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Is this typical of alzheimers disease?

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Alzheimer's Disease
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Posted 8/26/2003 2:15 AM (GMT 0)
My mother is 94 and has alzheimers. Her vocabulary is a lot of mumbled up words that don't fit, along with a few moments of the proper use of words at times. She has started about 2 months ago to whine continually for hours, mostly high pitched moaning sounds, with begging and pleading words like "please" and "mama". She won't snap out of it no matter how hard my sister and I try to divert her attention to something else. She does this for hours on end, non-stop. Is this typical? We have stopped taking her out with us to the shopping mall, as people stop and stare at her now and us. She also has a terrible look on her face when she does this. My sister looks after her full time, as she never married and has devoted her life to her. I help when I can, but I am married and have a family. Any info would help. Thanks. Sincerely, Forget-me-not.
Posted 8/29/2003 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, my father-in-law has alzheimer's and lives with us too. It has become almost impossible to look after him. He has home-care support too, but we cannot leave him alone now at all. The other day he tried to open a can with a 2-pronged meat spear. Anyhow, I also work in a Care Facility with a lot of alzheimer's residents. And yes, several of them make all sorts of noises, many chat away to "who knows who". Some seem like they are talking to another resident but are having their own little conversations. Many stare at the ground or are always touching their feet or something they think is on the floor. So as you may already know, the mind is a complex thing that, when altered can cause some to do all sorts of wierd things. I have a lot of respect for anyone trying to take care of a loved one in this state.

Take care....Sassy
Posted 9/2/2003 1:32 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the info. What are the end stages of this disease like? I'd like to be prepared for what is coming. Also, will my mother lose her speech totally at some point in time?
Posted 9/7/2003 4:21 AM (GMT 0)

Hi, sorry for the time wait, I generally spend most time on the UC forum.  To the best of my knowledge, the disease can progress from the first noticable symptoms of forgeting words, etc. to not being able to speak in about 5-8 yrs.  You can find out more by looking up Alzheimers on line.  My Grandma went from normal to no speech and not being able to feed herself, incontenent etc. in about 8 yrs.  She passed away a yr later at 88. 

In my work place, in the passed 6 yrs, I've known one lady who could not find her room, but could talk, remember her kids etc. and was and is a wonderful happy laughing lady.  Now she still smiles and laughs, which is rare for these people.  She does not know her kids, can't feed herself, is incontenant and is blind.  She cannot carry a conversation, but says words.  I still love to see her, but my heart goes out to her daughters who visit.  It's a hard thing to see your own mom like this. 

Do not let any stares or quiet comments stop you from taking your Mom out in public.  Trips out are wonderful, and who cares what others may think!!!  We don't have much of that kind of discrimination here in Canada.  Not that I've noticed.  Where do you live?  There are national American and Canadian Alzhiemer's Disease Centers that may be of help to you.

Best of luck Forget-me-not....Sassy

Posted 9/8/2003 3:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, again: Thanks for your reply. It was really appreciated. I live in Welland, Ontario, Canada. My sister and I still take our Mom out for Lunch once a week at the Mall, and sometimes to Swiss Chalet Restaurant, and Zellers Restaurant. Sometimes she forgets how to feed herself, but we show her how we do it, and then she is o.k. and gets started. She has a great appetite, and seems to really enjoy having a meal out. One time however, the waitress brought my sister's and my lunches first, as Mom's wasn't ready yet, and Mom got extremely upset because she didn't have any. We kept telling her that they were still cooking her meal, and we didn't start eating our meals or anything but nothing would calm her down. Now we always ask the waitress to bring Mom's meal first, even if ours is ready. We still take Mom out with us while shopping too. One doesn't see very many 90 plus year olds out in public anymore, I guess that is why people stare so much, too. A few times, teenagers make awful comments, like last week, one said "Is that old lady ever ugly", my sister and I heard it, but we hope Mom didn't. We always dress Mom up really nice, pretty dress, stockings, nice shoes, and Mom always loved hats, as she wore them all the time in her day, so we always put a nice hat with a flower on it, on her. Thanks again for your help and the ifo! Bye for now. For-get-me-not.
Posted 9/9/2003 10:48 AM (GMT 0)
My mother had Alzheimer's for a couple of years before she died of a blood clot from hip surgery. I read several books on the disease, but have forgotten most of what I read. It can be scary for the person because they forget where they are and may even not know you. It is anxiety producing for the patient. Short term memory goes completely later on. My mother forgot how to work her checkbook first, then how to cook. When she was in the hospital after surgery she couldn't remember that she had a device, a call button on the bed, to call for help if she needed it. What was really disappointing and scary was that the nursing staff was ignorant of the disease. They couldn't understand why she seemed so helpless.

