Mum has vascular dementia what I'm to expect now? I feel she's getting worse.

Captain one of the "fairies" knows you and is looking out for you so be careful what you wish for!!!!! and whatever you do dont take the piss as its bad luck!

Also get your mum a walker you know the one with a seat and 3 wheels last year my mum would not hear of this now she is desperate to get one so just waiting for one from nurse as its free here.

Lots of oxygen is important and you will notice the more fresh air she gets the sharper she will be. Ive given up with mum she just wont go out for a walk so hoepfully the shrink can have a chat with her but am not expecting much. I am very worried about her meds she takes a sleeping tablet before she goes to bed then shes back down the stairs half an hour later on her own half stoned? she will not listen so ive had to let alot go as too much stress on me worrying too much and getting ill we do our best but if they wont listen and help us to help them then we have to let it go until something happens and they get a fright like a fall or something.
Had a great day away with friends lunch and put our wishes at the "fairy tree" then home to mums mess and negativity after a very happy positive day?

debbc also try giving her 3 tablespoons of coconut oil a day OR cooking her food with it the pure extra virgin stuff, theres a bit of research suggesting this may help slow down the progression and if we start taking it now could prevent dementia when we get older? I take it everyday and HEH look at me as sharp as a tack????????

kazzaa! Your mother and mine seem to be birds of a feather, including medical conditions and age! She does have trouble walking for long periods of time, but does better in places with a shopping cart (grocery stores, big department stores, IKEA, etc.). I need to encourage more walking, then. Fortunately, she is already taking fish oil, so that's a step in the right direction. It's nice to have the info and support here. Best wishes to your family.

i just slung google search engine as far from myself as i possibly could . every few minutes now theres a new and increasingly more ridiculous gyrating / spinning / flaming , etc doodle on the page . my mind wont take that foolishness .
ive opted for duckduckgo . its an engine specializing in web privacy . google , like yahoo mail keeps trying to tell us what we want . aint happ ' nin ..
kaz , youre gonna burn your dam tree down .

102 in May, kazzaa. I figure she has a chance of making it to 105. Mother is getting more and more inappropriate at times - not swearing. - never in her life and I would know that there was another decline if she did that. Her delusions are worse and she shares them in public -like telling the church people about her sex glands being removed. That delusion is growing to all people over 100 having their sex glands removed to bring on dementia. It does sound like your mum is worse with the changes you mention. Your gut feelings may well be telling you something You are with her all the time and you will notice changes -even subconsciously. I know it is hard. I have gut feelings and I pay attention to them and often find out something has happened. Sometimes I think we get prepared. It has happened to me. ((((((hugs))))

Emjo you have to hand it to your mum what age is she now 105? Like WOW. Mums language is getting bad and in "public" what do you do? where do you look? shes having more tantrums. Shes having another brainscan in October too far away i think. With her diabetes its hard to tell what to expect shes sleeping alot and was a very light sleeper all her life. Shes going off food and everyday is something new she hates? Oh i just dont know anymore its so hard to determine whats going on with her. Wont go to doc hates carers etc........... thanks will look at website what is eating me up is this sick feeling i have that shes going to die soon? i dont know if anyone else ever feels like this? I had same gut feeling a week before dad died not that he was going to die but something bad was about to happen? i wonder if others experience this i usually have a good "gut" feeling about most things or maybe im just anxious and stressed?

Oh must go to bed my moggie is stretched out on the bed so damn cute!! thankgod for him hes a real comfort!!

vikki thanks for that. Mother's short term memory is very poor now, though there is some selectivity. I see that her judgement has declined over the last year or more, and probably her insight. With BPD she never had empathy in the first place. The PD complicates the picture as you know.

kazzaa - check out - the website for the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland. Second tab "About Dementia" , Stages and Progression. No stages as such but they tend to live about 5 years after the signs show. Some one who has had a stroke can go faster than someone with a general vascular problem, Mother has vascular dementia, but has not had any strokes that we are aware of, so she is declining more gradually. However, even in the last 4 months she is worse in terms of making sense. I think she has had it about 1 1/2 - 2 years.

Well i had an accident 5yrs ago and hit the right side of my head i had abit of memory loss not completely but when i went shopping i didnt know what i was doing there? only lasted a few wks though was told brian had swelled from the bang. So who the hell are you and what am i doing on here???? Oh off to bed crap on tv and im going to the "fairy tree" tomorrow to make a wish yep i write down my wishes then burn them at this tree supposed to be powerful stuff lets see?
I know youre peeing your pants laughing Cap but i do believe in this stuff us Irish are very superstisious its in the "blood".

yea kaz , my mom had vascular dementia . heart failure was the primary disease imo .
ive had some degree of dementia from hepc . brain not getting enough o2 . as the virus recedes i can remember measurements , put names to faces and all kinds of new territory . id still pick a fight with a tree tho if i thought i could win ..

They tend not to lose longer term memories and their ability to recognize familiar people, in contrast to Alzhemiers. They do start losing short term memory, but judgement, insight, and empathy tend to become noticeably impaired first.

