Does anyone have experience with delusions?

Dr told me that delusions were a symptom of dementia. Mom would call and tell me she saw a lizard in the corner of her room. She was absolutely sure she was seeing it.

If she is exhibiting new neurological problems and delusions, please have her evaluated by her doctor. There are several different causes for her problems: more neurological insults, blood chemistry imbalances, infection (especially UTI), poor oxygenation, problems with medications... If she exhibits alarming changes in her mental status, take her to the emergency services. She may be having a stroke or strokes. The majority of strokes can be reversed if treated within hours of onset. Her doctor would be able to determine the cause and advise on treatment options.

Until her doctor's appointment, it would be helpful for her to have somebody checking on her throughout the day. If she is threatened with inadvertently hurting herself or safety is a concern, please make sure somebody is with her all the time. Please consider enlisting help of family, friends, members of faith community, and paid help. The goal is to keep her safe and healthy. I suggest creating a journal that all "helpers" write in to let each other know what happened while they were there to "visit."

GardenArtist:

"It was the lilac bush brushing against the house."

So, did you go shoot it? :-D

If not, at least cut it down to the roots!!! Dang bushes...

If mom won't let you go with her to the doctors appointments, can you write them a letter outlining what you have observed, and heard about the delusions? Like, "please ask her about the time she had tea with the Queen and Snow White?"
I don't know if Canada has the same health privacy laws that we have. US doctors can't discuss your medical issues with anyone unless you give permission. But nothing stops us from being able to tell the doctor additional information about the patient.
You could include the information about the police involvement and the issues with the neighbors so he/she gets a rounded picture of your mom's mental health.

Back in the day, my maternal grandmother "heard on the radio that Pres. Reagan bought the family ranch and discovered some of her paintings in the attic. He was going to bring them to her when he came to his ranch in California". We now know she had Alzheimers, but back then they just called it senility.

It sounds as if your mother may not be safe at night all alone. She may need someone with her at night. It may be time for her to move to more appropriate accommodations. Depending on what part of the brain was injured could account for the now personality, mood changes and delusions. If she is still able to take care of her daily needs, AL might be a good option as someone can check on her at night.

Dad had alzheimer's. Evidently his delusions or more likely dreams were caused by an alzheimer's drug he was given - he had very vivid dreams and had to talk to himself that the dream he had was not real life.

Later on hospice after he was off most all meds, except those for comfort, he would sometimes have delusions. The worst ones according to SNF was when he thought there was a building on fire and tried to get to it to rescue "the children". The nurses had to hold onto him so he would try and stand and fall. Other delusions he had were more mundane, such as calling me for an immediate need for money because he owed it to someone.

Wishing you and your family the best as you face the next chapter in your mother's life.

With any brain injury the potential for a TBI resulting in Dementia is VERY high.
More likely if the trauma continues, like in people that play sports but all it can take is one time. (friend of mine, her husband was in an accident and it accelerated dementia and made PTSD worse)
An evaluation from a Neurologist or a Neuropsychologist would be in order.

If your mom is responsible for taking any of her own meds, it should be somehow ruled out that she is not accidentally over-medicating herself. Also, are you able to contact her original doctor who most worked with her during her brain injury recovery to see if there are any later-in-life issues associated with her type of brain injury? I wish you much success in helping her.

When my mother scored an 18 on the MoCa exam, she was diagnosed with progressive dementia at that time. When asked to draw a clock, she drew some sort of blob which did NOT resemble a clock at all; that showed a lack of executive brain function which let the testers know she was cognitively impaired. They were right............this was in 2016 and she's gone downhill ever since.

"Showtiming" is also common with dementia, and my mother is STILL the queen of putting on a great act for others when the need arises. The muscle memory stuff is still greatly intact......you know, the small talk? Hi, how are you? Don't you look lovely today! How is your husband and family doing? But when you get into the details, that's when they fall apart. Don't ask them what day it is or what medications they take........that's when the impairment shows up. But the small talk they can win prizes for. It's all part of the show they put on. For you, your mother will have delusions and not know her own name...........the mask falls off BIG time b/c you're safe.

Whether you find it difficult to accept these changes or not, you're faced with them, and so is your mother. Living alone is dangerous now and you'll have to figure out either in home assistance or moving her into Assisted Living/Memory Care soon. You can't believe the mischief and trouble these elders can get into when left to their own devices; it's mind blowing.

Go to Alz.org to read all about dementia and how it presents itself so you'll know what you're facing, what you're mom is facing, and what to expect in the future. My mother is 94 now, incontinent, wheelchair bound, and has fallen 69x so far. She lives in a Memory Care Assisted Living and is in need of Skilled Nursing coming up here in the near future.

Wishing you the best of luck moving forward.

Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. This has been going on for almost a year now. Initially we took her to the ER where they did a urine test and blood work to rule out UTI or medical delirium. We have talked to her family dr. She has been to a psychiatrist who performed a MOCA test. She scored an 18, which I know isn’t horrible, but with the delusions and responsive behaviours she is exhibiting I think there is more going on. She has an appt with. Geriatrician and geriatric psychiatrist coming up. The problem is that my mom presents well. If she doesn’t allow us to go to the appt with her, they will think she’d fine. We are literally going from one crisis to the next at this point. There has been police involvement too, as her neighbours are complaining. It is all too much to handle.

I have to agree with Garden Artist or other medications. Other causes are a urinary tract infection....it is common with elderly people to have delusions, hallucinations with such an infection. Lewy body dementia is another source. I suggest taking her to her dr or the ER for a full work up and examine.

Delusions can be caused by meds.  Ambien was at one time noted for that.   In addition, I was also told that by 3 medical people, 2 nurses and a med tech.  

I myself witnessed one such episode; it was unsettling - there was no way of reassuring the person that the delusion was real, although when she woke up the next day, she stated that this wasn't the first experience with Ambien delusions.

Your mother may be able to handle her daily needs, but does she become frightened being alone at night?