Guest guest Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 Susie: I think I posted to you yesterday re your father's decisions and changing of mind. Will reply to this, also. My husband did not have hallucinations early on, nor sleep disorder. The only sleep disorder he had was falling asleep the minute he sat down in a chair (for almost all our married life), sleep most of the evening, and then get up and go to bed and sleep all night. Could drink coffee right up to bedtime with no effects. If he had hallucinations, he never mentioned anything, even much later. The first he mentioned them was after he had a broken shoulder blade when he was given heavy-duty pain medication. He told me to get those kids to stop jumping off and on the table. Then, later, he mentioned, matter of factly, that the cat over there looked cold. He also mentioned the horses and cows. He was born and raised on the farm and farmed the first 15 years of our marriage. After he really worsened, I think he saw many things that weren't there, but nothing was frightening that I could surmise. However, this might be something for you to consider. My husband had both AD and LBD. I think originally he started with AD, as his symptoms then were more in line with that. It was after the broken shoulder blade in 2004 that he exhibited symptoms of LBD. His personality also changed from being very laid back, nonconfrontational, easy going, etc., to angry, argumentive, aggressive, cursing, kicking, hitting, etc., in the last few years. He never had what I would consider REM sleep disorder, although he did snore if lying on his back. He was able to sleep soundly through all kinds of things, and I would lie awake and worry if the kids weren't home, etc. The only sleep disorder he had was the last few weeks before NH placement, when I think he had a UTI, and then in the NH, he did not sleep well at all. It might have been because that was the first time he had slept alone for many, many years. No sleeping meds kept him asleep thru the night. I tried to get them to try Rozerem (sp), but they would not until they had tried everything else. By that time, he got very ill and subsequently died before we were able to try it. --- Susie1 wrote: > I'm curious if anyone's LO did NOT have > hallucinations early on, but developed them in later > stages. Dad has had none, no sleep disorders that I > know of. I read of so many that have fewer delusions > later in the progression of the disease ... I wonder > if we should expect those to develop? Thanks - > Susie > > --------------------------------- > Get the free Yahoo! toolbar and rest assured with > the added security of spyware protection. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > ________________________________________________________________________________\ ____ Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q & A. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list & sid=396545367 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 Oh Kim, you poor lady. Hallucinations are a hallmark of LBD. AD patients don't have hallucinations until late, but LBD has them almost right up front. As long as they are not frightening to your Mom I would let them be. Some medications can and do most assuredly make a patient worse. Risperdal almost killed my husband. But, I saw something bad wrong, and took him off it within three weeks if beginning the medication, and he recovered. If an LBD patient isn't removed from Antipsychotic soon enough it can very well make them worse. My Darling man cannot take any antipsychotic. Some people can, but antipsychotic medications are usually a big NO NO for LBD. Love a bunch, Imogene Caregiver for my true Texas Gentleman Husband of 36 years. He has LBD with Parkinsonism. A happy personality is contagious. Infect someone today. In a message dated 8/2/2007 9:23:59 AM Central Daylight Time, kimberkoz@... writes: Do your loved ones all experience hallucinations? For my mom, it has been a hallmark of her illness. (She has not been diagnosed with LBD, but I suspect she may have it.) I wondered if all of you have been able to control the hallucinations and if so, how. We have worked with psychiatrists for years adn tried many antipsychotics. Geodon worked for about a year. We tried Risperdol and Seroquel too. Her psychiatrist last night started her on Abilify. What's interesting is the hallucinations are still there but the dementia-related behaviors have really kicked up and almost overnight seem to have eclipsed the hallucination problem. We have been really experimenting with drug combinations in recent weeks and I am not sure if what's happening to her is because of the disease progression or improper medication. Does anyone have thoughts? THank you, Kim ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 The combo of Aricept, Namenda & Zyprexa work for my Dad for now. Debbie in SoCal _____ From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ] On Behalf Of Kim K. Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 4:53 AM To: LBDcaregivers Subject: Hallucinations Do your loved ones all experience hallucinations? For my mom, it has been a hallmark of her illness. (She has not been diagnosed with LBD, but I suspect she may have it.) I wondered if all of you have been able to control the hallucinations and if so, how. We have worked with psychiatrists for years adn tried many antipsychotics. Geodon worked for about a year. We tried Risperdol and Seroquel too. Her psychiatrist last night started her on Abilify. What's interesting is the hallucinations are still there but the dementia-related behaviors have really kicked up and almost overnight seem to have eclipsed the hallucination problem. We have been really experimenting with drug combinations in recent weeks and I am not sure if what's happening to her is because of the disease progression or improper medication. Does anyone have thoughts? THank you, Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 Hi Kim, Well in our case, Mom has hallucinations, more so when she is inactive. The doctor had her on 25mgs. Seroquel, then upped it to 50mgs., then up to 75, but we didn't make