I suspect my dad has the beginnings of Alzheimers
Discussion
Not sure what to add really but I am trying to gently persuade him to see the doctor. What makes me think its the start is just the odd thing like not knowing which direction to go in and forgetting which side of the car to get in to push the brake pedal. Any ideas suggestions welcome.
Halb said:
Act quickly.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/18/fast...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/20/fasting...
http://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2012/summer/dont-feed-...
But fasting's bad for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/18/fast...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/20/fasting...
http://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2012/summer/dont-feed-...
Yet another good reason to fast!
BlackVanDyke said:
Talk to the doctor yourself, for starters? They may be able to visit your dad at home if he refuses to go in to the surgery.
Your reference to the brake pedal makes me feel a bit nervous... do you think he's still safe to drive?
Oh sorry he has already given up driving at least on the public road. He can still shift it in and out the garage but nothing else. I have cancelled his insurance and just insure the car for me and mum now and she keeps the keys. Your reference to the brake pedal makes me feel a bit nervous... do you think he's still safe to drive?
Thanks for all the input I guess I am going to call the doctor in the morning and move things along asap.
Its a very tricky time, everyone is different but don't expect him to be happy about seeing a Dr. Went through this with my Dad a few years back. Early signs for him were forgetting dance steps ( Ballroom stuff ) that he'd been doing years and then trying to work out the best route home - to a place he'd moved from 30 years before, getting lost while out with the dog in the local neighbourhood..
My Mum got him to see one Dr who dealt with it badly and made him feel a fool, he refused to see one for ages after that. Eventually he had to accept that I knew about it, Mum wasn't supposed to say and I went along with him. next comes assessment by the Mental Health people, another turn of phrase that puts the stoppers on. They did come and see him and assessed him. he got some meds that improved him for a good while so it's worth persuing
He had Vascular Dementia and was very erratic over a period of years, he could be docile and snap into scarey aggression - had to call the police once. He'd be stable for a while and then take a big drop.
Read up about it if that's what it does turn out to be, you will need to be as knowledgable as you can be because so many of the so called professions don't have a clue, especially when you get involved with Social Services. Our best source of help was the Community Psyciatric Nurse who was assigned, she was excellent and it was a breakthough in a dark time to have her to call.
If it is Alheimers/dementia I'm afraid you are at the start of a tough old road, My dad ended up in a Nursing Home something we feel guilty about until this day but there was no way of coping with him at home, he could go days without sleeping at one stage, it would have killed my Mum if she'd tried to keep him at home.
My father died 2 years ago now just before he was 73. He'd had signs from mid 60's but the last 3-4 years were the worst.
Good luck, if you want to ask anything specific feel free to PM.
Sorry, probably didn't sugar coat that very well
My Mum got him to see one Dr who dealt with it badly and made him feel a fool, he refused to see one for ages after that. Eventually he had to accept that I knew about it, Mum wasn't supposed to say and I went along with him. next comes assessment by the Mental Health people, another turn of phrase that puts the stoppers on. They did come and see him and assessed him. he got some meds that improved him for a good while so it's worth persuing
He had Vascular Dementia and was very erratic over a period of years, he could be docile and snap into scarey aggression - had to call the police once. He'd be stable for a while and then take a big drop.
Read up about it if that's what it does turn out to be, you will need to be as knowledgable as you can be because so many of the so called professions don't have a clue, especially when you get involved with Social Services. Our best source of help was the Community Psyciatric Nurse who was assigned, she was excellent and it was a breakthough in a dark time to have her to call.
If it is Alheimers/dementia I'm afraid you are at the start of a tough old road, My dad ended up in a Nursing Home something we feel guilty about until this day but there was no way of coping with him at home, he could go days without sleeping at one stage, it would have killed my Mum if she'd tried to keep him at home.
My father died 2 years ago now just before he was 73. He'd had signs from mid 60's but the last 3-4 years were the worst.
Good luck, if you want to ask anything specific feel free to PM.
Sorry, probably didn't sugar coat that very well
Silver940 said:
Its a very tricky time, everyone is different but don't expect him to be happy about seeing a Dr. Went through this with my Dad a few years back. Early signs for him were forgetting dance steps ( Ballroom stuff ) that he'd been doing years and then trying to work out the best route home - to a place he'd moved from 30 years before, getting lost while out with the dog in the local neighbourhood..
