valerie/sharon m

[Guest guest]

valerie,

my dad also had hallucinations about spies and the like he would tell me

the cia or the kgb were after him and would hurt me to get to him, it was

very very hard for me when he was going thru this, if i was one minute late

getting home from somewhere he would swear that i was kidnapped and try to

call the police.

we found zoloft worked for his hallucinations and didnt make him extremely

sleepy. he started out with 50mg and was on htat dose for probalby 8 months

before we upped to 100mg and after he got to the nh it was upped again to

150 mg. dad was never combative or argumentative with anyone but me, but to

me he could be a real azz. more than several occasions did he have me in

tears even though i knjew it was lbd talking and not my dad. it was awful.

i am glad the transition has been going good. and i hope he gets used to

being apart from your mom at nite fairly quickly. and i am very glad to

hear your mom is doing better, i hope you are too, i know you are worrying

about both of them take care ofyourself too hugs sharon

-- Update / Dad Had a Confrontation Last Night

Hi everyone,

Thought I would give an update on my dad.

His deterioration has been steady since the email that I sent (below).

Actually, it has been

steady since May, 2005. Still shocking to reflect on how quickly things

change with this

disease.

The hospital put him on Zyprexa for his hallucinations/delusions and

Lorazepam for

anxiety. The first few days after he got on the meds were terrible. He was

so out of it.

Then his body adjusted and he got better. Seemed to be having less

hallucinations, and

was definitely less confrontational with hospital staff.

He was released a few days after Thanksgiving. My brother drove him to his

new place at

the Alzheimer's facility, where my mom met them. He was so glad to be out of

the hospital

that he accepted that transition well.

His first weeks there until Christmas were up and down. He waited near the

door every

morning until my mom would arrive to visit. She had to explain to him

several times why

he had to live there separate from her. Often he would forget where he was

and think that

she did live there with him, getting somewhat upset then when she would

leave for the

evening. His mobility was still pretty good, although the meds seemed to

exacerbate his

stiffness and hunched shoulders (PD). He was quite talkative and sometimes

would say

things that made some sense. A couple of times my mom arrived in the morning

to find he

was planning to run away. He had one small bag with him and had packed it

with some

socks and undies.

He still has bad dreams a lot. Very violent and scary. Usually they have a

military/war

theme and involve spies, killing, etc. Sometimes he is scared to go to bed

because of the

dreams.

At Christmas they had to up the dose of his meds because he was getting

confrontational

again. Another bad adjustment period took place. His was extremely sleepy

and could

barely shuffle, needing help walking and unable to navigate stairs. After a

few days he got

better, but not as good as before. His hunching is even more pronounced. He

is still pretty

sleepy. When he talks, the first sentence makes some sense if we're lucky.

After that it is

sheer nonsense and you can't even distinguish real words. At that point he

knows he's not

communicating what he wants to say, and he just gives up. Sometimes he doesn

t even

react when you question him....he just stares straight ahead and doesn't

even look over at

you, like he didn't hear you.

He hallucinates a lot about things on the floor. He gets scared

transitioning through

doorways, or from the carpet onto a linoleum floor. He's been doing this for

awhile....when

he was still at the apartment he was able to express to my mom that he

thought he was

going off of a cliff or into water and would drown. He picks at his clothes

a lot, or picks at

unseen things on the walls. The corners of walls, or moulding especially

throw him off.

He'll point to them, touch them, etc. Sometimes he bends all of the way down

to point to

something on the baseboard right by the floor. It's scary, because his

balance is so bad

now that I'm afraid he will fall. He also picks at the arms of chairs.

He has forgotten how to do most basic grooming things. My mom helps him in

the

bathroom, brushing his teeth, etc. Now he is forgetting how to eat. Some

days he eats OK,

but other days the attendants have to help him, or they will save his plate

until my mom

arrives and she'll help him eat.

That's about all. It is a huge relief that he is in a facility. My mom still

does a lot of work

with him, but at least she gets a few hours off each day. Everything is

happening so fast

that she hasn't let go yet. Plus, of course, it is more expensive when you

have the nursing

home do more stuff, and they don't do it as well as family can. My mom's

health and

mental well-being have improved since he moved into the nursing home. LBD is

very

stressful on the caretaker, trying to second-guess each moment what is going

through the

head of their loved one.

God bless,

>

> I feel sick in the pit of my stomach. My dad has been in such a good

> mood for the last two weeks. None of the stubborn behavior or snapping

> at my mom.

>

> Last night he was very uncooperative and was obviously not recognizing

> my mom at all, not even as the " worker " he usually thinks she is. He

> was adversarial, and complained to the staff at their seniors

> apartment that she was mistreating him. No one could calm him down or

> console him, so they took him to the local hospital, which has a

> geriatric dementia speciality, for evaluation.

>

> When he comes out, I don't see that it's possible for him to return to

> living with my mom. He's going to have to go to a nursing home. I feel

> like the bottom has dropped out. This is all happening too quickly.

> Just last Christmas Eve we were all celebrating in their home as

> always. Now the house is gone and he will be gone too...

>

>

>

Welcome to LBDcaregivers.