I didnt know your mum had Vascular Dementia Cap. Its so annoying some people say they dont fully lose thier memory others say they do?? I gave mum a 30 min headstart to get to the train station here yesterday she was just at the end of the road when i met up with her?? it takes me 3mins to get to the end of the road so you can imagine how slow that is shed put a snail to shame so sad. Im 5ft 10 and have long legs and no matter how hard i try i couldnt walk that slow and ive tried yep shes slowing down but hasnt done the "shuffle" yet, looking forward to seeing that may be able to put a rap song to it! well if you dont laugh youll cry!

my mothers memory remained pretty intact too but she began walking with a a shuffle in late stage and her " mistruths " turned into delusions and eventually visual hallucinations .
aunt edna has half decades midding from her memory , is losing mobility , and her delusional thinking is approaching hallucination status .
for instance a couple days ago she claimed that a fellow resident in independant living came in and spent the night with her . there are people there who would come in and calm her but sprending the who;le night probably didnt happen ..

Mine too vstefans. I came across a book i bought her years ago "yoga for the over fifty". I got her this for her 50th? mum has been sick all my life my childhood was hospital wards and now this. Sad they dont listen but she was unhappy and struggling to bring up 5 kids with no financial help from my father so i guess fitness was never on her mind.
Sorry about your mum but i think even to have made it that far is not bad considering her lifestyle mum has outlived most of her siblings her parents died young in their 60s and 2 brothers died in their 60s so shes doing well but i dont think shell make it to 80.

The vascular dementia with long standing type 2 diabetes does seem to progress more gradually than stepwise, I suppose due to the microcirculation being bad in the brain as much as in other tissues. It may be almost a distinct entity. My mom had terrific generalized atrophy, with some large strokes on top of that..she had a couple of MRIs and CTs that showed it. I was kind of shocked by the extent of it, given how much function she had clinically and how a lot of people thought she was still "sharp," but you know how that goes.

Theoreticallly MCT oils (e.g. coconut) and mannose and ribose could be of some help, as could anything that reduces insulin resistance...maybe that Axona stuff would be worth a try if you can get it too. It really is sad, because better lifestyle/better control could have helped, but that horse is pretty well out of the barn. My mom also was "old-old" before her time, sedentary in her 50's and becoming disabled in her 60's, and did not even quite make it to 80.

So sorry debbs! Yes mums geriatrician said "vascular deterioration"! Basically she is having silent ministrokes in her brain which are not noticeable unless you notice her moods can change from day to day thats why they can seem normal for a few days then "mad" the next. they will continue to have these ministrokes until the strokes become more severe but everytime they are having these "events" her brain is being slowly damaged further.
Usually if your mum has good overall health she will progress slowly and may not deteriorate much but my mum has diabetes heart problems and high BP so im afraid her outlook is not good and its a miracle shes still here still at 77yrs old its sad!
What you can do if at all possible is get your mum to take omega oils found in oily fish and PLENTY of fresh air this will delay it somewhat my mum wont even walk around the block and now shes getting slower and slower and if she continues like this she will lose the use of her legs. Try telling her this she just dosnt get it so the stress is enormous!
Vascular dementia can be improved OR slowed down by diet and excercise but mums "depression" has been going on for years so i think shes had this dementia for along time sad that her stupid doctor never listened to me and we may have saved this from happening.

I just recently found out that my Mom was diagnosed with "microvascular brain disease" (as her doctor called it). I know very little about this condition, so karenlorenzo, your web site will be very helpful to my family. Thank you!

Vascular dementia, just like alzheimer's may lead to cognitive impairment like memory loss, however, as vstefans stated, vascular dementia don't have stages like alzheimer's do. With Alzheimer's, the disease gradually progress however, with vascular dementia, there is a sudden progress right after a related event like seizure or stroke. The progression of the disease also often depends on the extent of the damage to the person's brain and circulatory system. A lot of diabetic patients who are dependents of long-term care services are affected with vascular dementia.

I don' tthink they "stage' vascular dementia the way they do Alzhemier's. She may start to slip with short term memory, but long term memory and recognizing familiar people will stay relatively intact as long as her vision and/or hearing are good enough. Check for medical issues with the aggression or crankiness - anything from a UTI to cellulitis to meds or blood sugars being out of whack will have her feeling unwell and acting worse, which may get a little better with treatment. YMMV with any psych meds. Some may help, some may make her worse, you just have to watch.

My mom had this and it sucked. We managed to get a few good memories and experiences out of the deal, but it was not easy. Wish I had better news for you!

Thanks for that! she hasnt fallen yet and memory is fine? but i think its only a matter of time before she has another seizure as shes NOT controlling her meds. I am seeing a shrink with her for the first time next week so see how he feels.

So sorry for your loss and hope youve been able to move on and find peace now! X

my mom had vascular dementia and after a couple of falls and seizures ended up in a nursing home where she got excellent care. Her aggression should level out or go away, it's usually just a stage with vascular dementia. Hopefully the doctor can get her on some meds to help. Good luck to you both.