Memory loss

[ajzjmsmom]

Originally Posted by lchoro

Your mom has memory loss issues. Since she has confided this to her doctor, it's a given. I'm just saying that she may have gaps in information due to not being able to hear. I was told by the visiting nurse it was common once people reached their 80's. A hearing test at Costco or any audiologist is usually free. The hearing aids won't be covered by Medicare.

I find that my mom remembers how to do tasks so her ability to perform activities of daily living would probably be close to normal if not for the mobility problems. She has trouble remembering places and things so it's hard to tell where she really wants us to take her or what she wants for dinner.

My mom is 68, so a little young yet, but I am definitely going to see about having her hearing tested. I want to rule out physical issues causing the memory loss before jumping to it being Alzheimer or dementia. I know she is on several different meds as well as on oxygen at night, so any of these could be contributing to the memory loss.

[hunterseat]

The oxygen is helping prevent further brain damage. You know sleep apnea is something that can affect your memory/brain because of lack of oxygen.

I have a dear friend who developed FTD (frontal temporal lobe dementia?) and it's totally different from Alzheimers. You might read up on that and see if she seems to fit that.

I'm glad she is cooperating with you. Bless you for being a good daughter even when she's not acting like a good mom.

[ajzjmsmom]

Originally Posted by hunterseat

The oxygen is helping prevent further brain damage. You know sleep apnea is something that can affect your memory/brain because of lack of oxygen.

I have a dear friend who developed FTD (frontal temporal lobe dementia?) and it's totally different from Alzheimers. You might read up on that and see if she seems to fit that.

I'm glad she is cooperating with you. Bless you for being a good daughter even when she's not acting like a good mom.

We are actually working right now to get the second part of the sleep study done for some odd reason the sleep lab she went to didn't do the whole sleep study. They just did the initial evaluation, now she needs the titration done, her cardiologist is working on that now.

I will definitely do research on FTD.

While her history of dependency on others has sometimes manifested itself as playing helpless, I am going to get to the bottom of this.

[lchoro]

You should talk to your mother about her memory loss. You might be able to get more background on it while she's still in pretty good shape. I've talked to my mom about hers. We noticed some signs after she started taking Lipitor in her early 70's. She was having trouble starting or finishing sentences all of a sudden.

I've talked to several elderly neighbors who have brought up their own cognitive issues (not that I could tell from one two-minute conversation in six months). I think that they were genuinely very concerned about their own state of health that they would ask a neighbor and casual acquaintance like myself. I think your mom would confide in you, and you might be able to communicate this information better with her doctor than she.

[silibran]

Originally Posted by ajzjmsmom

So I have posted about my mother and the fact that at an extremely young age she is living with my family and I. I have noticed even more so lately that she is having memory issues. Long term memory is great and when she mentioned to the doctor that she was having some memory losses (then reached over and patted me on the knee and told him it was causing stress between us) he asked her a couple of questions that he said most Alzheimer patients wouldn't be able to answer, she did.

She goes back to her primary care doctor next week and I am going to ask him to refer her out to someone to get to the bottom of this. My husband thinks she is just doing it to get attention and I wonder about that myself but want to get a professionals opinion. It seems like she can remember anything my brother tells her but can't remember anything I tell her.

For those of you who have dealt with it, what were some of the first things you noticed>

My experience is probably with vascular dementia, rather than early onset Alzheimer's but what I noticed are these things:

Losing things and accusing others of stealing them.

Getting dates of events mixed up.

Buying food and then not cooking it. Forgetting to eat. Eating crummy food that tastes good but provides no nutrition.

Insisting that a mistake made is someone else's, whether or not this is feasible.

Becoming angry when faced with a mistake, or if questioned about an action.

Compromised driving.

Forgetting an action, such as buying something and "storing it" or that something hurtful was said in anger.

Becoming overwhelmed by having to pay taxes or bills. Buying too much on credit. Allowing sales people to persuade you of something.

Becoming less able to keep a house and personal affairs in order.

Hope my list helps.

[GeoffD]

With my dad's vascular dementia, the first thing that went was his numerical processing. A very high STEM skill guy who couldn't add two numbers together. My mom has zero short term memory but she can do crossword puzzles and still plays her Steinway grand piano at a very high level. The ability to reason is still mostly there. Now, the longer term recall is also getting jumbled.

I think every dementia case is somewhat unique in what goes first.

...and if buying food and having it rot in the fridge is a sign of dementia, I've had it for decades.