She was prescribed medication. I would like more information and would appreciate any comments. She is 92 years old. I am saddened and I just wish that this would not be happening. She had a rough life and it breaks my heart that she has this disease. She is an amazing woman and I just pray that God can still this disease from progressing. I also pray for everyone on this website of what they are going through with their loved ones every night. Thank you for all your support.
I wish for you that this wasn't happening. Dementia of any kind is a dreadful disease. But you will cope, and the goal now should be to make Mom's life as comfortable and meaningful as possible.
LBD does not progress in stages. (Alzheimer's does, and if you hear people talking about dementia stages, that is probably the disease they are referring to.) Some common early symptoms include hallucinations, problems with depth perception, paranoia, unsteady gait, tremors, and sleep issues. Not all patients have all symptoms and these may occur later rather than at the beginning.
One somewhat unusual characteristic of this form a dementia is that its intensity fluctuates. Patients have "good days" and "not-so-good days" and even good and bad hours. Just because long-term memory seems very good in the morning doesn't mean it will stay that way in the afternoon, and who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Often memory is not the greatest impairment. Executive functioning (judgment, decision making) may be more noticeably impaired.
LBD involves tiny "bodies" of a misformed protein in the brain. They can be anywhere, and depending where they are different symptoms will appear. The disease does progress ... it gets worse ... but whether the progression is very slow (it was for my husband) or relatively rapid (I've seen this in my support group) is unpredictable.