So this is my first time reaching out for this. We have been dealing with my grandmother’s Lewy body dementia for a few years now, and I used to work for a state ran facility with adults with dual diagnoses. I’m not unaware of dealing with someone with a true diagnosis but I don’t really know about the warning signs.
From what I can remember, dementia is not genetic correct? But my mother has been acting EXTREMELY off for the past year. I know she’s stressed dealing with my grandmother some times, but she is not acting like herself at all.
She has become extremely obsessed with politics. She stopped working jobs, she stopped cleaning her house and her yard, and she rarely gets out of the house.
Today it made me realize that it might be something else because she told she has been having secret conversations with politicians. She is an avid user of twitter, and it seems like that’s the only way she talks to people outside our family. And she watches all political shows non stop. I live four hours away, I have two children and just turned 30, and got divorced about a year ago. So I haven’t been around as much as I used to.
She tells me she is depressed, I’ve given her some natural supplements, she has gone to the doctor and got antidepressants and sleep aides but I don’t think they know this side of her.
When should I start to worry?
Fox doesn’t bother me. But I don’t watch it all day long, just during prime time, and after Bret Baier, they are all opinion shows, not straight news, and they make no bones about it.
All TV news programming is biased one way or the other, except maybe for CSPAN, and that puts me to sleep - it’s like watching golf, except the golfers actually accomplish things.
Yes she seems obsessive but what makes you say she's paranoid?
For two years+ my FIL was obsessed with the Weather Channel. He followed every single possible weather disaster as it unfolded. He told me things like "there's a wave off the coast of Africa and it may turn into a hurricane" and he would watch and watch and watch. He then went into a political phase, which lasted another two years starting around the 2016 election.
Do you have durable power of attorney yet?
I’m guessing that it’s her escape from a real life that doesn’t have too much positive stimulation, or too many people, in it. But the “private conversations” bit is worrying, unless she’s talking about the text messages that political committees send in a politician’s name. I would probably tell her doctor in confidence.
I’m sorry to hear about this. Twitter can make vulnerable people quite disturbed; people say things there that they would never say in real life.
Is she seeing a psychiatrist or a general practitioner for her meds? In my experience it makes a difference. I know you are very worried, but she is lucky to have you to confide in about this. A year is too long, though. Talk to her doctor if you know who that doctor is. And let her know that, because you love her, you are concerned about her.
Hugs.
Definitely take her to the doctor and let him/her know of your concerns. Take a list of medications your mom is taking, including natural supplements and vitamins.
Anne's mother has been "dealing with" Anne's grandmother, who has Lewy Body dementia, for "some years now."
Anne knows that her mother is "stressed."
I have to say that my first thought would not be some inherited form of dementia, or any other organic disease come to that, but that after years of coping with grandma Anne's mother's depression is now consuming her. The obsession with politics is a form of hiding. She needs to escape, she can't escape, so she withdraws into this virtual interior world.
So: what are grandma's care needs, what is the plan to meet them, how do we get mother out of there before she's actually fit to be tied?
She needs to have a thorough work up with her doctor to see what is contributing to her changed behaviours.
It's kinda important. I need to get mine checked. If the brain isn't getting enough oxygen... we can get kind of wacky.
UTI's do the same thing.
noticed she wasn't quite right. Watching political news all morning and saying she had no time to do her art, following me around (shadowing) in morning when I'm trying to get ready for work, falling alot, repeating things constantly, talking nonstop without a pause, etc. Fast forward 1 to 2 years, we finally found out that she had a slow growing cancer that was also causing dementia. Didn't get her checked sooner my dad refused to believe anything was wrong. She eventually passed away from that but after a good year of dementia hell. Document, get your mom to a doctor, really explain or give them your recording of the things that are not normal and she never did before. Best of luck.
Lewy's is unique in some of its hallucinations, and for my brother diagnosis is by his telling of exactly what his hallucinations are like. There can also be a loss of the sense of smell, a changed gait and balance. All of which he has.
I think that you shouldn't let fear make you jump to conclusions right now.
Do know that should things worsen or continue, there CAN be testing. But in all truth, just now, our country is ENTIRELY obsessed with Politics on one side or the other. And you admit that there is stress. I have an anxiety disorder to the extent that when things aren't going smoothly, I am not in my OCD dreamland of good order all around me, I can descend into something quite unrecognizable. I can't see, I can't hear, I can't multitask, and I laser focus on bizarre stuff. Do know there could be some anxiety disorder from all the stress.
Take a wait and see sort of attitude. Make a diary of things that really disturb you. Find some quiet zen things you can do together that might help. Watch a totally fun romantic movie or something.
Wishing you the best.
Good luck finding an answer. Come back and let us know how she’s doing.
Best of luck!