My Mum got him to see one Dr who dealt with it badly and made him feel a fool, he refused to see one for ages after that. Eventually he had to accept that I knew about it, Mum wasn't supposed to say and I went along with him. next comes assessment by the Mental Health people, another turn of phrase that puts the stoppers on. They did come and see him and assessed him. he got some meds that improved him for a good while so it's worth persuing
He had Vascular Dementia and was very erratic over a period of years, he could be docile and snap into scarey aggression - had to call the police once. He'd be stable for a while and then take a big drop.
Read up about it if that's what it does turn out to be, you will need to be as knowledgable as you can be because so many of the so called professions don't have a clue, especially when you get involved with Social Services. Our best source of help was the Community Psyciatric Nurse who was assigned, she was excellent and it was a breakthough in a dark time to have her to call.
If it is Alheimers/dementia I'm afraid you are at the start of a tough old road, My dad ended up in a Nursing Home something we feel guilty about until this day but there was no way of coping with him at home, he could go days without sleeping at one stage, it would have killed my Mum if she'd tried to keep him at home.
My father died 2 years ago now just before he was 73. He'd had signs from mid 60's but the last 3-4 years were the worst.
Good luck, if you want to ask anything specific feel free to PM.
Sorry, probably didn't sugar coat that very well
No point in sugar coating it thanks for sharing that. My Mum got him to see one Dr who dealt with it badly and made him feel a fool, he refused to see one for ages after that. Eventually he had to accept that I knew about it, Mum wasn't supposed to say and I went along with him. next comes assessment by the Mental Health people, another turn of phrase that puts the stoppers on. They did come and see him and assessed him. he got some meds that improved him for a good while so it's worth persuing
He had Vascular Dementia and was very erratic over a period of years, he could be docile and snap into scarey aggression - had to call the police once. He'd be stable for a while and then take a big drop.
Read up about it if that's what it does turn out to be, you will need to be as knowledgable as you can be because so many of the so called professions don't have a clue, especially when you get involved with Social Services. Our best source of help was the Community Psyciatric Nurse who was assigned, she was excellent and it was a breakthough in a dark time to have her to call.
If it is Alheimers/dementia I'm afraid you are at the start of a tough old road, My dad ended up in a Nursing Home something we feel guilty about until this day but there was no way of coping with him at home, he could go days without sleeping at one stage, it would have killed my Mum if she'd tried to keep him at home.
My father died 2 years ago now just before he was 73. He'd had signs from mid 60's but the last 3-4 years were the worst.
Good luck, if you want to ask anything specific feel free to PM.
Sorry, probably didn't sugar coat that very well
Get GOOD help quickly, and as silver940 said a lot of professionals do not understand.
My mother has had a dementia for many years and she has gone downhill very very gradually with the occasional sudden trauma. But it reached the stage where she became paranoid and violent and the memory clinic seemed unable to help.
I found out about a then expensive drug (brand name Ebixa) which at the time could not be got on the NHS and persuaded somebody at the memory clinic to give me a private script for it. NICE have recently allowed it but it's not widely prescribed. It worked wonders FOR HER, completely getting rid of all the violent tendencies.
Interestingly after a recent short stay in hospital she reverted but we discovered that the London teaching hospital didn't keep the drug and by the time they got it in, she had become uncooperative and the nurses didn't bother to persist in making sure she took it!
Silver940 don't feel bad about having put your father in a home. We tried to keep her at her home eventually getting a live in full time carer but after another crisis we found her a really nice residential home ( most were awful) and in retrospect ( she has been there a year now) we wish we had done it sooner.
My mother has had a dementia for many years and she has gone downhill very very gradually with the occasional sudden trauma. But it reached the stage where she became paranoid and violent and the memory clinic seemed unable to help.
I found out about a then expensive drug (brand name Ebixa) which at the time could not be got on the NHS and persuaded somebody at the memory clinic to give me a private script for it. NICE have recently allowed it but it's not widely prescribed. It worked wonders FOR HER, completely getting rid of all the violent tendencies.
Interestingly after a recent short stay in hospital she reverted but we discovered that the London teaching hospital didn't keep the drug and by the time they got it in, she had become uncooperative and the nurses didn't bother to persist in making sure she took it!
Silver940 don't feel bad about having put your father in a home. We tried to keep her at her home eventually getting a live in full time carer but after another crisis we found her a really nice residential home ( most were awful) and in retrospect ( she has been there a year now) we wish we had done it sooner.
vodkalolly said:
Spoke to the doc at length today, very helpful promised some tests very soon. Hopefully an appointment early next week. Thanks for all the input much appreciated. 
