FayeBay, the way it's been explained to me is that it is like a lamp with a bad cord...if you "jiggle it just right", sometimes it'll work for a bit, but then it will start the flickering again and then not work...They are like a faulty cord...something in their mind "jiggles" one day and is better and then the next, not so good. :( I suspect there are alot of us right there with you who "see" positive things and "hope for the best"...
FayeBay-- I don't know what our DH's Dignosis is, but my DH shows similar symptoms sometimes--he has Vascular Dementia. With him I attribute these fluctuations to circulation disturbances in his brain. When ciculation gets blocked, then is restored, then cut off, functions fluctuate. If you equate the brain with being like a humongous micro computer with wires going everywhere and the plaques and tangles of Alz gumming up the wiring, and adding and shifting, circuits get blocked and then secondary ones hook up, only to get knocked out, the same thing happens--function fluctuates. In both scenarios, the ultimate result is all down hill. Enjoy the better bits, but don't cling to them, and don't press him to repeat them, because he pobably won't be able to. Remember today is always the best day you'll have, when it comes to his functioning and behavior.
FayeBay, hallucinations seem go be quite common, even in some of the middle stages. My LO father also had AD and he actually talked to the TV and thought the people were in the room behind the TV. Carol seems to have very vivid dreams. Some were about me having an affair with another woman. Her sister, our Helper, the visiting nurse and I could not talk her out of it. It did come and gl. bill
Hallucinations, especially talking to people who are not there, are generally indicative of Lewy Body Dementia, but it's best to check with the doctor whenever there is a change.