)
Neatly folding the toilet tissue.....hmmmmmm. I DID notice my husband doing that in the nursing home when I went to see him lately. He's never done THAT before. Just usually rolls off a big wad. Everything is so weird. Weird.
What is with the careful folding of the toilet tissue, my DH does this too. I first tought maybe he always did it this way. I usually was never present when he needed to use toilet paper. I just thought maybe this was strange but normal for him. Guess you learn something everyday. DH also likes to sleep, he's going on 15 hrs right now. We had family here for a few days and wiped him out. He has the Parkinsons symptoms but no hallucinations (thank God). He's been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. What ever it is, it's horrible.
Thanks to all on this site. I'm usually a lurker, but I get so much from this site. My computer crashed two days ago but this site was the first one I needed to add to my favorites once it restored it. Hang in there. It's a hard road.
Doesn't everyone carefully fold their toilet tissue? I don't think that's something I learned in the Navy or engineering school -- I think I've always done it that way, and was always surprised to see my DW just grab a handful and sort of ball it up for use.
My wife will tear off toilet paper at the perforations and put them in a pile. She doesn't use it, but either puts it on the sink or in her pocket. I try to check when she has had a BM and wipe her rear with a washcloth. I bought a bunch of them at Walmart.
When I was a kid, to curtail the stuffing the john to overflowing and breaking the bank on TP, at times we were told we were only allowed 5 squares at a time. We'd fold them together to take care of things cleanly as wadding didn't really work with just 5 squares. Could be a leftover of childhood, the folding of TP?
Might be, carosi. His family had four sons. A lot of o/c behaviors he's had - until recently I didn't NOTICE how he tended to his cleanliness in any way except that he HAD TO bathe EVERY day. And still does, although what he would call a bath and what I would are two different things.