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Most "broken hips" don't happen because a person falls...the hip breaks...THEN you fall. If you have weak bones, that's what can happen.
I'm sorry for what you're going thru....any kind of dementia is horrifying and awful for everyone. I have a lot of it in my family...taking care of an Uncle with dementia now. Hoping my loved ones will take care of me, if and when it occurs. My odds aren't great. I have it on BOTH sides of the family....on the parental sides. I'm ok now....or at least, I think I am! It's always worst for the caregiver than the patient.
Yes it is scary for us too as mum is the third generation in her side of the family to have precisely the same condition. We are certainly hoping for it to skip a generation! And we are doing all we can to stay fit and healthy.
Thankyou for sharing your situation. Very thought provoking!
And I sincerely hope you'll soon find the best suited course of action for your mom's wellbeing.
My mom's siblings were having a negative effect each time they visited her. I found out the reason. Mom hated the nursing home during her first month there; precisely the time in which she was under a gamut of prescribed meds from Mainland Medical Professionals. Each time her sibs visited, she would cry and voice her displeasure before them. They, in turn, would sympathetically agree and cry along with her. Their sympathies became the fuel which ignited her aggressive behavior. Her pattern of behavior changed after I spoke to each sibling individually and respectfully requested they not sympathize with her complaints. Their full cooperation and the detoxification improved mom's quality of life to what it is today.
As stated, mom's condition dramatically improved over the course of 8 days right before my very eyes.
I have been told this by the daughter of an extended family member when wanting to visit her mother with Alzheimer's in a group home.
I am suspicious if this is true or if the facility doesn't want people there observing. It is easier on them to keep them heavily sedated and quiet with no outside stimulation but is that better for the loved one in the facility?
I wonder if they(loved one) are aware more than we know and are trying to communicate something to us and that is what makes them anxious and upset? I hate Alzheimer's.
Reading all these comments is very saddening to me. All these fractures and I keep going back to the magnesium deficiency. Heard a great guru on the radio last night and he's written many books on vits and supplements and he's 79 and brought up how deficient so many are in magnesium. I'm 81 soon enough and have been taking good doses for a lot of years.
I have been told this by the daughter of an extended family member when wanting to visit her mother with Alzheimer's in a group home.
I am suspicious if this is true or if the facility doesn't want people there observing. It is easier on them to keep them heavily sedated and quiet with no outside stimulation but is that better for the loved one in the facility?
I wonder if they(loved one) are aware more than we know and are trying to communicate something to us and that is what makes them anxious and upset? I hate Alzheimer's.
For my Mum, anxiety far pre-dated Alzheimers. We have had her medication list confirmed independently by a psychiatrist unrelated to the care facility. The disbursement of medication is carefully controlled so I feel like the chance of them over medicating is very low.
I just wanted to point out that the rate of dementia is MUCH higher in people with serious mental health issues than it is within the public in general. And I also feel like dementia really complicates their already very complicated personalities.
Both my MIL and my mother developed dementia, which killed them both eventually. My MIL struggled with clinical depression and anxiety her entire life and my mother struggled with bipolar disorder her entire life. Now my brother has schizophrenia and I would be willing to bet that he eventually develops dementia.
The rate is something like SEVENTY PERCENT vs the average of around 2 percent of the general public. It's highest in people who have not treated their mental health issues regularly from what I recall.
Sorry - usually I post a link but I'm feeling lazy. I remember looking this up though when my mom and MIL both developed dementia.
Oh, one other point. With both my mom and my MIL, the worst stage of their dementia was the early to middle stage, which unfortunately lasted about a year with each of them. The longest years of my life. Anyway, that seems to be the most difficult stage and the most heart rending for all involved. They KNOW there is something seriously wrong and out of their control but nothing works to cure it or stop it's progress. This stage was when the Aricept stopped working as well. They had both been on it for about two years and that's about the max of staying on it and it being effective from what I recall.
I really really really hate all forms of dementia.
My cardiologist told me to take magnesium, 250 mg a day. It's good for the heart and if it's good for bones too, that's an added bonus.
