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...
I know I have mention about this in some other stories herein about how sudden noises or motion can affect us making us suddenly Jump out of our skin, so I now want to elaborate on this topic which some non sufferers seem to find extremely amusing when they see it happen to us
I realize this is something that can happen to each and every one of us even if you do not have dementia and a part of normal daily life when you suddenly hear some type of loud noise like a car exhaust pipe backfiring, or if someone drops something on the ground that makes a sudden noise but people do not realize just how disconcerting the effect can be on a person that has dementia and Im sure that if you were to ask people with our illness what makes them suddenly Jump you would have enough information to produce an encyclopedia
The repercussion of any type of loud noise as in, Music, Loudspeakers, Traffic, Crowds, Children shouting as they play, People all talking at the same time, Motor vehicle horns, In-house music in shops, Fireworks, and even on hearing a young baby cry, the list could go on and on but in the ears of someone with our illness such noises can cause an adverse affect in our eardrum that reverberates distortions to our brain and cause us a great deal of anxiety, confusion, and disorientation, which is not a pleasant sensation, and when this happens to me I tend to lose all awareness of Time and Place or even what Im doing
Sometimes when my dear wife and I are out walking and we try to cross the road to the other side but because of the extreme noise from the traffic I immediately have a problem at the curbside with Freezing whereby my legs start to jerk up and down as though trying to step forwards, but you go nowhere, as the intense noise not only confuses it also makes us lose our sense of judgment and the distance between the curb and the roadway, (at this point I should point out that zebra crossings are non effective where I live, as vehicles are King of the road)
A few weeks ago when my wife and I were crossing the road we had managed to get to the middle of the roadway where we got stuck with the traffic racing by us in both directions which frightened me so much I started to panic and became extremely agitated not knowing which way to go forward or backward I was clinging onto my dear wife so tight as the traffic whizzed by us so close almost touching our bodies and causing sudden blasts of gushing airflow she said, Your hurting my arm then on seeing a gap in the traffic she tied to guide me across the road, but as I tried to step forward I again became Frozen on the spot shaking in fear my head was pounding so much from all the noise of the heavy traffic that it was sending vibrations through my mind and body
Finally we managed to get to the other side of the road whereupon I just sat on the curb holding my head and ears in my hands trying to block out the horrendous noise
This is now going to sound unbelievable but as I said even children at play can sometimes cause unfriendly noise that upsets our equilibrium, (but dont get me wrong as I dearly love children as much as the next person) Yet now when I hear them playing, laughing, and screeching outside our house in garden the noise is like a pneumatic drill in my mind causing a total distraction from what I might be doing and any sense of logical thinking or reality is gone an instance is that at the moment its a special period of every year when the children out here get exceptionally exuberant especially first thing in the morning at around 4am and again in the evening after 7pm, when they go loudly shouting dashing up and down the road letting of fireworks which I once use to enjoy but now the sudden (Whiz, Cracking and thunderous explosions) send unexpected shock waves through my entire body that almost have me reaching for the stars! This again causes deep anxiety and disorientation.
