Dr Hive, alcohol abuse, mental problems

[Mimm]

My father is a life time alcoholic. I believe he's had periods of time where he abused less, or maybe even sober times (like an addict, he lies). He had a heart episode (not a heart attack, according to him, for what that's worth) back in August and his cardiologist managed to put the fear of God into him. He basically told my father, "Goodbye, this is the last time I'm going to see you because you are going to die."

So he's been sober, for real sober, for almost five months. Starting in November I believe, his mental state suddenly declined. Like most people who have abused alcohol for a very long time, he's had some weird behaviors. I'll try to make this brief and not get into it all with examples and stories and so on because this could get very very long.

1. Inappropriate behavior, saying awkward things or making weird jokes.

2. Fixates on one thing for a period of time so he brings it up constantly and repeats himself.

3. Terrible memory. Sometimes forgets who he's talking to and can't remember someone's name. More than what I consider normal for someone of his age, but possibly the "normal" amount for someone of his medical history.

Lately, starting in November, these behaviors have gotten much more problematic. He gets absolutely obsessed with things, can't let things go, is even more inappropriate and embarrassing, can't seem to hold on to a train of thought very well.

A few examples.

On the weekend before Christmas, he demanded to leave to try to find cat poop for his compost bin, during a celebration of Christmas, with a house full of company. When my stepmother refused to take him, he went around the various other guests asking for a ride. It was very weird.

He's obsessed with composting and won't stop talking about it constantly.

He's taking voice lessons. I can't express how out of character this is for him. It's as if he said he was taking ballet.

He ran into someone from the past and invited her to Christmas and said he'd send his girls over for New Year. This is something that happened over ten years ago and he seems to be trying to make that happen again. He doesn't have any girls at home to send anywhere anymore. She seemed very confused and uncomfortable apparently. My sister had to text and explain not to listen to him.

He has gotten super religious. He says he prays constantly and feels very close to God. This is a sudden thing. He was always a Christian but not like this.

He says he sleeps only 3 hours a night. My sister who is staying with them confirms that this might be true. I expressed concern and he said, "You would be surprised at what God lets you accomplish. There aren't enough hours in the day for everything I want to do!" He sounds kinda manic sometimes. (I feel like the sleep loss could explain a lot here.)

He has lost quite a bit of weight apparently. According to him, 80 lbs (he's quite overweight and has been for most all his adult life). But I take that with a grain of salt because he said he was sober for 8 months and it's only been 4.

It comes and goes apparently. I've had conversations where he seemed more or less as lucid as he's been for several years, but other conversations where he was very strange. Other people report very strange behavior and confusing conversations.

 

ANYWAY, if you've read all that, thank you. What could be the deal? He's damaged himself beyond repair? Could this possibly be temporary? A reaction from quitting alcohol? Early stage dementia? My stepmother is suffering through all this and cries constantly. She's got her own health issues to deal with and he's not there to take care of her. She's supposed to be on bed rest recovering from a heart surgery and he's lying about being cleared for driving so he can leave and go to a tree seminar. She can't get doctors to listen because my dad is always there and he doesn't see a problem and he's very good at faking normal for ten minutes or however long the doctor is seeing him.

You can be blunt. Honestly... I feel like I lost my father years ago. The man he's been for a while now is a shell of who he used to be.

[EKS]

If he's only sleeping 3 hours each night, a lot of it could be due to sleep deprivation.

Check his medications for causing the issues you're concerned about.  I know that people have had experience with statins causing memory loss, though I think it is not officially acknowledged.  

It could also be dementia.

[TCB]

I don't know what the problem is but as a nurse if someone's behavior has changed like that I would say that they need a brain scan at the least to see if there is anything going on. Once you know that is not the case the other options can be considered. It's probably unlikely to be something like a tumor and he certainly seems to have a fair number of other possible causes, given his history, but that to me would be the first step. I'm sorry, it must be very difficult seeing him go through this.

[happi duck]

I wonder if drinking had turned into self-medicating and had been somehow keeping things suppressed?  Or maybe this behavior was there and attributed to alcohol?

Somehow a doctor needs to be convinced to see him.  Can someone start taking cell phone videos of him and keeping a log of the out of character episodes?

Is he old enough that this could be an infection making him act this way? (I mention old enough because this seems to be an older person thing afaik.)

Edited January 11, 2019 by happi duck

[lmrich]

Will he go back to the doctor? I think it is time. 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

He needs a check up including bloodwork to test his liver enzymes 

[gardenmom5]

if he's had serious cardiac issues, to the point his cardiologist thinks he's going to die, I would wonder if his brain is getting adequate oxygen.  some of what you describe could be caused by that.

Edited January 11, 2019 by gardenmom5

[eagleynne]

It could also be attributable to elevated ammonia levels in his blood caused by liver dysfunction. My aunt had this, when it was at its worst she couldn't recognize anyone in the family and made absolutely no sense. Other times it was almost like she was drinking again, she had that not quite in the here-and-now thing going on.