New behavior....calling when I leave the house. Is this common?

I posted this earlier today on the discussion threads and wanted to give you a link. The article is honestly the best I've ever read about what it's like to have Alzheimer/Dementia and how things progress in the mind of the sufferer. It's called Understanding the Dementia Experience.

https://www.agingcare.com/discussions/an-excellent-resource-for-learning-about-alzheimers-disease-dementia-472696.htm

I learned a lot and you may too.

All the best.

Anxious? Probably a big Yes.

Short term memory problems. When did you leave? Where to? When will you be back?

The ability to 'tell the time' can be lost. Eg you say "back at 4pm" but what's that mean if you can't FEEL the current time, can't measure the time passing & cannot feel when 4pm will be.

My Mother can read the time on a clock & manages to fool people she can 'tell the time'. But when Dad is out asks repetitively what time is it? When will he be back? She can see & read the clock - but not sure she can process it.

It believe it then heads to 'shadowing' behaviour - where anxiety drives constant following of the main carer. This becomes very challenging & suffocating. Having regular sitters so you can leave then becomes necessary.

Hi Sandy
Yes, the one thing you can count on is change. and with dementia, that change involves decline. sadly, it doesn’t get better.
Caregivers often have a benchmark where they feel they have to make different arrangements. A sitter, going to adult day care, installing cameras, facility care. Sometimes the change is significant and we feel we should have taken more protective action sooner. That’s the problem, one never knows what’s next. In that way very much like a small child left on their own.
What would happen if there was a fire? Would he know to get himself out of the home?

Him calling you may mean he is Shadowing, a common dementia/alz behavior. In my family's experience it will most likely become more intense with time. My 68-yr old cousin with early onset ALZ will not let her husband sit next to anyone when in a social setting like a restaurant (even me, who she's known her whole life). My 99-yr old will scream her sister's name constantly if she walks out of the room. They usually fixate on a single person. It may be possible to address this "separation anxiety" with meds, but I have no family experience with it. My employee's SIL with ALZ become paranoid to the point of checking her husband's phone and asking constantly who he's talking to on the computer. If you are able to get your LO to his physician to discuss this it may be better to get him on meds now while he's cooperative. Everything about dementia is hard...I hope you can find a solution in this situation.