Dementia and severe chronic pain?

I'm sorry about the results of the scan.
Hospice will be another group that will keep an eye on her, keep her comfortable and help you and your family.

My mom's scan results came back... cancer. She lost a lot of weight and has pretty much stopped eating. I visited yesterday and I'll bring my little one for a visit Sunday.

Im still waiting on finding out more about the cancer. They said hilar and that it looks like it's around the liver and gallbladder.

Im not sure if the cancer is a blessing. I hate thinking about mom my living another 5-10 with Alzheimer's.

My late husband who had vascular dementia was in excruciating pain in various body parts(mostly arms and legs)for the last year and a half or so of his life, to which no one could figure out why.
And because of his massive stroke that he'd had many years earlier and the major damage it did to his brain, he seemed to be very resistant to any pain medications, even the opioids.
Hopefully in your moms case they will figure out where her pain is coming from so they can fix/treat it.
Otherwise it just may be time to bring hospice on board and quit putting her through needless tests and just let her be comfortable until she leaves this world. There are no happy endings with dementia. It always leads to death one way or another.
Wishing you both well.

I don't think dementia always= increased pain. Prior injuries, age and not being as active is bad for the body.

I was just curious if this was a common occurrence or if many on this site have had this experience. I'm not looking for diagnosis. She is under doctors care. We're waiting on MRI results.

@sp19690

Being pregnant can destroy your core. It most definitely can cause back issues.

I think having chronic pain from whatever source is a trial to anyone, dementia or no. Keeping your mom comfortable might ease the dementia a little--who knows? Our brains are so impossible to understand.

BUT--I, for one, am all about keeping people in chronic pain comfortable. Life with pain, day in, day out is so disabling.

Just 'getting old' is painful. All those injuries from the past when we were unconquerable come back to roost in our later years.

My back is ruined and when I asked the dr WHY--he said "did you have babies?" (Yes, 5-10 lb babies!) "did you carry them around?" (Of course!) He said, "well, there's one (well 5) good reasons to hurt."

Getting out of pain and staying that way all day, everyday is honestly my biggest challenge these days.

I've noticed that my DH (who has had MULTIPLE sports injuries) is really, really grumpy on the days he's in pain. And being a liver transplant patient, he has to be very careful about what he takes for the pain. I know his QOL is not what he'd like at age 71, but he is paying the price for some stupid choices and for being a 'jock'. He's at the pain clinic right now, trying to work out the incessant pain in his neck from a motorcycle accident.

I hope you can keep your mom out of pain--having dementia on top of hurting must be awful.

We can’t answer this question. We aren’t medical professionals.

Plus, dementia affects everyone differently.

I hope that your mom’s pain subsides. It’s hard to watch our family members suffer.

I also hope that you get the answers that you need from your mother’s doctor.

All the best to you and your family.