[fyrffytr1]

Anybody here ever dealt with it? My Ma-in-Law is showing a lot of the symptoms.

[Coach]

My father in law passed from complications of alzheimers. There are much better medications available now so I hope they can keep her stable for a long time. Be supportive of your wife as she will needs lots of reasurance when her mom starts to slip.

I wish I could give you more, but it is a very hard road ahead for your wife and her father ( assuming he is still alive ).

Prayers for your family,
-Harry

[Blue '66]

My dad had parkinsons' for almost 20yrs,the last 5 years his memory was really bad.At least he still remembered most people,sometimes they had to tell him first.It's terrible when their mind outlast their bodies

[The Boss]

My mother (85) has it. In the last two weeks it's progressed to what we think is another stage - she can no longer form sentences. She can do one or two words at a time, but cannot express a message. This seems to be hard on her, she never really noticed that she called me by my father's name or asked the same question multiple times....but with this problem, she realizes she can't ask me how her grandchildren are and that makes her very upset. She's also sleeping about 18-20 hours/day.

Spent most of the day Friday running all sorts of tests on her at the hospital, couldn't find anything else that may have prompted this change - other than the disease advancing.

She started showing signs about 10 years ago.

[fyrffytr1]

Originally Posted by Coach

My father in law passed from complications of alzheimers. There are much better medications available now so I hope they can keep her stable for a long time. Be supportive of your wife as she will needs lots of reasurance when her mom starts to slip.

I wish I could give you more, but it is a very hard road ahead for your wife and her father ( assuming he is still alive ).

Prayers for your family,
-Harry

Her husband passed away about 4 years ago. That is what has us concerned. She has no one there to help her. We live over 100 miles away and my wife works everyday Monday- Friday. Her sonlivesa few blocks away but he works nights out of town.
It is going to be a long hard road for sure. Hopefully, the doctors will be able to help her.

[Tazzz2]

I'm so sorry to hear your exposed to this with a loved one,,,, this is a heartless disease that I'm all to familiar with (my dad is in his 7th year)....

We lost my mom to Bone Cancer two years ago and my poor dad keeps getting confused and experiencing the loss over and over again... He recently took another big drop/step in the disease and it's not a pretty sight. The doctors had to dope him up pretty bad because he is now so confused he thinks people owe him rent in the Home he stays at (guess he's falling back on his livelihood memories as an apartment builder)....

Check with the "American Alzheimer Association" (apparently the largest volunteer based operation in the States).... They will likely have a local chapter and can usually provide excellent advise and help...

It is very important that you get informed early and "act on an informed basis" as this will tear your love ones apart (both your Mom-in-law and wife) emotionally as well as have financial impacts on your life..... There are waiting lists like crazy for many of the various services and if you wait until the disease triggers a specific needed care regiment it will be to late....

Please for the love of God """get very informed about both the disease and the available help"""..... I wish you the best in your new journey,,,, it's a real bad deal to have to experience.

[cuz68]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

Anybody here ever dealt with it? My Ma-in-Law is showing a lot of the symptoms.

I feel your pain, My mom is in a nurseing home BC of it it is very hard on all of us, And breakes my heart to see her like this, It will be a long hard times, Good luck my friend i feel your wifes pain.

[justincampbell]

I am very sorry to hear of your mother-in-law being affected by this terrible condition. I never really got to know my Grandma Campbell because of Alzheimers. By the time I can remember she was already to the stage of needing alot of assistance in daily activities. As has already been said, your wife will definately need all the support you can give. My prayers are with you all.
Justin

[poncho-mike]

My dad had issues with his medicine, which resulted in thinning his blood out way too much. He had blood in his urine and got very weak, and was taken to the nursing home. The doctor said his blood vessels were bleeding inside his brain, which seems to have triggered dementia.

I don't know what the difference is between Alzheimers and dementia, but my dad seems to have forgotten the last 30 years of his life. He doesn't recognize my mother, me, my wife, his grandsons, etc. He knows he is married and has kids, but doesn't remember them growing up.

It's tought on my mom, who is the primary caregiver. It's tough on the person with it, as they get very agitated when they can't remember or understand things. Every day, my mom has to tell my dad who she is.

Anyway, it's tough to watch it happen.

Mike

[JLHarper]

There is an old drug used for seasonal alergies (iirc) that was being studied for ALZ.

I read about it somewhere, and it was in the news. The study should be over.

If I find anything I will post.

Jeff

[dennis kirban]

My Mom also suffers from it as well she is 84 years old. In a small way it is a blessing as my Dad (her husband) passed away this past April. We did not tell her and she does not miss him or ask about him even though they were married for 63 years....

She is now in a nursing home and in her mind she is 40 years old and living where she actually grew up. Its weird because she can still name us five kids in the correct age order. She seems content were she is even though most high functioning people would be severely depressed being in a nursing home. I have seen it progress worse and worse.....

Is like being in a holding pattern until God calls her home....

denniskirban@yahoo.com

[The Boss]

Well said Dennis - my Mom is anxiously waiting for that call.

[Jim Scites]

My mother in law had it for 16 years and my father has had it for 6 now. My father is to the point where he doesn't know who anyone is, including my mother who is the primary caregiver. He is not mean or violent but he sleeps most of the day and roams the house most of the night. I think it's way harder on my mother than my father since she has to keep an eye on him 24 hours a day. One thing to remember about Alzheimers is, the person that has it doesn't know that there is anything wrong and they are not in any pain because of the disease, the caregiver is the one you have to worry about.