She had just spent about 6 weeks with my brother and wife and they had brought her back to her home and I was visiting. One of her suitcases was in the floor and she stumbled over it coming out of the bath room and broke her hip. As a result, she died in the hospital from a blood clot. This is a terrible disease for the one who has it.
Posted 9/9/2003 11:08 PM (GMT 0)

Forget-Me-Not its Sassy again.  Your mom is lucky to have you as a daughter.  I remember going to visit my Grandma in her appartment.  She would make breakfast 3 times thinking she did not have it.  Then she swore there was a man living in the tree outside her window.  She was on the 3rd floor.  This went on for some time.  She was brought home by the police a couple of times when she got lost going to the store.  Good thing she never drove a car. 


I am trying to take care of my father-in-law who is getting worse daily it seems.  Lucky for him, he's a veteran and they pay for most all of his care and drugs etc.  He takes a drug called Exelon thats about 5$ a pill and had really slowed down the alzhiemers for about 1&1/2 yrs.  However, it does not stop it, and now he's dropping quickly.  The stress is over-whelming here for me.  As I must feed him, give him his pills and take him to a thousand apts.  My husband works later now and can't do as much now.  On top of that, I have a 13 and 15 yr old kids that go to sports and band etc. around dinner etc. right when he demands his meals.  Yeh, he yells for them now sometimes.  He complains about them too which kinda p*sses me off sometimes as I do the best I can. 


I guess the added stress played a major role in my health over the past 2 yrs.  I went into a bad flare up of colitis which I couldn't get dx until last april.  Now I'm better on meds and an anti-depressant.  But I still get tired and my hair falls out.  Sorry for going on and on.  Sometimes its good to let it out. 


Please stay in touch and take care...Sassy

Posted 9/17/2003 5:31 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Sassy: You sure have a lot going on around your house! Things have slowed down around here, as my last son moved out the end of August. I have 3 sons, Alan is 22, Kevin is 20, and Ryan is 18. I am now trying to adjust to empty-nest syndrome.

My birthday was on Wednesday(last week) the 10th, and I was 49. Next year is the big 50. I saw my Mom and she even signed her name on the birthday card, and said Happy Birthday to me. For about 5 minutes she knew who I was, which was really nice and a special moment for me. We (my sister, Mom, and I) all went out for breakfast after that.

I sure hope the Colitis eases up with the medication for you. I hope you don't have to stay on anti depressants very long. I took Prozac for about 2 months, that was 5 years ago when my boys were all teenagers and the stress level was pretty high at that time. I didn't like the effect that it had on me, as I felt like I had no emotions at all, and absolutely nothing bothered me, all of which is a really strange feeling. I finally got out of depression on my own, by taking 2 hours every day for myself, no one was allowed to bother me, and I would go for a walk, or lay down, or bake something. That really worked for me. You need the committment and the support of everyone in the family to make it work, too, no exceptions to the two hours of not being bothered for anything.

Sassy, my email is [email protected] if you want to send an email instead of using this board. Would be glad to keep in touch with you. Bye, for now. Forget-me-not.
Posted 9/19/2003 10:51 PM (GMT 0)

Happy Birthday Forget-me-not!  My mom's birthday is also Sept. 10.  I'm 42 and sometimes feel 82 but also sometimes feel 22.  My daughter hates it when I try to wear young peoples clothes which make me look young.  Now that I've lost 40 lbs. I can fit most of her clothes.  However, those hippsters don't quite do the trick for my loose hanging tummy skin.  So I stick to normal pants. 

 

I will wait to e-mail you because our computer needs to be re-programed.  I can hardly get onto the board now. 

 

We just got more home support for Dad.  Now he has a girl coming in Tue. Wed. and Fridays to dress and feed him in the morning.  He goes to a adult daycare twice a week and that time in the morning is too busy for us all.  So now he has someone for everyday except Sundays.  What a relief.  Have you thought of that for your Mom?  Medical might cover it, you have to have a Doctors recommendation.  Even if your sister can get away for a couple hrs on her own it can make a big difference, and she won't feel so tied down.  We are tied to the house so to speak, and must be here for meals.  Dad would only eat toast.  And lately, he can't open the bread bags as he uses scissors and cuts the bag in half!  Some things he does are quite funny actually.  Yesterday he came looking for his "tail gate".  What he actually meant was his walker!  It took a while to figure that out. 

 

Well I'm off to taxi my daughter to a movie...there's always something. Take care....Sassy

Posted 9/22/2003 10:50 PM (GMT 0)

What you are experiencing Is typical of Alzheimer's

Posted 3/19/2010 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
totally agree with snowy bout this it is the alzheimers ..it is now the most patience love and understanding this dd that is needed..my mom went from this my dad within less than a year,,,,it truly is a family disease imho..
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