Alzheimer's Disease Support Group

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration with declining activities of daily living and neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioral changes. An early symptom is memory loss (amnesia), usually manifesting as minor forgetfulness that becomes pronounced with illness progression, with relative...

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questions

pamdidi
pamdidi
Hi - my cousin has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. It was noticed when she was around 57 - trouble with direction - if she was at the wheel of the car and a car was coming toward her, she saw it on her right side instead of left. So she stopped driving. up became down - right - left etc - she sees everything opposite but she can see us and recognize us and watch tv etc. She is totally cognizant but still needs help because of the way she sees.

I was wondering if anyone had experience with this kind of ALZ? also, even though she needs help with dressing, bathing and toileting and where to sit etc. she is still totally "with it" - I mean she knows who everyon is - whats going on - whats going on in the world etc. sometimes I wonder if it is alzheimers. I appreciate any advice on this. Its hard to know what stage she is at. thanks so much! By the way she is 62 now so its been 5 years since diagnosed.
pamdidi
pamdidi
PS oh - she cant write anymore either but she knows what she wants to write - so sad.
dancingd
dancingd
Has your cousin seen a neurologist for a professional evaluation and confirmation that what she is experiencing is Alhz or dementia ?


Many of her directional problems can stem from many other neurological issues.

I personally have never heard or read about Alhz presenting in this way
But of course I'm not a professional

I'd think about getting a second opinion

Good luck
annettearizona
annettearizona
I as well would suggest an neurologist! Sounds like something else is going on there-if she is mentally all there and her problems seems all physical!
pd2012
pd2012
From what you describe, these are all symptoms of alzheimers. Every patient is different as to when and what symptoms arise. Then it's just a matter of the progression of the disease and it also depends on where in the brain she's most affected. That's when you see a difference between how one person's symptoms are at vs. another.

As long as she's been given the diagnosis per a neurologist's findings then I think the diagnosis would stand. If not, it's time for her to see one. There are a lot of other issues that could cause similar symptoms.

She's very young to have been stricken with this. My heart goes out to her and her family.
deleted_user
deleted_user
She needs to see a neuro-opthamologist. Very hard to find so she may need to go to a larger city or medical center. This could be a visual problem or a brain problem. Either way she should find out what happened because something like that has a cause. They need to rule out tumors or other diseases.
pamdidi
pamdidi
thank you so much for your comments - I believe she has had man mri's etc so it seems it is A lzheimers. Just wondered if anyone else had experienced the disease this way.