My dh has been complaining about the calves of his legs hurting...is this a sign of something related to the AD? He seems to be on a down hill slide and his language is getting worse by the day. For the first time I asked him a simple question and he couldn't figure out what I was asking him. This week has been the worse week ever.
Update on the Hospice people....they quit coming prior to the end of the contract and wanted me to sign a release that we had requested they quit...I refused to sign it because it was not true. Also, have received copies of the billing to medicare via our blue cross insurance....unreal and not accurate. I have called blue cross and they told me to contact medicare which I will do on Monday
MY dw also complains that her legs hurt. She also expresses pain and sensitivity all over her body. We remind her that it is neuropathy, and is associated with AD. I think this is fairly common with AD, and the pain does not seem to be caused by anything physical.
Judith...if your DH does not walk much could be neuropathy, circulation or muscle wasting due to low calcium. However, also could be blood clot...please check to see if it is warm, any redness and painful to touch. If so you should call your doctor.
My dh has been walking around the block every couple of days. Yesterday he tried to walk further and got lost. I called him on his cell phone and then I had to go get him in the car. I thought about a blood clot but he didn't want me to call the dr. This morning it was his back hurting. This week has been very bad for him and for me. I have had the hives from nerves and my blood pressure is sky high. I try to do everything I can for him, but I feel like I am failing and I will be the one to be done in by this condition before he is. He has been sliding downward all week and very depressed. His language skills are getting worse too....every day seems to be something new and something worse. I feel so helpless. I do think the pain could be the neuropathy condition and I had never heard that mentioned before. Thanks for the comments...
Judith, my DH went through the leg hurting, the feet hurting, the back hurting. When it passed, he always had "something" in his left eye. He didn't, had it checked out twice - nothing there. That also passed. Then his back itched all the time. Kept putting stuff on it - and it finally passed. These things lasted from 1 week to 1 month, before he complained of something else. At first, it worried me, but then I decided it wasn't really real. Maybe he has pain somewhere - but where is difficult to find! He has a GP checkup every 3 months, and everything has always checked out okay. I will say, that since taking him off Aricept and Namenda, he has not had any of these "pains" or complaints! Go figure.
My dh seems to be the opposite. He used to have back pain and leg pain from arthritis and now never mentions it. It can't have gone away, can it? He just doesn't seem to notice. Never complains about any pain. If he escapes after his bath he will go sit naked and still half wet in the kitchen until I catch up with him with a towel and his pajamas. He will be shivering from the cold, but not say a word about it.
Randomly before Dx and chronically after, DH complained of pain, primaily in his knees, which had each been injured and treated through arthroscopy before. When he started a new med during the change over from n old one, the problem escalated. The Dr. said the new med was the cause and change it out, but they put him on Tramadol for the pain then in his hips, shoulders, and knees. Last winter the pain escalated to breakthrough the maximum total daily dose of Tramadol so his PCP added 2 Naproxen up to twice a day for that. The pain did fluctuate with weather influences and/or significant exertion. When hospice came on board, they scrapped th Tramadol and Naproxen and put him on Vicodin--up to 8 per day max. He takes 4---rarely 5, and only complained of pain twice in the first couple weks since the switch. It's been nearly 10 months. Either drug is known to be habit forming in some people. He's in Stage 6. What matters to me is that he is comfortable. Pain can enhance agitation,aggression, anger, and can negate sleep. Drugs are our friends.
carosi - I went round and round on this issue with my sister when her hb was in the last few months of life. His back and body were all bone on bone so you know he was in pain (he had a stroke). She was worried he would get addicted to the vicodin but who cares when they are dying? Comfort is more important in my book. She still held him to one a day due to worry of addiction and it constipated him. Kiwi always took care of that.
So who cares if your hb gets addicted? At some point there probably will be no pain any longer due to that part of the brain dying. For now- comfort whatever it takes.
The medication Neurontin helped Jim greatly with his neuropathy pain. Eventually he did need some additional medication, Tramadol, but then again he had the Motor Neuron Variant of FTD. I highly recommend talking to your doctor about the addition of Neurontin.