My mother is 86 and in the late stages of cerebeller ataxia. (Atrophy of the cerebellum) She has been unable to walk for over 3 years and began having visual and audio hallucinations about 2 years ago. Over the last year or so, she has been seeing ants, fleas and bugs in her bed.
Lately she sees bugs in all her food. It is so bad that she struggles to eat anything and chokes from eating too fast before the bugs eat it all. Her neurologist is most unhelpful and would not tell me anything about what to expect. She has been taking Clonozepam and Buspirone for year to mask some of the symptoms of loss of motor control.
I am running out of ideas about how to get her to eat and would appreciate any educated advice. Here are some videos from about 3 months ago.
dropbox/s/1mp5anwy3lif2h3/3-Food%20Bugs.mov
Meanwhile, would she enjoy taking some of her meals as a smoothie drink? If you serve it in an opaque container with a straw, so she never has to look at the food, would that help?
This is a perplexing problem. Do let us know of any progress you make. We learn from each other!
Hugs to you and your mom.
.Antidepressants such as amitriptyline, imipramine, trazodone and amoxapine can cause hallucinations,
.Digoxin can cause formed and unformed visual hallucinations,
Propranolol can cause visual hallucinations,
Benztropine and trihexyphenidyl can cause visual hallucinations,
Hallucinations are reported with cimetidine, clonidine bromocriptine, levodopa, methylphenidate, antihypertensives, corticosteroids, antineoplastic and antibiotics.
If she is taking any of these call the MD and get meds corrected.
The other idea would be to have some friend come over who's a "Pest Control Specialist" and have them "treat" your house for bugs. Move your mom to another room while they "treat" her room. Put some kind of spray in there so it smells different. Have the specialist tell her that her house is now bug proof. Make it as elaborate as you'd need to in order to get her to believe it. I don't know if she'd remember it the next day or not...
Again, I have no idea if either idea would work, but I'd start with the Bug-B-Gone idea. It can't hurt. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you...
I do have some experience dealing with hallucinations, my brother has paranoid schizophrenia with psychosis and went off his meds a few years ago. This is not related. Bug hallucinations are quite common with dementia. Cerebellar ataxia is rare and is hereditary, but ony passed on through females. The cerebellum is also near the visual and auditory centers. I am only guessing that they are related to her seeing faces, bugs, etc., and hearing them also. She tells me the bugs talk to her and sees nothing unusual about that.
I do use a travel mug and large straws for juices and smoothies. I suppose I will have to liquify everything from now on. Just as well, she had several more teeth pulled last month due to periodontal disease. The nursing homes in Oklahoma are rated "F" and I could not leave her to minimum wage caretakers anyways.
( wed had a battle with bed bugs but were already winning it by this point )
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