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Lately I've been making homemade pizza. I buy a dough ball at the store and roll it out and add all my own stuff. I like to cook but I've never been a baker so working with dough was new to me. So, my mom comes over for dinner a lot and loves my pizza. She starts saying how she used to make homemade pizza "all the time" when us kids were growing up. That morphed into that she made bread all the time. She even expounded on it saying she used to recite a rhyme to remember the steps and ingredients.


I have ZERO memory of her ever making either one of those things. It didn't happen. I started to wonder if she was thinking about her own childhood when she lived with her grandmother and mother and it was her grandmother who made bread.


Then last night we were at her place and she looks at me and says- "I can take care of that grey hair for you, all it needs is a rinse". First of all, my hair is not grey. I have maybe three grey hairs and the rest is brown. My husband was shocked- he said She doesn't have any grey hair. My mom actually said- Yes she does! It just needs a rinse. WTF.


When my mom was 15 she quit school and she went to cosmetology school. She did cut hair for a brief period. She never cut our hair that I remember. But then she said the most bizarre thing. She said my DAD went to beauty school too, and cut hair for awhile. NO WAY did that happen.


I didn't argue. I just changed the subject, but it kind of scared me. Are these hallucinations or what?

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Hard to tell. If this is a sudden change in mental status, I would get mom to the doctor for a look-see and test for a UTI.
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She didn't seem in distress, just "remembering" things that never happened. Can a UTI cause that?

I'm taking her to the pain doctor today, for blood work on Friday, next Tues is the neuro doc for the results of her evaluation, and then her GP on Friday to go over the blood work. Do you think I need to try and take her to her GP before next Friday?
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I'm less worried about the "remembering things that never happened" than I am about her looking at you and seeing gray hair.

I would call her GP and ask her/his advice. I am not a doctor, lol! b
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ExhaustedPiper May 2019
I don't think she thought my entire head of hair was grey, but maybe focused on those few strands.... I don't know. My husband was stumped too. I was more freaked about the comment that my dad went to beauty school!

Anyway, I just ordered urine test strips and will get them in two days. I'll ask her to test then, I know how to read the strips so if she has any signs of infection I'll call the doctor and get an antibiotic.
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My Mom declined a little every month. And yes, their reality is gets mixed up with dreams, TV and what really is. Its part of the desease and you need to just play along. Don't question her. Don't tell her she is wrong.

After a year of living with me I placed Mom in Adult care. About 8 months later I placed her in an AL. A while later an aide from the AD took a job at the AL. She could not believe the declinein my Mom. Working for a Visiting Nurse Assoc, my nurses called it an episode when a client pretty much changed overnight,

Your Mom may not be able to live by herself much longer.
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ExhaustedPiper May 2019
Joann this scares me. She seems to be doing all her ADLs okay. Her place is immaculate. Plus I’m literally steps away. I’m thinking of putting a nanny cam over there.

I’m so glad we’ll be getting the results of her neuro psych evaluation next Tuesday. I need guidance.
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My mom has had delusions all along, remembering her dreams as reality for about 7 years, 3 years into the Alzheimer's. Some have been scary and some amusing. She said my dad knitted himself a sweater at the same time that she knitted the one she was wearing. She did knit her sweater, but I'm absolutely sure my dad did not knit. I said his was brown, right? Yes, she said, and it had big buttons. She has had only one UTI a year ago.

Something that interests me is how what she imagines remains clear in her mind, while reality is forgotten immediately. She will repeat for months what she imagines, never forgetting a single detail of her story.
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My aunt has only had one UTI as well but after that one I always check if she seems to go off the rails.
With my aunt and MIL the confabulation came and went. It was interesting. I notice two SILs with it now.
Just go with the flow but do cover your bases with monitoring meds, UTI test and for sure get your paperwork in order.
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