That sounds pretty positive. There IS stuff that can help - unfortunately almost never can anyone actually make the dementia go away, but for most types/causes of dementia there are possibilities for slowing it down, and for helping the person to cope and continue living their life as well as possible. Care has been mentioned a few times and yep that can be a biggie but also smaller/more minor low-key stuff like using gadgetry and specific techniques to help record/remember or manage stuff, whether that's maintaining a diary, taking medication (right stuff at right time of day etc) or keeping a lid on the fairly common problem of waking up more disorientated than usual during the night. HonestIago said:
Get him to start fasting seriously. As in several days at a time several times a month. (100% serious)
I wonder if this is good advice.I don't normally visit the "Health Matters" subforum. The reason that I visited here tonight is that I spend some time with an Alzheimer's sufferer.
Yesterday, he was much worse than usual. However, he did say that he had not had a meal since the night before. I was wondering if sugar levels could have a bad, short term effect on Alzheimer's.
We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
OP,
Always remember that your dad is ill. He may become very angry at times. This is absolutely normal. He will occasionally find himself in a situation without any memory of how he got there. This will be enormously frustrating, and frightening for him.
When your dad behaves irrationally towards you, please remember that he is is ill. Never, ever, react to his anger. Always try to placate him.
Don
--
don4l said:
Yesterday, he was much worse than usual. However, he did say that he had not had a meal since the night before. I was wondering if sugar levels could have a bad, short term effect on Alzheimer's.
We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
It's where some studies are taking people.We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
High levels of insulin are typically associated with a decrease in brain function and an increased risk of diabetes. Fasting caused the animals presented a further development of new brain cells and show themselves more resistant to stress, and are more protected from diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
http://www.isaude.net/en/noticia/25504/general/fas...
Halb said:
don4l said:
Yesterday, he was much worse than usual. However, he did say that he had not had a meal since the night before. I was wondering if sugar levels could have a bad, short term effect on Alzheimer's.
We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
It's where some studies are taking people.We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
High levels of insulin are typically associated with a decrease in brain function and an increased risk of diabetes. Fasting caused the animals presented a further development of new brain cells and show themselves more resistant to stress, and are more protected from diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
http://www.isaude.net/en/noticia/25504/general/fas...
I also discovered something else interesting today. Last week, he didn't seem to recognise me at all. He seemed to think that I was a Taxi driver, and he was embarrassed because he didn't know the way to his house, and he also thought that I wouldn't know the way. It appeared that he really had forgotten who I was.
Today, when we were out again, he asked "Where is Don4l?". At this point, I realised that he did remember me, but that he was unable to recognise me( I was standing beside him). He calmed down immediately when I said "I'm here".
Don
--
don4l said:
Halb said:
don4l said:
Yesterday, he was much worse than usual. However, he did say that he had not had a meal since the night before. I was wondering if sugar levels could have a bad, short term effect on Alzheimer's.
We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
It's where some studies are taking people.We gave him three cups of tea, and a few buscuits. 30 minutes later he was much better.
High levels of insulin are typically associated with a decrease in brain function and an increased risk of diabetes. Fasting caused the animals presented a further development of new brain cells and show themselves more resistant to stress, and are more protected from diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
http://www.isaude.net/en/noticia/25504/general/fas...
I also discovered something else interesting today. Last week, he didn't seem to recognise me at all. He seemed to think that I was a Taxi driver, and he was embarrassed because he didn't know the way to his house, and he also thought that I wouldn't know the way. It appeared that he really had forgotten who I was.
Today, when we were out again, he asked "Where is Don4l?". At this point, I realised that he did remember me, but that he was unable to recognise me( I was standing beside him). He calmed down immediately when I said "I'm here".
Don
--
For the last 4 years of his life with Alzheimer's my grandpa seemed to recognise my voice far, far more than my appearance - I'd guess because I now wear my hair very short but had it long as a kid, use a wheelchair now etc. I adopted the same manner of saying hello that I use with blind mates - rather than the usual "Hi Vicky, how are you?" it's "Hi Vic, it's Becca, how are you doing?" - again, another cue, a very strong one, to help re-anchor him to you. If his dementia doesn't get too bad (vascular dementia seems not to always keep getting worse and some others can be slowed with medication too) then you might not ever need to do that, but it's a useful tactic if it comes to it.
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