My Mom has dementia but still recognizes us. Last evening she talked to me about just having blanks in her memory. What is curious to me is she is aware of it. IDK if this could actually be small TIAs, but I've read they don't cause permanent damage. With dementia, is this typical? I've been told usually folks don't realize they have a problem.
I write from the patients perspective. I was diagnosed with Early Onset ALZ 5 yrs ago. My most recent Neuropsych Exam says I am in Moderate to Severe ALZ. Be that as it may. I first began complaining about my memory in the winter of 2011. The doctors blew me off saying it had to do with Sleep Apnea, too little sleep etc. Finally in February of 2016, I was fired from my last job for failure to meet my goals. I had been in the travel industry for 38 yrs. The doctors started paying attention I had my first Neuropsych Exam in 1962 at the age of 2 I began having seizures and I had difficulty learning. The second one was in April of 2016, I got the results in June of 2016, and was diagnosed as mentioned above. I had my third one in March of 2021, and received the results in April of 2021. I have taken note of changes over the years as I've learned a lot of what I know from readying on Aging Care, reading the Thirty-six Hour Day. and other resources.
We had an appointment with the Neuropsych Doctor two weeks ago to discuss how he came up with the newest diagnosis. He told us the Test he gave me was based on Critical Thinking Skills, My two previous ones were mostly Intelligence test. He told me he'd never had a patient that scored so low as I did in the lowest 1% of men at my age 62. He also said he'd never spoken with a patient that scored in the range I did that could ever carry on a conversation like I do.
I believe the lapses in memory have their own beginning, it is with the little things, forgetting a doctor's appointment, and over time it continues on at it's own pace. Five years went by before the doctors took a real look at me, so now I see myself as being 10 yrs in to this disease. I'd suggest you have mom checked out for all the other things that you are noticing and get a diagnosis narrowed down. We all progress at different speeds. The husband of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's husband suffered with ALZ disease for over 20 yrs before he died and now she is fighting her battle with the disease. We all find ourselves on different paths of progression. I wish you peace of mind and recommend you keep coming back to this site looking for answers to questions you may have, and share the experiences you are having as you walk this road we call Dementia.
God Bless you all,
John
Most strokes are caused by blood clots. Please have your mom evaluated and treated by a doctor. Most causes of blood clots can be diagnosed and treated.
pictures or pats the 2 cats. I’m in a similar situation to yours,.. no other family around,.. and Mum has lived with me for 5 years. She initially came to visit and stay for a year (different country) and just as she was due to return home,.. my brother passed away. That’s when she started permanently living with me as she was a mess. We are living in a rental and I’ve been out of my primary job since Covid. Where I’m working now,.. I’m not earning as great. I would like for Mum to go into care (for my mental sake) but I’m also restricted due to current covid circumstances. We got a 3 bed / 2 bath rental back when she was alright so we’d have our own space and it meant we were both in a better position financially than being on our own. I could not afford to live here on my own so not only am I worried about her, I’m worried about myself as well as to how I’ll make do. It’s actually ironic! Mum first came over as a good gesture saying she’ll come live with me for a year while I save to buy. We were both renting so we joined forces. Now my money is being chewed up like there’s no tomorrow and I feel like I’m going to be right back where I started or worse. However I can’t maintain this current position of working full time, being her full on carer. I’m averaging 4-5h sleep a night. My patience is often tested and I hate myself for snapping. Recent events have also got me thinking a lot about the past/my childhood which are difficult to deal with. I’m 39yrs old and I definitely feel like all my friends (who I don’t really speak to anymore as I’ve lost touch) are dealing with other type of things in life. It hurts seeing their photos on social media of happy family outings, get together, weddings, births, hobbies and sports etc etc. I get so upset when I see family get together and happy moments.
My wife was lucid for many years, even though she had progressive dementia--and all dementia is progressive. She said it was like looking out of a window into the rain. You could still see outside but it was rather blurred. It is like that for many people.
I think it is a good sign when someone with any form of dementia recognizes that they have memory deficits. For those with them the challenge is to understand when and where in their past lives have they brought into the present. Then go beside them. Accept their reality as where you will join them; and chat about their awareness. Almost everyone with dementia is "a time traveller" moving into the past. Sometimes, it is good to just go with them and be with them. Accept their reality as your reality.
Amazingly, my wife is still alive and friendly 13 years into Alzheimers! We have a hard time understanding her, but she still seeks to communicate and often does. You never know how your life journey will work out; and you have to, as the phrase goes, "go with the flow."
Love and Prayers
You don't just get it over night.
It's a progressive disease.
Some people just ignore the problem and or don't want to accept it.
Its true routine is helpful. Just love her while you can and best wishes.
I was very startled the first time she did it , I'm not going to lie , as during the early to mid stages she did nothing but react with anger / annoyance / denial . I made a point of informing her early on what was happening to her and how it would progress so I don't know if that's a factor.