It's truly sad that by the time people get to these "homes" they've gone so many years with deficiencies and magnesium for sure...I probably take close to 1000mg daily. Many take it to bowel tolerance. If one has loose bowels to begin with then make sure you are taking the best form of mag for your body. There are probably 8 forms of mag...wonder if MD's even know that.
Added to these issues, she has broken her hip twice this month from falls, so we need to be with her. She has outstanding care where she is and its a beautiful calm environment, but they cannot supply 1:1 supervision 24/7.
The CNA's often stood around and ignored patients who got up from their dining room tables to try to walk without any aid. I would see these patients try to straddle the dining tables to get around while their wheelchair or walker was nearby. I would go over to help them back to their seat. I put in a complaint to the facility in my exit review.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4dognight
I have been told this by the daughter of an extended family member when wanting to visit her mother with Alzheimer's in a group home.
I am suspicious if this is true or if the facility doesn't want people there observing. It is easier on them to keep them heavily sedated and quiet with no outside stimulation but is that better for the loved one in the facility?
I wonder if they(loved one) are aware more than we know and are trying to communicate something to us and that is what makes them anxious and upset? I hate Alzheimer's.
The industry practice is to give anti-anxiety drugs to Alzheimer's patients to make them easier to transfer. No matter how much I explain, she will often reach for things to grab when I lift her out of the bed. I just wrap up her arms with mine and move her into the chair.
It wouldn't surprise me if they provide the anti-anxiety medication during meals. I used to prepare the hot tea at the facility for my mom when I was called in by the nutritionist to prepare her meals and feed her. Since I was in the kitchenette next to the lunch room for Alzheimer's, I would see the nurses setting up the medications with the food trays.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
I just wanted to point out that the rate of dementia is MUCH higher in people with serious mental health issues than it is within the public in general. And I also feel like dementia really complicates their already very complicated personalities.
Both my MIL and my mother developed dementia, which killed them both eventually. My MIL struggled with clinical depression and anxiety her entire life and my mother struggled with bipolar disorder her entire life. Now my brother has schizophrenia and I would be willing to bet that he eventually develops dementia.
The rate is something like SEVENTY PERCENT vs the average of around 2 percent of the general public. It's highest in people who have not treated their mental health issues regularly from what I recall.
.
It wouldn't surprise me if my brother is developing Alzheimer's early. He claimed he had been diagnosed with depression which would indicate he was under some treatment. He seems to have a lot of difficulty carrying on conversations and has made frequent references to others making that observation about him.
Very long term studies of diabetics of 15-20 years duration show very high probability of 70% for women in their sixties developing Alzheimer's by the end of the study.
For my Mum, anxiety far pre-dated Alzheimers. We have had her medication list confirmed independently by a psychiatrist unrelated to the care facility. The disbursement of medication is carefully controlled so I feel like the chance of them over medicating is very low.
I'm with you, I hate Alzheimers.
I suspect you are based in Australia, from your other posts and using the term mum rather than mom?
I have been where you are and it is dreadful. My mum went from severe depression into severe dementia, albeit vascular dementia. What Kathryn has said is what we were told. Brain damage from the depression probably complicated and worsened the dementia.
We found the longer our visits the more agitated Mum became. She was seeing a leading geriatric specialist as well as a geriatric psychiatrist. Basically nothing worked.
We had to be prepared to keep our visits very short if she got too distressed. Fortunately my sibling and I lived nearby so it was not as difficult as if you travel a long way.
We had to forget about any extra nursing as the cost in a long term is simply not affordable, I think probably more than $3000 a week.
In NSW we were able to have rails up and the use of a tray chair to prevent falls, had to be signed off by several people. She had had continual falls and three operations for hip reconstructions so it was better of two evils, unfortunately.
I agree they are not likely to over medicate. My brother got the morphine script changed from as needed to scheduled just for her last couple of days as he wanted to be sure that she did not die in pain. Even to do that required a bit of a battle.
The most important thing is to do what you can and preserve your own life and sanity. As said, things may improve as the disease progresses and the awareness fades. Good luck.
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