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Dementia - what are the early signs?


Spryte
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Do they differ in men and women? What do they look like, in real life?

 

I've read plenty of lists, but curious how they manifest on a daily living level?

 

I'm very familiar with later stage signs, but not the early stuff.

 

A person with a math degree struggling with basic mental math?

 

Losing one's social filter, or having it loosen significantly?

 

Becoming fairly self absorbed?

 

What about someone who used to be a logical problem solving type who is now lost in a spaghetti like labyrinth of details when relating a story or problem, making every phone call 50 minutes?

 

It's hard to tell if he's forgetting things, or selectively not mentioning things.

 

Physical issues - no longer able to walk, falling often.

 

There's more, but I find the above things are making me wonder if they might be early signs. Am I worried for no reason?

Edited by Spryte
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Do they differ in men and women? What do they look like, in real life?

 

I've read plenty of lists, but curious how they manifest on a daily living level?

 

I'm very familiar with later stage signs, but not the early stuff.

 

A person with a math degree struggling with basic mental math?

 

Losing one's social filter, or having it loosen significantly?

 

Becoming fairly self absorbed?

 

What about someone who used to be a logical problem solving type who is now lost in a spaghetti like labyrinth of details when relating a story or problem, making every phone call 50 minutes?

 

It's hard to tell if he's forgetting things, or selectively not mentioning things.

 

Physical issues - no longer able to walk, falling often.

 

There's more, but I find the above things are making me wonder if they might be early signs. Am I worried for no reason?

 

All of that sounds concerning to me. The person might pass the test at the doctor's office initially, but it's good to get a baseline. The falling is not necessarily related, but is a concern of itself---or could have been the cause of some if there was a fall with concussion and no one realized it. 

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Your description sounds like there could be a cognitive decline. UTIs are notorious for causing dementia type issues, so that would be something to check.

 

My grandmother had Alzeheimer's and lived in our home while I was a teen. My sister and I did a lot of her caretaking, so I was very familiar with what Alzheimer's looks like in the moderate to severe stages.

 

My mom has Alzeheimer's now, so this is our second time through it. At the beginning of her (long) decline, there was a very distinct moment of alarm for me, and I suspected Alzheimer's immediately, though it was not diagnosed until a year later when my mom lost her job (school nurse) suddenly because she couldn't do it any more. That very first signal for me was when my mom asked what time we wanted to eat dinner (we were visiting my parents for the weekend). We had just had a conversation about that very thing ten minutes before, and she did not remember it. It's not that she didn't remember what we said; it is as if the conversation had never taken place at all.

 

So for my mom, the first symptoms were short-term memory loss. She was in her mid-sixties when diagnosed.

 

My sister couldn't see it for awhile, thought Mom must be having ADHD symptoms (though she had never had ADHD before) and should take yoga to improve her mental focus. That was some creative denial.

 

If your loved one is willing to see a doctor, it's worth discussing the symptoms, though you would need to go along to tell the doctor what you see.

Edited by Storygirl
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Falling is not a symptom of Alzheimer's, but could indicated something else that could affect both the physical and mental state, such as Lewy Body dementia.

Walking issues can also be a symptom of vascular dementia.

 

OP, repetitive questioning as mentioned above, as though recent conversations had never taken place. Also, getting lost when driving to familiar places. Forgetting to take daily medicines, or double dosing. Those are some of the earliest signs, ime.

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Keep in mind that there are other possibilities. UTI, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, dehydration, medicine reactions, hydrocephalus (is that what they call it when it happens in adults, fluid buildup in the brain?) - these can all cause dementia/delirium symptoms. Best to have a thorough exam and then perhaps a referral to a neurologist.

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I just met a woman recently and she has the short memory deficits.  In a car ride, she kept asking the same questions about my kids and another passenger's mother in law.  Then another day, I was in my church working on a pillow project where we give pretty pillow cases to the children at the children's hospital.  Since I was thirsty, I several times went to get water and passed by the office.  We have volunteers staffing the front desk.  Well, this lady was there and she kept greeting me every time I went by but in a way like she was seeing me for the first time that day.  I am concerned that she is still driving.

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Here's a good basic reference on the stages, although you need a professional eval: http://www.alzinfo.org/understand-alzheimers/clinical-stages-of-alzheimers/?mtc=google&kwd=alzheimers_stages&gclid=CNbe7JrditMCFZaPswodE-sAIA

 

Keep in mind that it can also be medication. DH's dementia is from causes other than Ahlzheimer's, but he was in Stage 4 earlier this year. Because of a medication change, he is now in Stage 3. Stage 4 is when it becomes much harder for the family.