She is mostly happily settled in now with the routine we have provided and enjoys watching shows , playing with her dolls or looking at her magazines , chatting ( sometimes what seems to others like nonsensical things with me but it's cute and I speak fluent " mama" ) . She recognizes me very well but no one else and she naps a lot at this point.
Even so , evey week or three this statement comes up so I suppose self awareness may come and go with many dementia and Alzheimer's sufferers.
Even her doctor was startled by this information so that tells you something .
On the other hand - some people don't know they have a problem. Research dementia and learn about the different types and generally how they present. No one goes though dementia the same way. Everyone has its own experience.
My Grandma would have TIA's - in her 90s you'd be talking to her and she'd just get kind of a fuzzy look in her eyes for a few seconds or might say something a little off.
If you have concerns that your mom may have had a stroke or TIA, contact her PCP and see if she can be referred to a neuro with stroke and dementia expertise.
I dispute that it is "usually" the case that people don't know they have a problem - they're usually only too aware that there is a problem, but often will look for ANY explanation that doesn't involve the D- word! I suppose it is fair to say that it's comparatively unusual for a person to be able to identify the problem as clear-sightedly as your mother does.
Take advantage of it! The better your mother's understanding of what is (or may be) happening within her brain and the impact on memory and other brain functions, the more confidence she will have that those around her are able to supply any deficits and maintain her quality of life.
alz.org has good information on a wide range of topics, which you might find helpful yourself and could also share with your mother.
About TIAs. There is a very widespread muddling of definitions of TIAs, "mini-strokes" and strokes, and the terms get bandied about casually - including by clinicians, who ought to know better but sacrifice accuracy to simplicity.
A Transient Ischaemic Attack:
Transient = passing, i.e. not having a permanent effect, i.e. causing symptoms (e.g. loss of consciousness or muscle tone, speech impairment, visual disturbances, etc.) which last for less than 24 hours
Ischaemic = interrupting blood supply
Attack = episode rather than assault
They can be caused by micro-blood clots or sludge gumming up arteries, among other things, and resolve by themselves.
They are often called "mini-strokes" by medics in a hurry trying to describe them to patients and families. Grr.
Mini-stroke.
In vascular disease, often long before anyone gets round to suspecting dementia, small clots and blood pressure problems will impair the blood supply to the brain. Tiny areas of brain tissue die, so tiny that the brain sorts itself out before anyone has noticed or responded to any problems caused. In my amateur picture, I think of the brain as a bathsponge that lives longest when kept pleasantly and consistently damp. Let it dry out for too long, and eventually little crumbs will form and cracks will appear. It's not as dramatic in the brain, obviously, but it's a similar sort of process. Series of these mini or micro strokes over years lead eventually to diagnosable vascular dementia.
Brain tissue once dead does not regenerate, it's gone forever. BUT the brain is amazing. If one set of neural pathways is interrupted, it builds another - it can't send messages through the dead bit of brain, so it sets about sending them round it, creating new routes. This process is called "plasticity" and is retained to some extent throughout life, although by old age it's nothing like as impressive as it is in babies and young people.
And so to stroke: permanent death of a part of the brain. This can be caused by a clot or a bleed - either way, part of the brain is starved of oxygen and dies. Typical effects are the one-sided symptoms we're all told by public information films to look for - Face, Arms, Speech - but there are as many possibilities as there are functions controlled by the brain (i.e. all of them).
This, very much so.
As for TIA's- We've been sold the idea that they are a warning sign and cause no permanent damage but I think that depends on what you are looking for, very often doctors focus is much too narrow (stroke and/or stroke prevention) and they fail to see the bigger picture. All I know is that not one doctor ever mentioned a possibility of vascular dementia when my mom was being treated as at risk for stroke, this despite being told her MRI "lit up like a Christmas tree".
(research multi infarct dementia)
Symptoms, behaviour & awareness can vary hugely.
Alzheimer's being the most common type, which is why even some Doctors use this dx interchangingly (incorrectly) for any type of dementia. I believe Vascular Dementia is the 2nd most common type. This has many causes, multi TIAs being a big one.
Some people have zero idea there is anything wrong. Planning trips to their lake home 7 hrs drive away (sadly, a real post I read yesterday).
Some are aware things are a bit off, may stop socializing to hide it. May get anxious, fearful, defensive to hide their deficits. I have even heard of a suicide, after being diagnosed.
Some actually will tell you, but laugh it off
"Oh my memory is no good anymore, but I can still dance!"
The *blanks* your Mother mention do sound like how people have described TIAs to me. Or a friend's Mother after a bigger stroke. She said she was just blank, no thoughts, for an unknown time. Then she said thoughts returned, then words. Made a full recovery in 2 or 3 days.
It seems blanks are not painful - as long as emotional distress around them can be avoided.
Teepa Snow has an amazing amount of info & videos on Dementia that may be of interest to you.
All the best with your Mother.
You would have to have testing to pinpoint if her dementia/memory loss is more vascular (strokes, TIA’s) than Alzheimer’s.