have any of you who are in the late 6 or 7 stage bypassed the violent anger that I read so many of you have had....I don't know what stage my DH is in..He forgets important things that just happened and those from in the past but not all of them.He sleeps a lot of the time but gets round just fine and still fools most people if he isn't around them too long. I am hoping we can bypass some of the symptoms but haven't seen that anywhere on the board. Is this wishful thinking? Ro
ro many of us have been able to bypass the severe violence and or really bad aggression with medications to counteract early on. if you wait til its needed it may be too late. sometimes with this disease preventative measures become important. starting on low doses just to keep them compliant and upping as needed and drs approval. not everyone goes thru these aggressive stages but most of us have seen at least some aggitation and mild aggression that is controlled by medications. so dont fear -maybe yours will bypass this altogether we have heard of some that have never been mean or aggressive= meds become our best friends, and the earlier the better. then again there are a few here who have dealt with severe aggression and had to be placed due to risk factors . divvi
My DH is in early stage 6 and has never been mean, had rages or even said a hateful or spiteful word to me or anyone else. In fact, his sweet personality has not changed at all. He thanks me for all I do for him, tells me how much he loves and appreciates me and is agreeable all the time. Yes, I do realize how lucky I am. I don't know what the future holds. This may be the stage when his personality changes. If it does, I won't hesitate to use whatever medication it takes.
My DH is late stage 6 and really has not had the aggressive periods that I have seen written here. The only time he gets mad at me is when I'm not there when he thinks he needs me and then after ranting and raving for a while he will totally forget about it and be his usual self. Don't look for something that may not happen. We have enough to worry about without looking for trouble.
I have the same experience as Dazed. My wife, late stage 6, is still the sweet girl I married - most of the time. Occasionally she will resist something I want her to do, such as get out of the car. When this happens I just walk away and come back a few minutes later. By then she has forgotten that she was refusing. I think she does this to try to get some control over her life. I mentioned the problem with the day center van in another post. I found out today that the problem is that she gets scared when she has to climb up into the van. There's no way to correct that except for me to drive her since she has no problem with my car. She has not been on any mood-altering drugs and I see no need for any now.
Thank you thank you all for taking the time to help me...I feel better already. I'm so glad our youngest son insisted I find a blog site and this one has been a life (mind) saver. We have been married 65 years and have had our ups and downs but nothing that would have prepared me for some of the things I've heard about. Ro
We have been married a long time also, 57 yrs. and I have been sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for dh to change into someone I don't know. I have decided that I will not worry but be prepared to ask the dr. for meds if the horrible changes begin. In the meantime, I will be very thankful for these peaceful days.
My DW is very simple minded, can not do simple task. Yet she has not gotten bitter or angry or turned mean. I would be so frustrated if I were in her shoes, but I think she is so simple minded that she does not realize what she has lost.
My FIL never got angry or violent. So far my SIL who is 3 years ahead of hb in diagnosis has not had anger or violent problems either. I am hoping my hb does not either.
My husband has FTD and he was diagnosed 3 years ago. He does not have problems with anger or violent behaviors. His problems are more with language and verbalizing. So every person's journey is different.
Everyone's brain is different so the way the disease affects it will be different. I think the aggression is the worst part of the disease, so those of you who haven't experienced it, you cannot imagine how difficult it is on top of all the other issues. I think early on, the anger can be related to the realization of all they are losing, but when it occurs later in the disease, it seems like that can't be the cause since they are so out of touch in general. I think that when it occurs after the early stage, the cause must be the way the brain is damaged by the disease process.
My DW died at age 83 two years ago, about seven years after diagnosis with Late Onset AD (but probably ten years after we first started noticing memory issues), and in all that time she continued sweet and mellow -- never angry or acting out or pacing or shadowing or any of the other horror stories you may have read about on these boards. I guess it's important to realize that it's the bizarre or extraordinary stuff that makes the news -- both in the media and on these boards -- and that unremarkable behavior doesn't get much air time. The worst that my DW ever did was one brief period when she would respond to a suggestion that she try to eat a little more or whatever with "SHUT UP!" like a three year old who had just learned a new phrase that could shock parents.
GC--My husband has had many of the "bizarre or extraordinary" behaviors -- pacing, shadowing, anger, etc. His neuro chooses to call them "eccentric" :) That's a positive spin job, isn't it????
ro1928 - from the above post you can conclude that it all depends on what areas of the brain are affected. None of us will know until we get through this disease.