Alzheimer's disease

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• October 7, 2007 8:20 p.m.

  After I shower my 92-year-old mother, who has Alzheimer's, head to toe with suds and rubbing, I massage her face to toe with oil. Her nervousness subsides, her circulation improves, her skin looks better than it looked 20 years ago--no purple or red sections. Read about long, slow stroke massage and the benefits. We both love the experience. She lets the oils soak in afterwards, totally relaxed. Our best conversations happen after these sessions when her focus is heightened. She says it makes her feel light and free.

  - k

• October 6, 2007 8:11 p.m.

  Shirley, I have a friend who went to work one day and when she came home her husband couldn't walk. My husband has Lewy Body. This past week he has been extremely tired, bad head aches and not sleeping well. I will take him to the doctor on Monday to see if he has upper resporatory problems or a UTI or if it is dementia related. He has done so well for so long that his past week has been a little frightful for me. It seems odd to hope your husband is physically ill, knowing the other option is dementia related.

  - Sharon G

• October 5, 2007 8:12 a.m.

  One thing for sure is you can't judge what your loved one with AD will do by reading what other AD people do. Some days are good - some not so good - but like shirley - i have found musis is soothing for them - dad just loves the "oldies" like lawrence welk, guy lombardo, etc. and old hymns. He can't concentrate enough to watch tv - Love this site - thank you for it - and bless all you caretakers.

  - jackie (jc)

• October 5, 2007 2:27 a.m.

  Well Saturday my husband was unable to walk on his own. Boy my world changed my daaughter was here and she helped me for 4 days helping get him out of bed. We called hotspice and had him checked to see if I could get some help. They came and he will be in the program starting today. This Az changes so quickly and affects the whole family. Reading the bible to my husband helps calm him down and playing music.

  - Shirley

• October 5, 2007 1:56 a.m.

  WARNINGS Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death compared to placebo. SEROQUEL (quetiapine) is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis (see BOXED WARNING).

  - gord

• October 5, 2007 12:23 a.m.

  Is a psychiatrist prescribing for your mother, or only a family doc or internist? Ativan is likely to adversely affect memory -- so it can "backfire" when the anxiety is because of poor memory. Seroquel increases death rate in the elderly. The Paxil or one of the other SSRIs (e.g. Celexa, Lexapro) is probably a good idea, and lots of reassurance and structure. If she is not seeing a well-qualified psychiatrist, it is time.

  - Dr. Burnie

• October 3, 2007 2:39 p.m.

  My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers about 3yrs. ago. For the past 2yrs. she has been suffering from alot of anxiety and I was wondering if anyone else has experienced that with their loved one. She has been taking seroquel, ativan & paxil and nothing seems to work. If any thing, every time they change dosages she seems to get worse. Does anyone have any suggestions.

  - Mary

• October 3, 2007 12:24 a.m.

  http://www.healingwell.com/library/alzheimers/oboyle1.asp The info on this web site has been a big help to me with my husbands agressive behaviour He is in the middle stages of Ad and is 68 years old. He is on no medications as yet. He was quite aggressive and verbal threats for 7 months, but now it is not quite as bad.

  - Dottie

• October 2, 2007 7:58 p.m.

  My aunt, 102 years is in the late stages of AD, she has been in assisted living for 2 1/2 years. A few months ago she started displaying agressive behavior. It seems to start when she does not want to do what is asked of her or she wants to have her way about something. These behaviors have escaleted to biting spitting, scratching and verbal threats. She is uncontrollable and at times she has to be sedated. Is this a part of the disease, what can be done to lessen the frequency of these outbursts? She takes seroquel, which has recently been increased. She is a very small person, about 90 lbs. and about 4ft. tall, owever, when she becomes enraged her strength is that of a 200lb. man Is this normal, and what can be done for her.If this is a stage of the disease, how long does it last?

  - Bev

• October 2, 2007 5:18 p.m.

  Virgie Mitchell, think of dementia as an umbrella. One of the spokes is AD and another spoke is Lewy Body. AD and Lewy Body can affect the same person. LB patients have a slow gait, maybe bent down some when walking. Hallucinations and horrible dreams can happen. Parkinsonism changes are found in LB patience, along with Rem sleep disorder. There is a difference in AD and LB when it comes to behavior meds. There are some you can't give a LB patient, as they can cause severe side effects or death. Please do a google search on Lewy Body as there is valuable info in some of the links. After getting some more info from the computer if you still think that he might have LB see a good neurologist and he might be able to come up with a correct diagnosis. Dr. Graff-Radford is a fantastic doctor from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

  - No name given

• October 2, 2007 1:41 p.m.

