My grandma has Dementia.. Over the years she refused to get help and now it is to the point where she can no longer care for herself. We take turns staying with her as she is blind in one eye and now has a tendency to roam off, and cause mayhem. Today as I was watching her, she kept talking to someone named Rodney, she kept pointing to the bathroom and said he is hiding in there. The only people there were her, myself and my 8 month old daughter. She kept saying he is a basketball player for the team she owns (she does not own a team or anything for that matter) and that he was studying to become a Dr. Then she looked at me and said "Rodney says your baby is dying." I got really upset by that and told her to please not say something like that about my child. She kept at it, insisting my child was choking and dying and that Rodney saved her life. When I finally had enough, she told me I was "fired" from her corporation. I have no clue where any of this came from and she lied repeatedly over and over again. She used to lie before she had Dementia and it seems it stuck with her. Does anyone else have any experience with this?
Above, talkey mentioned to have her check for UTI. My mom also has delusions and hallucinations and after checking for a UTI, she is positive. With antibiotics those hallucinations pass. Though the past two times she's hallucinated/delusional, she tested negative for UTI and the doc believes it's her disease progression.
There are two women who talk to invisible companions at mom's nursing home, one of them actually seems to "hear" replies and answers (it sounds a lot like listening to someone on the phone), the other just drones a constant monologue, telling and re telling her stories. It's sad.
She is not telling lies. That is, she is not deliberately saying things that she knows are not true. She is telling the truth of her own reality, which is very definitely not your reality.
If you are going to continue taking care of someone who has dementia you would probably be A LOT more comfortable if you learn about the disease.