But the anomaly of this illness is that its not just loud noises that cause us great shock to the mind that make us jump, as it can also be triggered by an innocent light tap from behind on the shoulder or someone speaking, maybe by the family or a friend my dear wife (who God bless her still cant understand it) is a prime example I can be sitting engrossed at the computer or watching the TV and have no awareness that she has entered the room until a her tranquil voice almost hits me like a ton of bricks saying something like (What would you like for lunch, or, Im of to the market) at which point I again almost jump out my skin and jokingly say, (My daring I dont know what will be the death of me first, the Alzheimers, or your, Quiet as a mouse loving care)
Another example was a few days ago when I was sat at the computer typing this when unbeknown to me our niece of 18 Months old extremely quietly came into the room and I was so immersed in what I was typing that I did not realize she was standing by my side watching me until her gentle fairy like fingers touched my bare leg (as I was wearing shorts) and a little voice saying (what you doing Uncle) which made me jump so much that it frightened her and she started to cry yet besides my almighty shock on this occasion I was still able to laugh and to pick her up for a cuddle (to make it all better with lots of kisses)
If only all the shocks of this terrible illness could be eradicated with kisses as Id be first in the cue
Barry
I realize this is something that can happen to each and every one of us even if you do not have dementia and a part of normal daily life when you suddenly hear some type of loud noise like a car exhaust pipe backfiring, or if someone drops something on the ground that makes a sudden noise but people do not realize just how disconcerting the effect can be on a person that has dementia and Im sure that if you were to ask people with our illness what makes them suddenly Jump you would have enough information to produce an encyclopedia
The repercussion of any type of loud noise as in, Music, Loudspeakers, Traffic, Crowds, Children shouting as they play, People all talking at the same time, Motor vehicle horns, In-house music in shops, Fireworks, and even on hearing a young baby cry, the list could go on and on but in the ears of someone with our illness such noises can cause an adverse affect in our eardrum that reverberates distortions to our brain and cause us a great deal of anxiety, confusion, and disorientation, which is not a pleasant sensation, and when this happens to me I tend to lose all awareness of Time and Place or even what Im doing
Sometimes when my dear wife and I are out walking and we try to cross the road to the other side but because of the extreme noise from the traffic I immediately have a problem at the curbside with Freezing whereby my legs start to jerk up and down as though trying to step forwards, but you go nowhere, as the intense noise not only confuses it also makes us lose our sense of judgment and the distance between the curb and the roadway, (at this point I should point out that zebra crossings are non effective where I live, as vehicles are King of the road)
A few weeks ago when my wife and I were crossing the road we had managed to get to the middle of the roadway where we got stuck with the traffic racing by us in both directions which frightened me so much I started to panic and became extremely agitated not knowing which way to go forward or backward I was clinging onto my dear wife so tight as the traffic whizzed by us so close almost touching our bodies and causing sudden blasts of gushing airflow she said, Your hurting my arm then on seeing a gap in the traffic she tied to guide me across the road, but as I tried to step forward I again became Frozen on the spot shaking in fear my head was pounding so much from all the noise of the heavy traffic that it was sending vibrations through my mind and body
Finally we managed to get to the other side of the road whereupon I just sat on the curb holding my head and ears in my hands trying to block out the horrendous noise
This is now going to sound unbelievable but as I said even children at play can sometimes cause unfriendly noise that upsets our equilibrium, (but dont get me wrong as I dearly love children as much as the next person) Yet now when I hear them playing, laughing, and screeching outside our house in garden the noise is like a pneumatic drill in my mind causing a total distraction from what I might be doing and any sense of logical thinking or reality is gone an instance is that at the moment its a special period of every year when the children out here get exceptionally exuberant especially first thing in the morning at around 4am and again in the evening after 7pm, when they go loudly shouting dashing up and down the road letting of fireworks which I once use to enjoy but now the sudden (Whiz, Cracking and thunderous explosions) send unexpected shock waves through my entire body that almost have me reaching for the stars! This again causes deep anxiety and disorientation.
But the anomaly of this illness is that its not just loud noises that cause us great shock to the mind that make us jump, as it can also be triggered by an innocent light tap from behind on the shoulder or someone speaking, maybe by the family or a friend my dear wife (who God bless her still cant understand it) is a prime example I can be sitting engrossed at the computer or watching the TV and have no awareness that she has entered the room until a her tranquil voice almost hits me like a ton of bricks saying something like (What would you like for lunch, or, Im of to the market) at which point I again almost jump out my skin and jokingly say, (My daring I dont know what will be the death of me first, the Alzheimers, or your, Quiet as a mouse loving care)
Another example was a few days ago when I was sat at the computer typing this when unbeknown to me our niece of 18 Months old extremely quietly came into the room and I was so immersed in what I was typing that I did not realize she was standing by my side watching me until her gentle fairy like fingers touched my bare leg (as I was wearing shorts) and a little voice saying (what you doing Uncle) which made me jump so much that it frightened her and she started to cry yet besides my almighty shock on this occasion I was still able to laugh and to pick her up for a cuddle (to make it all better with lots of kisses)
If only all the shocks of this terrible illness could be eradicated with kisses as Id be first in the cue
Barry
Barry
http://www.simplesite.com/BarrysAlzheimers