  To Sharon: Thanks for the suggestion of tonic water in the vodka bottles. It is on my grocery list. Will let you know if this helps.

  - Nancy

• October 2, 2007 1:02 p.m.

  My mother is in the late stages of AD. She has gone from a 140 pound woman to a mere 94 pounds. She only eats what we poke in to her. Mom is constantly in motion from the time she awakens in the a.m. until she goes to bed at night. She has just lately begun taking naps during the day. No one knows how she is able to keep going (less that 400 calories of food a day). She keeps everyone busy chasing after her. She is still at home with my father (what inspiration to us all); however, they do have a helper 3 days a week plus Hospice--they are wonderful. My mom has not known us (husband, 5 kids, 18 grandkids, and 2 great grandsons) for quite a while, but occasionally things seem to click only for a very brief amount of time. The smile you might get is priceless. I feel for all of you that are just now beginning the path-----it is difficult and you can't explain or prepare anyone for the journey they will embark on with their loved one. Love them and cherish your time.

  - janet

• September 30, 2007 6:58 p.m.

  My husband has been diagnosed with Lewy Body and I am so sorry your correspondent cannot find any info. Just Google Lewy Body Journal and you will find many links. The DLB Association is a Great Brittain association doing research on DLB.If your loved one displays symptoms of Parkinsons and is not typical of Alz, it probably is

  - Babs

• September 30, 2007 5:47 p.m.

  To Dayleah: You raise the question of when to sit down with your Dad and face facts, I would suggest that you have a geriatric specialist appointment set up to see your Dad and assess him and have the Doctor tell him at the appropriate time. Some people want to know and others really don't because they already know in the back of their mind that something is not right. When my husband was told, he was still quite "with it" and functioning and driving. He started to save sleeping pills (unknown to me) and then one day tried to commit suicide because he understood what was ahead of him and said he would rather be dead. I came home early from an appointment and found him in time. He has moved beyond this stage now and thanks to drugs lives a happy life in his own way without a care in the world. I do all the caregiving and he is still at home for now. I hope this helps you.

  - Kathleen

• September 29, 2007 7:52 p.m.

  My mom has Alzheimer’s and is totally dependent on others for everything. My Dad takes care of her at home. The things she knows how to do are: shut and lock the door; close the blinds; get a bottle of Boost from the refrigerator and can dress herself fairly well. She has trouble following verbal instructions. I have found that imitating what I want along with verbal instruction is helpful. For example: I will put paste on her toothbrush and tell her to brush her teeth. When she can’t figure out what to do, I act like I am brushing my teeth. She generally catches on and can get it from there. As far as eating: When I place her plate in front of her she says “I don’t want that”. We used to try to coax her to eat when generally made her angry. I have learned to say “Well, then don’t eat it. But I am going to leave it there until I am finished.” She’ll say “OK”. Within a minute, she’ll start eating. She doesn’t eat a lot, but thankfully she drinks plenty of Boost.

  - Terri

• September 29, 2007 5:44 p.m.

  My husband was diagnosed with AD in 2003. He is on aricept, namenda, exelan, and zoloft and serequel for awile. He thinks he can still perform at sex but he can't. He doesn't realize that he can't and wants to keep trying. It is about to do me in. Also, someone mentioned Lewy Body. What is that. I have tried to bring it up on my computer but for some reason I am shut out. I wonder if my husband might have it. There are times when I think if I can't have some free time, I will start screaming. When we drive- I drive-, he is constantly rubbing, patting, squeezing my leg. He gets upset when I move his hand and say "no". What can I do? Help.

  - virgie mitchell

• September 29, 2007 1:54 a.m.

  Help! My family has a strong history of early-onset alzheimers. Early signs of Alzheimers usually shows up in the mid to late 40's and death usually occurs in the early to mid 60's. My father is 44 and I am starting to see some red flags in his behavior. He has always been afraid that he too will walk the path of his ancestors and he is really sensitive about the issue. He gets upset if we even mention it. This is obviously a problem since we would like to start treatment as soon as possible to maintain quality of life as long as possible. Is there a way to do this without upsetting him? Should we just tell him? He is still in the extremely early stages so he can understand and remember what we are saying, goes to work and does well, and can function well everyday (as long as it's part of his daily routine). I'm 23 and have no idea how to handle this so any advise from how to encourage him properly to doctors and tests would be wonderful.

  - Dayleah

• September 28, 2007 9:35 p.m.

