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 those who suffer from Alzheimer's Disease have good and bad days, but it seems like my grandmother's memory has gotten worse literally overnight. She went from really grasping things I say, and remembering them, to asking the same questions every 2 minutes. I have never heard of such a decline. I have been getting so aggravated, that I have had to repeat myself so many times..
Is it even possible to see such a decline in the matter of two days? Has anyone else dealt with this? Should meds be adjusted? would that even help? Any information would be much appreciated.
Is it even possible to see such a decline in the matter of two days? Has anyone else dealt with this? Should meds be adjusted? would that even help? Any information would be much appreciated.
sorry this is happening. it's all pretty hard to figure out sometimes.
sudden severe drops in functioning can be associated with a WTI...that would be a first thing to check out.....
also other medical conditions and illnesses can cause a change in functioning...a cod or flu etc.
also, I am not sure of what other medical conditions she has...has she ever had a history of heart problems/mild strokes /vascular dementia.
Has there been any environmental change at all....? that can be disorienting to people with Alz.
The repetition can be VERY hard. Does there seem to be an underlying something she is trying to settle or calm herself about?
Is it possible she is feeling anxious and wanting to have someone pull in closer to her?
I would think a visit to the PCP tomorrow and then maybe to her neurologist would be the next steps.....
hugs....I KNOW how hard this can be....
Then I would have her in for a complete check up, even if they find nothing new there her doctor needs to know about the change in her and you two need to discuss what if anything can be done about them.
In some ways this disease is like riding a faulty elevator, things will seem to be moving down at a very slow pace then suddenly you get a change that feels like you've dropped a couple of floors at once.
She is in perfect physical health. She went to the doctor a week ago, and got a full body check up. No UTI's no cold's or flu.
Her enviroment changed back in March, and she declined a little bit, but not as much as has recently. So I am not sure if the two are correlated. Since her enviromental change she has clung onto me. But I didn't mind that so much. This morning she seems a little better. She's trying to listen, and grasp. We have an appointment with her neurologist next week. (It's always a week's wait to see her neurologist.)
However she knows there is something wrong with her today. She keeps apologizing for not remembering. We'll take it day by day. Thanks again for the advice.
I know what you mean about good days and bad ones. I don't know if it has anything to do with health problems but I know I gone through what you're going through. "Grandma" is who I take care of and some days she's the same way even though the day before she was acting almost normal. I know its frustrating, trust me but try to be as patient as you can and if you need to go into your room and lock it and give yourself time to breathe and relax. I do this often so I could be as calm as I can around her. I hope this helps a little bit.
This is most definitely a one step at a time adventure for those with the disease and for those who care for them.