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Lewy Body (as someone else mentioned) can show up in early stages with falling/losing balance.  I have a close family member who has Lewy Body dementia, and falling down was one of the very first signs.  It looks a little like Parkinson's.    Then the memory issues started as well as very-real-to-my-family-member (but not at all real) hallucinations. 

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check with doctor.....a lot of those symptoms go with poor eating and uncontrolled diabetes. Absorption of nutrients is less efficient as aging occurs, and supplements may be needed even if they are eating well. Look at drug interactions.

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My dad had what was probably vascular dementia and his first signs were shuffling in his walking gait, rigid thinking, and bouts of explosive anger that were completely out of character. From those, it moved to getting lost, forgetting to eat meals and take medications, etc.

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In addition to what has already been listed, here are some I have seen with relatives:

 

Telling stories repeatedly as if they were the first time.

 

Forgetting to eat meals if no one else is around.

 

Avoiding what used to be typical types of outings because they are now too complicated to socially navigate. My mom didn't go to my cousin's baby shower because she was "going to be too tired"; really, she was trying to hide the fact that she didn't know what to buy, was afraid of driving to an unfamiliar location, etc. 

 

Avoiding making choices - my mom quit having an opinion on where to go, what to eat, what movie to see, etc. At whatever restaurant we went to, even her old favorites, she would look at the menu and then order whatever the person next to her ordered whether she even liked that food or not.

 

Reading the same book and magazines over and over.

Edited by NorthwestMom
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You have solid reasons to be concerned.  When my dad was sick last summer, none of us thought he was permanently sick and we certainly didn't think he had dementia because he retained most of his cognitive function.  We thought the doctors were nuts when they first bandied the word 'dementia' around, because in our heads, dementia was a cognitive decline and my dad's dementia presented itself as physical in nature with minimal cognitive signs.  We just thought he was getting really old and cranky.  There were small cognitive signs if we had known what to look for, and the first thing that often appears is personality changes.  For my dad, that meant he took up swearing (and really *bad* swear words, at that) after a lifetime of never saying even the most mild expletive.  So I would say personality changes can signal dementia onset.  If dad's physical symptoms had not taken him, we would have eventually seen that typical sharp decline in cognitive function.  Also, the falling: we thought dad's legs were weak because he was not eating enough nor exercising enough.  But nope, an odd gait (like you wonder if the person may have had a stroke) and frequent falls are also physical symptoms of dementia.  In fact, we eventually took him to the hospital (because he stubbornly refused to see a doctor, which wasn't really out of character for him) because we thought he might have had a stroke given his leg weakness and odd gait.  If the elderly person is an avid reader and suddenly stops reading long, involved 600-page tomes, that's a sign, as well, because they lose the ability to concentrate long term, even if they can still read a simple newspaper article.

Edited by reefgazer
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My dad had lewy body dementia. His earlier symptoms ranged from him just losing his spark His quick wit and intelligence kind of losing its edge and then progressive struggles with doing normal things. He would struggle with things like making himself a light meal, there would be a high occurence of mistakes like I remember him putting a bowl on a hot ring on the hob and it exploding whilst the pan of soup was cold. Like a lot of the mistakes we can all make from time to time but they became constant. He would get confused when out and about, just losing things which progressed to some weird paranoid behaviour or him sort of realising he couldn't cope dropping whatever he was carrying or doing and heading home. In the early stages people in our local town would often be bringing us things he had left in strange places. He would also buy strange things.His mobility reduced too and he was depressed. I was quite young as he died in my late teens so I don't remember much about anything beyond that but my mum thinks his decline was quite long and slow before he became someone who needed intense care.

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This was what my dad had.  He and his sister both died from this type of dementia within a few months of each other last year.  He went so fast once he was diagnosed; it was actually a more merciful death than those who have a body that lingers for years with minimal cognitive function.

Falling is not a symptom of Alzheimer's, but could indicated something else that could affect both the physical and mental state, such as Lewy Body dementia.

 

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Also, a spouse can cover a lot of this up for the dementia patient, if the older couple is the private type.

Walking issues can also be a symptom of vascular dementia.

OP, repetitive questioning as mentioned above, as though recent conversations had never taken place. Also, getting lost when driving to familiar places. Forgetting to take daily medicines, or double dosing. Those are some of the earliest signs, ime.

