Re: My Capgras Story

[Guest guest]

Hello Precious Jan!

Good to continue to read about yours and Jim's experiences. My Don had

Crabgras too,

But it really didn't last long. I'll never forget him wondering if Imogene

in the Kitchen was going to be upset if she walked in and found him kissing

Imogene. He did worry if it was alright. He didn't want to do anything

wrong. Convince him? No! So, I just went along with him the few times he did

display crabgras.

Love a lot,

Imogene

In a message dated 7/26/2010 3:20:44 P.M. Central Daylight Time,

janetcolello@... writes:

I must apologize, the first time, my computer somehow just sent off a

reply

without me even hitting the send. I don't know what happened. I was ready

to

type my message and it disappeared from me.

This is of interest to me as I have experienced this with my husband when

he was

living at home, but has progressed farther into the disease and is not

displaying it as much as he once was and is in a nursing home now.

One of my most memorable moments was while we were sitting at the dinner

table

and he asked me, " Where do you usually eat? " I said, " I eat with you, we

eat

together. " And he blushingly said, " Oh no! Not both of my wives together. "

Other times he would call me " Jan! Jan! " and I would say, " What? I'm right

here. " And he would say, " No, not you, the other Jan. "

Once while toileting he asked me who I was, I said, " Jan " he said, " Where

did I

hide the gold? I will know it's you if you can tell me where the gold is. "

I was

guessing in the toilet paper roll, under the carpet etc. I had no clue

what he

was talking about and neither did he, but he did not recognize me as " Jan "

that

he knew.

Occasionally he will still call out my name when I am sitting next to him

and he

will say I am not that Jan that he wants, he wants the other Jan. I don't

think

we qualify for this interview since the patient can not respond to the

interviewer, but this is great for raising awareness of this syndrome.

Before I

had heard of Capgras, it was frustrating that my husband didn't recognize

me as

the " Jan " that has always been with him. I have heard that this can

happen with

pets as well and homes that they don't recognize as their own pets and

homes,

but they look similar, but aren't the correct ones.

________________________________

This was posted today to the LBDA Forum.

All,

LBDA was contacted by writer for a psychology magazine in the Netherlands

who

would like to interview a patient/caregiver duo (ideally in California)

that are

dealing with Capgras syndrome, which is common in LBD.

Capgras syndrome is a disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a

friend,

spouse, parent or other close family member has been replaced by an

identical-looking impostor.

This writer is traveling to California during the third week in August, so

while

a caregiver/patient in California would be ideal, other western states may

also

hold potential for an in-person interview.

If you are interested in being interviewed for this story, please send a

brief

summary about your personal experience with Capgras syndrome and LBD to me

at

ataylor@....

Many thanks for your help in raising awareness about LBD and Capgras

syndrome!

Program Director

LBDA