Sometimes she hears people whispering and other times she thinks there's two men on a ladder trying to get in through her window. What can we do? I live with her and I always check to try to comfort her but she still seems upset and then can't sleep. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
As a daughter of a mother who "heard noises and conversations" in her apartment for over a year, it turned out to be Alzheimer's. I lived in a different city and would call her every night. She would tell me that the conversations were bothering her. The landlord and the owner both came to her apartment and stayed for 4 hours. They heard nothing. I visited her to investigate and also heard nothing.
We went to the grocery store. When I went back in to get something, she "heard the noises and conversations" in my car. That proved to her that it was not sounds of the apt. building.
She has told me she has a "headache" for the past 6 years. (coincidentally, about the same time she's had Alzheimer's). No medications have helped her "headaches". We've gone from simple hearing tests to appts. with brain surgeons and no reason was found as to why she hears these sounds. (During this time she tested positive for Alzheimer's.)
I saw a presentation on You Tube about 2 researchers studying Alzheimer's. They mentioned that sufferers hear muffled noises and soft conversations in their heads. I can only conclude that this is what my mother is experiencing and she explains it as a headache.
Maybe this is a possible reason for your mother hearing things that aren't there. Blessings to you both.
Have you had your own hearing checked? Maybe your mother hears neighbor's radio, TV, or telephone or boom box that you aren't able to hear.
As to someone breaking in, I tell him it's the wind banging things around. I like the idea of white noise in the room and will try that if it continues.
They didn't but I didn't know my mom was having hearing issues.
Unfortunately, when someone has dementia, the things they think they are hearing, feeling or experiencing seem very, very real to them. Sometimes it's impossible for them to rationalize something they see or hear, so they make up a huge, long story in their mind to justify it.
My grandmother was extremely demented in her later years and used to tell us someone was breaking into the attic through a window she had nailed shut, coming downstairs through several locked doors, getting meat out of the locked freezer, cooking it, eating it, washing the dishes and putting them away where she couldn't find them. All of this was to justify the fact that she had misplaced her favorite skillet.
I would recommend talking with your mom's doctor and seeing if a geriatric psych evaluation can be done to determine what's going on, and have her tested for any possible infections (like a UTI) to rule out any possibility of infection causing the change of mindset.