  Oops! About my fibromyalgia I meant to say that I will be limited to some of the care that my husband will need. I tire easily and need rest sometimes during the day. I am 5'1" and he is 6"1". He is on Aricept, Namenda, Zoloft, Seroquel for behavior problems, Trazadone for sleep, Clonipin to help control his nightmares (part of Lewy Body) and Mirapex for restless leg syndrome. He also takes blood pressure meds and cholestrol meds. He sure keeps the pharmacy busy -;).

  - Sharon G

• September 28, 2007 9:26 p.m.

  Angela, thanks for starting thei blog. This is my first time being on a blog. I have enjoyed reading the posts and plan to be here often. My husband was diagnosed with AD in 1997 at the age of 51. He is now 62. He was diagnosed in 2003 with Lewy Body. He is still doing fairly well but is slowly slipping. We were both in a support group together. Sadly to say, the group felt the need to stop the diagnosed group in Jan. 2007. My husband still misses the group and craves to find another group that will be for him, as well as me. I have fibromyalgia which will limit some of the latter stages of the disease. I do have family close by, but I don't want to burden them as they have their own families, jobs, etc. To Don Felipe, if you would like to correspond by email with the husband let me know. Mayby the two of you can make your own support group.

  - Sharon G

• September 28, 2007 5:27 p.m.

  Nice to see this blog.I am from Karachi,Pakistan. Disadvantage of having Alzheimer's here is that its a third world country and so cost of medicines is hardly bearable by most patients and then a large number of ppl being uneducated dont consult doctors considering it to be normal aging. Advantages are that usually there is combined family system (like children usually but not always) live with their parents so old ppl are not left alone during the vulnerable years. I am trying to organize a support group at the local level for people with alzheimers. The web address is alzheimerskarachi.googlepages.com. If there are any visitors over here from my part of the world, they wud be more than welcome to join.

  - Dr Latif

• September 28, 2007 12:51 p.m.

  My husband is 83 and has AD. A couple of months ago I finally was able to bring in a companion to spend time with him about once a week. My husband balked at first, but I reassured him this was a companion. I told him I understood he didn't need a babysitter (yes he does) but I would worry about leaving him alone. So as a gift to me, he agreed to the plan and now really enjoys the visits with his friend. They play billiards, chat, watch tv together, while I go for a long walk, read a book at the park, or run errands.

  - Marie

• September 28, 2007 4:27 a.m.

  NDAUNTIE - thank you for responding - and having someone come in once a week sounds good to me - i just worry about getting him upset and hurting his feelings. so this is the small stuff, huh? we deal with confusion, forgetfulness, moodiness, extreme boredom - he won't play games, go to senior citizens, etc. but all in all, he's pretty wonderful - gotta love him.

  - jackie (jc)

• September 27, 2007 1:58 p.m.

  Hi Susan, I visit at least twice a week, sometimes more depending on what is happening there. There are often activities organized and I try to go to some of them with Dad, because it helps to get him out of his room and might make him more interested in participating. It doesn't always work but he enjoys the visits. We talk on the phone several times a day and I always call around 9 pm to say goodnight. He doesn't feel abandoned, but he still feels sad that my mother is gone. The worst thing is when he forgets that she passed away (he doesn't remember anything about the hospital or the funeral) and then I have to tell him and it's like the grief is fresh again. Once he phoned at 10:30 pm and asked if Mom was cremated. He wanted to be buried with her and he didn't remember what had happened. I didn't get much sleep that night. It's much better now that more time has passed.

  - Pam

• September 27, 2007 12:14 p.m.

  To Nancy: Even before my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's we started noticing that the liquor cabinet still had the bottles in there but they were empty. Then she came to live with us, we found her up at all hours of the night and early morning drinking straight liquor from the bottles. We moved the liquor to another part of the house. We then noticed that the bottle of tonic water in the refrigerator was empty. After some thought we realized that she thought tonic water was booze. So we kept the frig full of tonic water and it disappeared on a regular basis. Would filling vodka bottles with something like tonic water help? Would he know the difference? Certainly can't hurt to try. Good Luck.

  - Sharon

• September 27, 2007 10:41 a.m.

  It seems there a lot of us out there, that are dealing with Alzheimers in loved ones. It seems that there's a need, to express yourself more completely, and have feed back with your issues. This site at Mayo Clinic is nice, but there are others available that may be of more help. They are: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlzheimersCaregiving/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mymotherhasalzheimers/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/alzheimers/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Early-Onset_Alzheimers_Caregivers_Group/ These are but a few, of the groups that are located at yahoo. They are free, and you need but to join, to get involved in any of them. I hope this helps. I don't mean to step on anyone's toes with this, but to suggest other sites that may also provide help to us. Good luck.

  - Randy