Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)/Atypical Dementia (mother, Washington)

[movinon]

Some of us here have dealt with loved ones who developed these forms of dementia. I've been there too so have first-hand knowledge of the devastation that can be wreaked on families, caregivers, and other loved ones as well as the patient.

Here are links to two articles which appeared in the Washington Post today which shed a lot of light on just what FTD and other atypical dementias are and how they differ from the more commonly known dementias such as Alzheimer's. I'm really glad to see these disorders getting more coverage in the media.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...470_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...01b_story.html

I wish I'd known then (eight years ago) what I know now. These articles have a lot of valuable information which would have helped me recognize, sooner rather than later, what was happening with my loved one. I hope this information will be useful for those of you who are dealing with this.

[NRaleigh Mom]

My mother had FTD. Looking back there were definitely "signs" earlier on that we we did not acknowledge and/or associate with dementia since it did not present like the more commonly talked about dementia (Alzheimers). We now realize that she had FTD for quite a few number of years prior to her diagnosis.

It's a very cruel disease (as are all types of dementia). Just watching a loved one go through it and trying to care for them was very difficult.

[movinon]

Yes, it's very easy to miss some of the early signs. In my case, my significant other and I had only been together for five years so I thought some of his increasingly peculiar behaviors were just the "real person" coming through as he relaxed into our relationship. I know better now. He was diagnosed about eighteen months prior to his death and I realized that he'd been deteriorating in subtle ways for several years. It's especially difficult to recognize in the beginning as some of the signs and symptoms come and go. It's also easy to rationalize some of the more minor behaviors, at first. I'd never heard of FTD and didn't even know what I was seeing.

I'm so sorry you had to deal with this with your mother. My mother had stroke-induced dementia following a brain bleed. These two dementias are the most difficult things I've ever had to deal with. FTD was actually more difficult to manage than the stroke-induced dementia.

Best wishes to you.