Guest guest Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 Can somebody give me a cliff notes version of what this Lewy Bodies means to my dad. He has this dementia and has been diagnosed with Lewy Body. What is different in the treatment and expectations as a practical matter than with other forms of dementia. I just don't feel as if I have a handle on this. He is currently in a locked dementia ward because he keeeps escaping from whatever care situation I set up for him. But, he is not as bad off as the other people in the ward and I do not want to leave him there if it is not appropriate. I just do not know what the correct setting is for him. Of course he just keeps saying that he wants to go home, but this is not an option unless I rent an apartment for him and pay caregivers to take care of him. At the same time, I have no idea what he is going to do in that setting becaue he is awfully confused and does not realize that he cannot drive or find his way anywhere because all of this has happened oer the last 9 months and he has not accepted it. Anyway- my original question is what does the Lewy Bodies do and how can it be treated differently from generic dementia, if at all. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 At 01:43 AM 10/3/2004, you wrote: >Alzheimers >people just seem to float into oblivion, but not LBD's. This is SO true. The other shoe dropped... well yesterday but I wasn't ready to believe it. The light seems to have gone out again, and Mom is at least as bad as she ever was. She requires constant reassurance that she's not going to be sent away, her balance is shot, and now she appears to not even be able to feed herself. The only thing we still have back is her appetite and that's just sporadic. I recognize that we're still only on the lowest dose of Exelon, but if she can't tolerate higher doses we may not be able to go any further. While I promised myself I wouldn't get too hopeful, I guess I must've done because this really hit me hard, and unfortunately I've taken it out on her a couple of times today. I know yelling doesn't help, but sometimes when you hear " Where am I to be sent? " over and over again while you're simply trying to get them fed and medicated, it's quite simple just to lose it. The " faking it " thing is something I have trouble with, in part because my mother will often ask " Will you help me eat this? " and if it's something she can pick up in her hand, I'll say " No, now you pick it up and eat it. You can do it. " And then I'll watch her reach down and as soon as she touches the item of food, she'll feel all the way around it and then say she can't find it. It's maddening because it's clear that she can feel it there in front of her, probably even see it to some degree, but she will not pick it up unless it's something she really wants like her beloved pickles. And I have so much trouble not seeing that as just Mom deciding she wants the help more than she wants that item of food at that moment. But then, Mom has always been wholly dependent upon my father, and me, and before that, on her mother. And she's always had a passive-aggressive streak. The basic behaviors I'm seeing are not really new so much as so extreme as to make her a caricature of what she was before she became ill. Anyway, I'm feeling kind of... I don't know. As I said, it hit me hard today. Why is nothing about life ever easy? *g* dargie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Dargie, One day after I got mad at Mom for repeating herself, I decided I did not like me when I did that. So I decided I could answer the same question all day. It really takes lots less time to think up one answer and repeat it back and I could do that without thinking. She did not know I was giving her the same answer and it really made it easier on me. It is mostly I had to change my thinking. I did not have to expect me or her to understand what she could not understand. It is usually expectations that got in my way. Hope this helps. Donna R Mom died in Oct 02. (I am still up all night!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 In a message dated 10/8/2004 12:39:51 PM Central Daylight Time, tessabelle@... writes: taking sinemet for a couple of months teresa, sinemet was a big nono for my dad, he took only 1/2 tab two times a day for 2 days, and during that time he became less cognitive and very very uncontrollble it took him several days to calm back down, but he was horrible, he was violent, yelling, etc he is on exelon and zoloft right now, and seems to be slowing down on a little on his down hill slide take caren and goodluck sharon m a smile a day keeps the meanies away!!! laughter is a breath of fresh air! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 In a message dated 10/8/2004 12:39:51 PM Central Daylight Time, tessabelle@... writes: taking sinemet for a couple of months teresa, sinemet was a big nono for my dad, he took only 1/2 tab two times a day for 2 days, and during that time he became less cognitive and very very uncontrollble it took him several days to calm back down, but he was horrible, he was violent, yelling, etc he is on exelon and zoloft right now, and seems to be slowing down on a little on his down hill slide take caren and goodluck sharon m a smile a day keeps the meanies away!!! laughter is a breath of fresh air! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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