So, I think he has Alzheimer's myself, because he has changed in the last month mentally being confused he's 65. Just got out of hospital after a month and they have not found any reason for confusion. He has been asking for phone book to call his parents, they have been gone for 40 years! Talks about parents and sister that have been gone years ago. All the time, constantly over and over again! ...and my parents also that have been gone years ago, he asks me if I called my mom! This is new to me, and very hard for me especially when I still have to work. This page has helped me understand what is really going on with him. Thank you all.
If your husband had surgery, depending how long he was under, for each hour it would take one month for one's brain not to feel so foggy. If surgery was 3 hours, thus it would take 3 months. Plus being in the hospital for one month, he is probably feeling delirium being back home until he becomes for comfortable at home.
I would recommend you bring this issue up to your husband's primary doctor, or if he had surgery to his surgeon, for answers.
His constant repetition may well wear on you heavily at times...For your own sanity, learn to consider it the "new normal" and with God's help, realize you will do better emotionally if you strive to have a servant's heart.
God bless you,
Bob
He also might have vitamin B12 deficiency (it does not come on quickly but it is common and makes brains more vulnerable) or a thyroid abnormality or an electrolyte disturbance or another type of medical problem that makes brain function worse. An evaluation for cognitive impairment (a term that covers both dementia and delirium) should check for all of these.
There is no formula for how quickly people recover, it really depends on the underlying health of their brain, whether all delirium aggravators have been removed, and how restorative their current environment is. I will say that it's not uncommon for it to take months for people to fully recover, and unfortunately, a fair number of people never get quite back to the way they were before.
About dementia coming on quickly. It usually does not come on quickly, however, when we ask a lot of questions, a fair number of people who were supposedly "fine" before hospitalization were actually showing some signs of memory/thinking problems beforehand. So what we often say is that delirium can "unmask" an early dementia.
Having early (or more advanced) dementia is a risk factor for delirium.
I hope your husband starts doing better soon. At this time, I would say it's less important to see a dementia specialist and more important to ask his usual doctors to help make sure he is evaluated for anything that might be contributing to persisting delirium. He should also be evaluated for common medical problems that cause cognitive impairment.
You can help him recover by minimizing stress and strain around him. I completely agree with the other comments, don't try to correct his errors. Accept his reality and do what you can to maintain your sanity in the meantime.
good luck!
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