My husband lost a set of about 12 keys. One for his truck and the rest for tractors, buildings, etc. wouldn't believe me that they weren't stolen. Said he would spend the night in his workshop and catch them. We looked and looked..finally found them in the ignition of one of the tractors he is working on. I actually don't like being around him. marymember
I am having all of his medications evauluated by a neurologist. She is studying all medications he takes, as there are many, including Aricept and Namenda.
Humor helps a bunch too. And I find it worse when I am feeling down myself. Are you getting a little depressed too? Do you need a serious infusion of some high quality chocolate molecules (oral route recommended, though IV would probably work), or some girl time at a really really good coffee shop? Retail therapy?? Spa day? It wouldn't be selfish, you would be doing it *strictly* to motivate hubby to want to put on his glasses more often, right? Just sayin'.... you need to keep your own cup full when you can.
It helped me a lot to keep firmly in mind that these annoying behaviors were not my husband's real attitude toward me ... they were a result of the dementia. My mantra became "It's not Coy, it's the dementia." Crabby is no fun, but it might help not to take it personally.
I am so glad you have a neurologist involved who is going to evaluate and perhaps modify the drug regimen. What was helpful at one time may not continue to be forever.
I suspect a loss you will both experience soon is that he will no longer be able to drive. Yes, he hasn't gotten lost yet, but that is really the tip of the iceberg of bad possibilities. Under the stress of an emergency, will he remember which is the brake? Will he be fast enough in his response? Is his judgement still adequate for such a responsible activity? The need to stop driving occurs early in most cases of dementia. This is something else to discuss with the neurologist. If at all possible the decree should come from a medical person, not the spouse!
A book I really found helpful was "Loving Someone Who Has Dementia" by Pauline Boss.