 

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That's because their balance is off, and shuffling is a way to reduce falls.  My dad held out his arms for balance, much like a toddler would when learning to walk.

I know someone with Lewy Body dementia and one of the first symptoms was he started shuffling when he walked, like he had trouble picking his feet up.

 

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This was what my dad had. He and his sister both died from this type of dementia within a few months of each other last year. He went so fast once he was diagnosed; it was actually a more merciful death than those who have a body that lingers for years with minimal cognitive function.

I'm so sorry about your dad. I couldn't bring myself to like your post.

 

I'm sorry for all of you who've lost a loved one this way. Any "likes" were sympathetic or a "thanks for responding" type of like. It's hard to like any post on a thread like this.

 

This is all very helpful.

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Just coming back to say that I remembered reading an article linking dementia to falls. Apparently, the falls are more likely because the brain is functioning a bit slowly so that reaction to correct the imbalance, etc. comes just a little late and the fall cannot be prevented. 

 

I would call the doctor ahead of time and alert him or her so that they include a mental status exam at the next exam. You could also fax a list of behaviors.  I don't know why the heck those don't become standard sometime in the 60s so that there is a baseline. It would save families the angst of trying to get the doctor to do it and save the patient the embarrassment of a loved one having to describe behaviors in front of the person with problems in order to get the doctor to do it. 

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Just coming back to say that I remembered reading an article linking dementia to falls. Apparently, the falls are more likely because the brain is functioning a bit slowly so that reaction to correct the imbalance, etc. comes just a little late and the fall cannot be prevented.

 

I would call the doctor ahead of time and alert him or her so that they include a mental status exam at the next exam. You could also fax a list of behaviors. I don't know why the heck those don't become standard sometime in the 60s so that there is a baseline. It would save families the angst of trying to get the doctor to do it and save the patient the embarrassment of a loved one having to describe behaviors in front of the person with problems in order to get the doctor to do it.

Thank you. Calling ahead is an excellent idea, I don't know why I didn't think of that. It's clearly too much for the patient to go in and ask for this type of evaluation, so we thought someone else would need to be there. Calling ahead might make that easier on all, or not necessary. I wish testing for a baseline were standard.

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You might also want to see a geriatric doctor instead of their normal primary.  If you could get him to switch that would be beneficial.  A good geriatric doctor will check on their first meeting with the patient to see if they have signs of dementia.  The memory test is fairly quick (depending on the patient) and that can help them determine if additional tests need to be done.  He could have something like Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus which has many of those symptoms and can be relieve with a shunt. My Aunt was suspected of having that but it turned out it was another form of dementia.

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HUGS to all of you.  I know how difficult it is.

 

The first sign for my stepfather's early onset alzheimer's was forgetting how to get places that were right down the street.

 

This week, he was permanently kicked out of day care for slapping nurse's butts and throwing a glass of orange juice in someone's face.

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My mom had dementia, but the doctors said it wasn't Alzheimers.  When I look back, there were signs that we didn't recognize.  The first time was when she used a knife to get the toast out without unplugging it. Luckily she didn't get hurt, but I remember thinking...she has always told us kids never to do that, she knows better than that!

 

Because we lived clear across the country, I didn't see her regularly, so unfortunately, it wasn't until a year later when we visited that I saw other signs...still, I was unaware of what I was seeing.   While there, a telephone solicitor called and my mom was so polite...it was just odd the way she couldn't say no to the guy.   I took the phone and told him never to call back.  When I told her just to hang up on those guys and not to get into a conversation, she looked at me and said, "Wow dear, you are really smart!"   I stood there in awe, not knowing why she said that.

 

The final sign was when we went to the beach with my kids. Usually she was the doting grandma who loved to see the kids having fun and would usually comment on what they were doing, or what was happening around her.  This time she sat with a book, looking at it, and not commenting on anything.  She loved the beach and being outdoors. But she wasn't her usual self, I could tell something was off, but I didn't know what. 

 

My dad, I think, didn't want to worry us, so he didn't clue us in.  It wasn't until a year later that he finally got her diagnosed.  The things that did help though was the memory pill...starts with an R. (I need to look that one up...sorry!)  That was expensive, but helped immensely.  Also, 3 years later, she got a new doctor that put her on a high dose of vita D...I believe this also helped. I wish she had been put on this sooner, as elderly people don't get enough vita D, I have learned (even when she lived in Florida!).  After dad died, she lived in assisted living in an apartment by herself and was better cognitively than the previous few years and her hand-writing wasn't as shaky anymore either. Seriously, vita D does help! 

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