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Should I be worried about this? (Alzheimers)

tommy34

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Messages
313
Hey, I don't know if I am being paranoid or if this is a legitimate concern. Last night my mum walked out of the lounge room and went to bed without turning the TV off. I questioned her about it an she said she though that she turned it off and this morning the iron was left on.

I know these aren't huge details however, I did a couple of Psychology classes at uni an they said that if your parents have early onset, your chances increase by a significant amount. Mum's mum has early onset and mum is now 56.

If this concern legitimate or should I try forget about it for now. I don't want to ask her to go see a doctor or tell my sisters (Who live out of home, one in the UK) that I think something may be wrong.

Cheers
 
Yikes that's a tough one. I see you've been on Bluelight for a few years so you might feel comfortable here, but there must be some great Alzheimer/dementia specific communities out there with a lot of people who have gone/are going through this exact thing which might be more helpful.

Obviously I'm not privy to your family's inner dynamics, but if it were me I'd mention it to my mom right off the bat (with all the "probably nothing" joking and typical "because I love you" jargon) incase things progress then a base has been established. With something like dementia (even disregarding early intervention as more successful in treatment) I could imagine it being a lot harder for the patient themselves to deal with a diagnosis further along if they have deteriorated. As for the sisters, again it depends on familial relations, but I definitely understand the concept of protecting the younger sister and not worrying them unnecessarily. Conversely I also can't imagine having to go through something like this without presenting a united front with support from my sister if there were a serious issue.

But enough doom and gloom and let me get back to your question.

Should I be worried about this?

I think you clearly already are worried about it and it all comes down to how you deal with that worry. Whatever you decide you are obviously struggling to make the best decision for everyone involved and nobody will be able to fault you for that. Frankly even a trained professional probably wouldn't be able to rule anything out or make a diagnosis at this point. However a trained professional - perhaps just your mom's GP who would be aware of the family history - will know the proper protocol to follow and how to check through the criteria that may give some indication.

It very easily could be absolutely nothing, it very well could be something, and it could even be that the events you noted aren't relevant but with her age and family history it is still prudent to begin some sort of testing/monitoring. Anxiety and worry stems from indecision and lack of direction, while peace of mind comes from acting on any plan whether or not it is the best one. Posting here was a good first step, and talking to someone with experience (as in an Alzheimer's specific site as I mentioned before) is a good second one. Whatever you decide to do after that though make sure that the course of action is well defined and you stick to it as opposed to letting uncertainty linger on. Choosing to let it be is still a choice and better is 'let it be until I note 2 more instances' or something like that. Again there is established diagnostic criteria about how many instances is normal that you could find out from a professional.

My apologies if I said absolutely nothing helpful with respect to if you should ignore it or not, but that was by design. Nobody here is in the position to diagnosis your Mom, and I hope nothing I said influenced the eventual outcome of your predicament too much one way or the other as in the end it will be on you.

I felt though that you just wanted to lay it all out and hash through it which I hope I've helped do.

Best of luck,
 
This is a serious question, but was your mother on drugs at the time that you know of? Does she take a lot of prescription medications? Does she tend to be an abnormally tired person who suffers from a lot of insomnia (staying up really late watching TV, for example)?

It's possible for people to do dangerous things when they're tired. I've left boiling water on the stove and went to bed, only to be awoken by the smoke alarm as the pot handle starts melting... and I'm nowhere near the age range of Alzheimers.

Does Alzheimer's run in your mom's side of the family?

In order to suspect Alzheimer's you have to rule out many other things.
 
Hey bud. First sorry your going throught this..I'm not expert by any means, but foreigner made a good point about medications..I've work w/ alAlzheimer's and dementia patients for almost 3 years now, so I know how tough it can be, but there are many things that could be going on..she could just be really stressed out or underslept..I personally think for now you should try and forget about it.
Best of luck.
 
This is a serious question, but was your mother on drugs at the time that you know of? Does she take a lot of prescription medications? Does she tend to be an abnormally tired person who suffers from a lot of insomnia (staying up really late watching TV, for example)?

It's possible for people to do dangerous things when they're tired. I've left boiling water on the stove and went to bed, only to be awoken by the smoke alarm as the pot handle starts melting... and I'm nowhere near the age range of Alzheimers.

Does Alzheimer's run in your mom's side of the family?

In order to suspect Alzheimer's you have to rule out many other things.

Hey, cheers for the reply. She isn't on medication, I know this because she would tell me and I have never known her to be on medication of any sort. She doesn't take drugs or drink very much (especially during the day). She also goes to be at a reasonable time and get up and does her day of whatever it is that she does.

I think I can safely rule out medication and tiredness.

Maybe it was just a mistake but and it wont happen again. I'll just keep a lookout.

BTW: It does run in her side of the family, grandma has early onset.
 
Is your mom lazy? I mean... does she do the same routine every single day, without much change? That can cause more rapid onset. When the mind is challenged with new information, it can help maintain the neural integrity. Something like sitting in front of the TV all evening would make the brain lazy. A nootropic like hydergine can also prevent the degeneration, but it's Rx only.

Definitely keep your eyes open for anymore unusual incidents, but also remember that lazy minds tend to forget things easily, even something like leaving the iron on.
 
Just these few things, wouldnt make me worry too much, but keep an eye out for more. Also can attest to TV melts your brains:-) kill your tv!:-)
 
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