Does this sound like Alzheimers?

[karilann]

I've been searching thru some posts here, but have gotten a bit lost. Thought I'd throw the question right out there.

My mother is 75 years old. She is 5'4" and weighs 89 lbs fully dressed. She says she just doen't have an appetite. I'm afraid if she keeps losing weight she will die of starvation. I got meals on wheels but she won't eat it.

Her short term memory is pretty bad. She may remember things within the same day, but by the next day....she won't rememeber. Yesterday I talked for 2 hrs with her on the phone....today she didn't remember. If I go over things enough, she may say, "oh yes, we talked about such and such" (but most of the conversation is gone)

She can call me in the morning and tell me about something that happened. It usually is something upsetting. When I investigate....it never happened. I don't know if she dreamed it, woke up and thought it was real or what?

I've taken her to the doc and they do the test: what state are we in-what county-what season is it-etc and she passes pretty well. The part they give her 5 objects to remember, she may only recall 3 or 4 and thats pretty good. One doc said I was picking on her!
She has vitB12 injections every two weeks and not on any major medication...I just don't know what I should do next.
Any advise? Do you think she can be helped? She knows her memory is bad, but I don't think she realizes how bad at times. She will do some denying and excuse making and maybe even a bit of lying.....help

[Buttons2]

I'm not kidding,except for the part about the B12! And I'd be glad to send my mother some B12 if she would just take it,but she refuses to take anything.

My mom has lost so much weight it's scary to see her. She's also 5'4" & I doubt she weighs more than 90# now.As for the memory stuff.....well I'm convinced it's cause she refuses to take her thyroid meds & has dementia because of it. She just turned 76 in Sept. I live 4hrs away & only see her about once a year now. My father is still alive also,he's in his 80's & takes too many meds! So I'm very frustrated with them both.....

About your issue: I think since she's been tested,& passed that OK,perhaps the best thing is to just keep an eye out for safety issues,etc. They don't seem to want their kids to mettle in their lives (from my experience anyways).

One day my mom wandered off in an orchard after weeks of never leaving the house,well my dad freaked when he couldn't find her,so went out & bought a 4 wheeler so he could get around more to look for her! And of course this turned out to be a one-time incident.

I'm assuming your mother lives alone? Are there neighbor's who are willing to keep an eye on her?

About the eating,old people lose their sense of smell & taste. It's not at all uncommon for them to not want to eat,or eat like a bird when they do. I've done some research on this,the first thing that pops up is cancer. I suggest you get your mom to have a complete physical,and insist on the full panel of thyroid testing (if she has any symptoms other than weight loss). If you have any questions about that let me know & I'll help with info. It's only a suggestion.

Also, you might get a case of Ensure,this has nutrients she needs & she can surely drink one per day. Since you've already tried meals-on-wheels, perhaps you could try getting her out of the house to where they serve meals. Call the local Area Agency on Aging or RSVP office. Usually the same programs are run together.

It's vital they have some kind of social contact! Does your mother have any hobbies she still enjoys?

Good luck,feel free to send me a PM if you want. And hang in there,there's more than one reason they can begin to lose their memory & she has a good doctor if she's getting B12 shots (my opinion).

Buttons

[rumpled]

Like Buttons said, Is there a senior services outfit for the state she is in? They can assist you in getting an evalutation as well as setting up services for home care and social services.

At least she has the B12, but there are other deficiencies that can cause issues and she needs a well rounded diet. Protein is important.

Also, is her doc a geriatric doc or a regular internist? A doc who specializes in the elderly may be able to see through the subterfuge and see issues and get her (and him) the help they need.

[karilann]

Actually Mom lives in Apartments for old people.....so the people around her are kind of in the same boat.
She does have bad lungs and they feared Cancer a while back but everything was inconclusive. They would need to do a biopsy which would reduce lung function. She has a disease called scleroderma which is under control, but has done lung damage. I told her doc that she did not need less lung function so a biopsy was out....and cancer treatment would kill her, so what was the point? Torture her to death? So I don't know if she has it or not. She is not in any pain. This was two years ago so if it was cancer, she would probably have passed by now.
I do buy her Boost....but man she just keeps getting skinnier!
My sister said its natures way of taking us out of this world. They just stop eating and such.

[Tootsie]

I don't know a lot about scleraderma, only that it is one of the auto immune diseases. However, I wonder if the disease itself can influence brain function so that lapses in memory, and irregular, erratic symptoms can occur? The doctor that takes care of this diagnosis should be able to tell you if it is a factor in her memory lapses.

It doesn't really sound like Alzheimer's Disease to me, but it may be another form of dementia. There are probably at least 100 different kinds, some associated with mini strokes, and affecting different parts of the brain.

Has she had a good physical exam, with blood work and evaluation of it by a geriatric physician? Usually, Alzheimer's patients cannot follow a 3 step process; Something simple, like "take this sheet of paper in your right hand, fold it in half and place it underneath your chair." It sounds like she is able to do this.

Needless to say, you are welcome here, no matter what your Mom's official diagnosis. The problems that you encounter are familiar to all of us and we are all glad to share what we know and offer suggestions as you try to care for your Mom. Cheerio.

[joy]

Hi karilann and welcome.
It sounded encouraging to me that you were able to carry on a conversation with her for two hours. My own mother just kept getting quieter and quieter.

When I read how little and small your mother is it reminded me of several older people I know. My mother, mother-in-law, neighbor, aunt. I do remember with my MIL that she had rehumatoid arthritis and the general feeling was that this just sapped everything right out of the poor lady. Does your mother have anything like this as well?