What can I do when my mom sees imaginary people in the house?
My 77yr old mom has been mentally declining over the past several years. In the last 6 months it seems to have accelerated. Testing has shown that she has significant shrinkage to the left side of her brain and that she has had numerous mini-strokes. The doctor feels that she is also suffering from some type of dementia. I can handle the forgetfulness, repeated questions and other issues, but it's the people she insists are in the house I can't deal with. We do live together so I am there everyday, at first she was not scared of this people. Now though she says she wants them out and she is somewhat afraid of them. I have asked her if she thinks that they may be a result of her illness but she disagrees. She knows that I can't see them, however, she can't understand why I don't do something about them. Short of having a Shaman come and chase away the people does anyone have any suggestions?
54 Answers
Popular Questions
Related Questions
- What is it when the behavior of an elderly changes from confused to bold?
- How do you care for an Alzheimer's patient when they have aggressive behavior and hit their caretakers?
- How do I deal with my grandfather who insists on caring for my grandmother with Alzheimer's?
- What can you do when you are concerned with the care your Alzheimer's patient is receiving?
DLB is the 2nd most common form of dementia, after Alzheimers. Other signs include fluctuations in alertness (sleepy some days, alert on others); difficulty with REM (rapid eye movement) sleep (the person tends to act out their dreams); cognitive decline; or delusions.
There is no individual test that can give a definitive diagnosis of DLB. Instead, clinicians arrive at the diagnosis by systematically eliminating other causes of the symptoms.
I'm a geriatric neuropsychologist in Northern California and I specialize in the diagnosis of dementia. Good luck with your mother.
-Recent memory loss-ask you the same ??’s over & over. Write down the ?'s and how she responds when you give her an answer
-Difficulty performing familiar tasks- cook a meal but forget to serve it. Put on pants but not panties.
-Problems w/language-may forget simple words or use the wrong words. They can’t finish a sentence, say the same sentence and stop at the same point
-Time & place disorientation-get lost on their own street. Night is day, stuff.
-Poor Judgement-forget simple things, like to put on a coat before going out in cold weather.
-Problems with abstract thinking. Classic example is balancing a checkbook, people w/dementia may forget what numbers are and what has to be done with them.
-Misplacing things – Putting things in the wrong places like iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.
-Changes in mood-fast mood swings, going from calm to tears to anger in a few minutes. They become suspicious, paranoid or irrationally fearful.
-Loss of initiative-may become passive.
None of these happen overnight or all at the same time. A lot of what happens depends on what type of dementia. My experience is that getting them evaluated by a geriatric MD or nerologist makes a huge difference in deciding the best care
so it is great that is scheduled for your mom.
Another thing is the physical changes, if you are with her daily, it's hard to do. Best with someone who knows her but hasn't seen her in weeks. With my mom, we would come in 2 - 3 times a year. With my mom. I noticed how she walked changed, she does a "shuffle" walk-feet stay flat on the floor, moves in short, flat steps, she really cannot pick up her feet to walk, stairs are a issue. The shuffle was another tip off that she probably has Lewy Body dementia, she also has episodes of stiffening arms/legs. It's fleeting but happens.Yet she is very cognitive and knows current events and who people are. Like she can tell me exactly what they had for a meal (correctly) and that they put poison in it (incorrect).
Sometimes it's things that seem kinda normal but aren't. My mom had this line-up of jelly and other grocery items, like a dz+ Smuckers. After she went into IL and I was clearing the house of 50+ yrs of crap, I ran across grocery lists, inevitably they would have "jelly exp", "tuna exp", as in expired on them. I figure she would look at the jar and read exp 6/06 and then logically and correctly would write it on the grocery list, go to the store and buy a jar, but then there would be the disconnect in actually getting rid of the jar, it wasn't about the last bit of jelly being used either, she couldn't connect the dots. If I asked her, it would be about oh that's right, it's expired, I bought a new one very matter of fact. She is not being able to get to the end of the equation, not being able to do abstract thinking.
-Folstein /Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) 30 point test. Takes about 10 – 30 minutes & looks at math, memory and orientation. Is copyrighted, so not given as much. If her MD is with a medical school, Folstein used more as they pay for it's use. My mom's first Folstein was like a 25/26 and stayed in the 20's then sadly went to a 10, so no more Folstein for her. Folstein has problems if they are not native English language speakers or have limited education in being accurate.
or The Mini-Cog: a 3 part test:
1) name 3 objects then repeat back, could do this 2 – 3 times;
2. draw a clock then
3) repeat the 3 object words from earlier. This should take 3 – 5 minutes. What this checks is recall of new information, orientation to time and date, and clock drawing into a single score that can accurately determine if someone has cognitive impairment and its severity. Not as accurate but easy to do. Don't help her or answer for her either!
A MiniCog every 3 mos is also good. My mom's gerontolgist does it this way.
Having a baseline Folstein/MMSE done & repeated is really helpful to be realistic about what careplan to take. Same with scan on brain shrinkage & what part of the brain.
About the dizziness, ask her md about having her on a vertigo drug.
One big issue is they try to get up quickly and get dizzy from the change in pressure in doing this. Sometimes if they pump their hands while still in bed or after sitting for long periods of time ( open & close their hands and alternate with clenching/making a fist) this gets their blood going so when they stand they don't get dizzy. Try doing this with her for a week to see if it makes a difference.
If you can try to get your mom to be seen by a gerontologist. They will be able to better evaluate your mom as who what type of dementia and where she is on the spectrum of stages of each type. Not all dementia;s are alike or treated the same.
If there is a medical school within driving distance, then try to get her an appointment with one of the gerontolgists affiliated with the medical school.
My mom likely has Lewy Body Dementia - she sees small animals and has very elaborate "false beliefs". No UTI's. At the beginning, the hallucinations were of concern to her but now about 5 yrs into it, she just kinda takes it as a matter of fact. She is on Exelon patch and Remeron and for her, they work well and keep her "level". Now it takes like 3 months for them to get into their system and the meds need to be very much on a time schedule but for her it is a good thing.
In a way, your mom is spot-on in that she IS losing her mind. The dementia is causing her brain to shrink and for parts of it to die or go black. Good luck.
See All Answers