[1970GTOs]

From what my doctor says start using the med's ASAP

[fyrffytr1]

Well, she has been diagnosed with the disease. She is right on the line between mild and moderate. The doctor has started her on Nemanda. She also has type II diabetes.
Our problem is, we live two hours away and can't be there to tell her when to take her meds. We can call her but we will still not be sure she has taken them.
We started her om her dosage this morning before we came home. Some of her pills have to be taken with food so we told her to bring them and we would take her to breakfast. Halfway there my wife asked her about them and she had forgotten she was even supposed to take them.
And, it doesn't help to repeat ourselves because she forgets what was said 5 minutes later.
I know she needs someone with her during the day but I feel that she should be somewhere where she can be monitored 24 hours a day.
Believe it or not, she still drives and handles her own finances. Both of which she is doing very poorly at!
She will most likely lose her driver's license or car and that will really set her back. But, it may be what it will take to get her the help she needs.
The only thing I know is this stuff sucks!

[uforacing]

My step dad a decorated WWII vet has had Dementia for the last 8 years or so. I guess the good thing with Dementia is the old memories are still there.

I was home in june and he asked (again) how the new job was going. I started 17 years ago.

[BOPcollector]

I have a friend living with us that is 83 and a Naval WWII vet that sort of acts like some of the previous descriptions. He had a girlfriend that passed away 2 years ago and her daughter and kids moved in to his house in NC to "look after him". The wench cleaned 70K out of his account this past year, tried to get him to sign his property over to her, trashed his house so bad that it is almost worthless, and to top it off, has been feeding him 3 to 4 iron pills a day for months with his other pills. This will kill you eventually. I wonder if that much iron in his system has anything to do with his memory? Anyways, when I picked him up a couple of months ago, the house had a wicked stench and infested really bad with German roaches. That woman is a filthy pig. He saw our family Dr. who immediately took him off of the iron pills. Then,we recently got him into the VA and they expidited paper work ,etc rather quickly. Gave him a thorough exam and now he will be getting benefits that he has never had before. Plus he has a clean home to live in and good food to eat. He tells the same stories over and over which I don't mind and asks about the same things a few times. Maybe it's just part of being old?

[Tazzz2]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

Well, she has been diagnosed with the disease. She is right on the line between mild and moderate. The doctor has started her on Nemanda. She also has type II diabetes.
Our problem is, we live two hours away and can't be there to tell her when to take her meds. We can call her but we will still not be sure she has taken them.
We started her om her dosage this morning before we came home. Some of her pills have to be taken with food so we told her to bring them and we would take her to breakfast. Halfway there my wife asked her about them and she had forgotten she was even supposed to take them.
And, it doesn't help to repeat ourselves because she forgets what was said 5 minutes later.
I know she needs someone with her during the day but I feel that she should be somewhere where she can be monitored 24 hours a day.
Believe it or not, she still drives and handles her own finances. Both of which she is doing very poorly at!
She will most likely lose her driver's license or car and that will really set her back. But, it may be what it will take to get her the help she needs.
The only thing I know is this stuff sucks!

I hear you and it sounds cruel but she needs to have her drivers license revoked unfortunately..... She is a serious danger on the road in that the disease progresses in (for lack of better terms) sudden big drop offs.... Given the fact you guys can't be there to monitor how she is doing, the poor women could wake up one morning after one of these drop offs and find herself in a serious driving issue very easily... My dad's license was revoked almost immediately (standard practice in Ontario when a patient is diagnosed),,, you should be asking her doctor and checking out local/state position on this... I don't mean to sound mellow dramatic here, but she could literally wake up one morning and forget that a red light means stop..... This is a cruel disease and things we take for granted (normal) just don't apply.

Also check with the Alzheimer's association (I'm to understand they are the largest volunteer association in America) as they will likely have chapter that is in her area... They offer support and specific local information and support.... You'll need that support to check in on her and ensure she is taking her medications as she will forget almost guaranteed...

I would also speak to her bank manager promptly as she is a very easy target for less the nice con artists.... Telephone marketers can be bad ,,, and sorry to say some of the less than correct alternative church groups can be some of the worst... Currently, (unless you've dealt with this) she could simply sign over all of her affairs and assets to a group and it would be a major legal battle just to get them back...

In many cases (if she lives in a smaller community) for now the local banker will know her and help to protect her where possible by providing you a heads up on her month finances and any irregularities... You should also consider having her provide you with a power of attorney over her affairs (both financial and medical as they are separated in some jurisdictions,,, they are here in Ontario)...

You may want to seriously consider getting her affairs in order very promptly.... The disease is unpredictable, can move quickly and if not properly handled can be overwhelming to the uniformed (and even a serious handful for the informed).... You love her, insure you put her affairs in order so that you're making the medical decisions as some jurisdictions will take over her affairs if you don't.... You could loose any voice in her medical and financial affairs if the state steps in without proper consideration being taken...

In closing, I say this because we have a family member (Dad) with the disease and we also own 3 long term care facilities in Ontario.... This involvement in the system gave us a inside view of how wrong things can go for families if they don't put thier loved ones affairs in order.... The industry is super regulated up here (which is very good),,,, but you mite be surprised how big a threat your State government can be if you don't take control of her affairs.... This is clearly not meant to be financial comment only,,,, you need to ensure your wife is directing her medical affairs.... Trust me,,, you won't like it if the state starts to handle them and you loose your voice in her affairs!!

[fyrffytr1]

Thank you for the information. We are pursuing different courses of action. Her son has power of attorney in her financial affairs but he is limited in what he can do because she has not been judged unable to handle her money.
I really don't know what to tell my wife. We will contact the Alzheimers Association ASAP. And we have already spoke to the local "Council on Aging". They have been helpful and offer free advice whenever we want it.

[Colin Frolick]

best regards and luck to you. as was said start drugs early, they do help retard disease progression and lessen caregiver burden

medscape articles are some of the best for information... free to join

http://www.medscape.com/resource/alzheimers