it to 75. Mom wanted to stop it and the hallucinations have been less often. Now, did the drug do anything? We don't know, and who really does. Mom has an health aide that she really enjoys being around, and seems that the hallucinations slowed when we had her come on a regular basis. I am beginning to wonder if drugs are the real answer for this disease. But, like I said before, who really knows. Many hugs, Deb " Kim K. " wrote: Do your loved ones all experience hallucinations? For my mom, it has been a hallmark of her illness. (She has not been diagnosed with LBD, but I suspect she may have it.) I wondered if all of you have been able to control the hallucinations and if so, how. We have worked with psychiatrists for years adn tried many antipsychotics. Geodon worked for about a year. We tried Risperdol and Seroquel too. Her psychiatrist last night started her on Abilify. What's interesting is the hallucinations are still there but the dementia-related behaviors have really kicked up and almost overnight seem to have eclipsed the hallucination problem. We have been really experimenting with drug combinations in recent weeks and I am not sure if what's happening to her is because of the disease progression or improper medication. Does anyone have thoughts? THank you, Kim --------------------------------- Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 The more awake they are, the fewer the hallucinations, at least in the experience of Cal and the patients of Dr. Boeve. Even with increasing doses of Zyprexa (an atypical), we still had florid visual hallucinations until we got on the stimulants. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 Kim, The very first symptom was hallucinations. The medications have helped my dad tremendously, over the past 3 years (Seroquel, Namenda, Exelon) in keeping the hallucinations down to a minimum, but now I notice that they are increasing again. I think the medication isn't as effective since he has been on them for 3 years. His hallucinations are never scary to him. He will say matter-of-factly " look at the little man cleaning out the gutters " , or he insists that the boulders around his pool are being moved from one place to another. It wasn't until after the hallucinations started, that I noticed more confusion. When he is hallucinating, I usually try to distract him by steering the conversation away from what ever it is that he is seeing. A lot of his hallucinations are about kids and animals. Rhonda > > Do your loved ones all experience hallucinations? > > For my mom, it has been a hallmark of her illness. (She has not been > diagnosed with LBD, but I suspect she may have it.) I wondered if all > of you have been able to control the hallucinations and if so, how. > > We have worked with psychiatrists for years adn tried many > antipsychotics. Geodon worked for about a year. We tried Risperdol and > Seroquel too. Her psychiatrist last night started her on Abilify. > > What's interesting is the hallucinations are still there but the > dementia-related behaviors have really kicked up and almost overnight > seem to have eclipsed the hallucination problem. We have been really > experimenting with drug combinations in recent weeks and I am not sure > if what's happening to her is because of the disease progression or > improper medication. Does anyone have thoughts? THank you, Kim > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Hi, I am new to the group and a care giver for my wife with LBD. She suffers from horrible, terrifying, hallucinations. She also has tremors so her DR. is reluctant to prescribe anything to control the hallucinations. Can you tell me more about Zyprexa. Does Cal also suffer from tremors? Many thanks, Vince Quoting epthompson : > The more awake they are, the fewer the hallucinations, at least in the > experience of Cal and the patients of Dr. Boeve. > > Even with increasing doses of Zyprexa (an atypical), we still had > florid visual hallucinations until we got on the stimulants. > > E > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 My Dad has suffered from familial tremor for 46+ years. The combo of Aricept, Namenda & Zyprexa control his hallucinations for 8 months now. But the zyprexa amplifies his tremor. (And I think it might be time for a medicine re-mix soon.) The food flys off his fork and spoon. He can’t work a knife anymore. AND these are special “weighted” fork and spoon, specially for tremor patients. (We tried a “steady spoon” (it has a counter weight, so the bowl of the spoon is level no matter how you hold it), but the noise of the spoon as Dad shook bothered him so he refused to use it.) HTH, Debbie in SoCal _____ From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ] On Behalf Of Vince@... Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 8:40 AM To: LBDcaregivers Subject: Re: Re: Hallucinations Hi, I am new to the group and a care giver for my wife with LBD. She suffers from horrible, terrifying, hallucinations. She also has tremors so her DR. is reluctant to prescribe anything to control the hallucinations. Can you tell me more about Zyprexa. Does Cal also suffer from tremors? Many thanks, Vince Quoting epthompson <ericbls@spintellige <mailto:ericbls%40spintelligentlabs.com> ntlabs.com>: > The more awake they are, the fewer the hallucinations, at least in the > experience of Cal and the patients of Dr. Boeve. > > Even with increasing doses of Zyprexa (an atypical), we still had > florid visual hallucinations until we got on the stimulants. > > E > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 DW: There is definitely a risk that Zyprexa (and really, the whole class) can cause a worsening of motor symptoms. The agents are different enough, though, that it is probably worth trying something else. The general international consensus seems to be gelling around Seroquel, but there is a VERY vocal contingent that gets excellent results with Clozaril, despite the risks and need for weekly blood monitoring. So don't give up - there's probably a better answer out there for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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