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Nedgirl Asked March 10, 2024

Lewy Body Dementia, violent behavior?

Hi,


 


My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in the past year. She is now in a memory care facility, but recently, her behavior has become overly aggressive and almost violent. She hit anothe resident so that they required medical attention and then pulled the fire alarm. We worry about her being kicked out. Most of the other residents have Alzheimers, so they don't have as much experience dealing with LBD. We like the staff for the most part and would like to not have to find a new place.


 


She has been seen by a neurologist and has a follow-up appointment in the next week. But I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with LBD with a family member and or medications or other ways of dealing with the aggression.


 


My husband is going to talk with the neurologist about her medications. Currently, she is on Donepezil and Seroquel.

cxmoody May 1, 2024
Thanks for the update. We don’t get a lot of posters here talking about LBD.

Your sharing can potentially help many people.

Best wishes to you as you travel this road with your MIL.

Nedgirl May 1, 2024
I wanted to provide an update. They changed her medication, but unfortunately it has resulted in her fainting and being unresponsive. So now we are in this place of trying to find some sort of combo where she isn't hitting people but not so strong that is causing her to faint and fall.

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JoAnn29 Mar 11, 2024
This Dementia is known to be violent. Itveffects the part of the brain where emotions are.

Mamacrow Mar 11, 2024
Sorry I can't help much - Dad has LBD but hasn't been violent like this as of yet! Praying he doesn't do this. He gets grumpy and breaks things on purpose and throws away my good sugar bowls because he feels like it (that's what he says) but hasn't tried to hit me or anyone else yet. I'm just here to lend some support & prayers - hope you find a good answer to this issue. My Best wishes to you. Please keep us posted so we can share in your experience of how this gets resolved.

Southernwaver Mar 11, 2024
Call the neuro’s nurse and tell her what is going on. There is no sense in having to wait another week

Scampie1 Mar 11, 2024
I saw a lady I would ride the bus with on a regular basis, and she had retired from her job to take care of husband. Her husband developed Lewy Body Dementia and began hitting her. The sad part is that he worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant for over thirty years. I happened to run into her one day while I was on my way to an assignment. She was on her way to the facility to deal with the placement issues. She had to end up calling the police on him because he became extremely violent. His family was angry at her because of her having to place him. She took care of him for as long as she could tolerate it.

When patients or loved ones get to this extreme, they usually end up in psychiatric care for as long as its needed.

AlvaDeer Mar 11, 2024
The neurologist has the keys to start to work with you on a drug cocktail for management. Many dementias, including the notorious frontal lobe dementias, have violent acting out and you need to make it clear exactly what is happening here, and of the fact she may lose her placement in memory care and require movement to skilled nursing psychiatric unit if this cannot be addressed.

The unfortunate thing about drug management is that it is very difficult to find medications that do not cause worries over balance (often a problem with Lewy's), apathy, appetite loss, falls, and etc. Moreover, often, when a medication cocktail is working, it works only for a certain period of time. This is entering into catch-22 areas where there just isn't a good answer. I sure wish you the best.

Geaton777 Mar 11, 2024
Have her tested for a UTI, which can exaccerbate dementia symptoms.

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