New to this forum need advice. Hello i am new to this forum so please bear with me. Let me give you a little background, i am the youngest of ten children, my mother and father are Irish immigrants. My mom has told me stories of her mother dying from possible Alzheimers, but it was in the 50's in Ireland so it wasnt really a topic then. Here lies my issue, my mom is 79 and i moved 3 hrs away from her over 4 years ago. The past 4 years she has had some MINOR memory issues like anyone would have, loosing keys,ect. The beginning of this month is when it all started. My older sisters would call her in the early evening (yes im thinking sundowning) and she was saying that family members were in her apartment that were not there. This is so sudden and i want to know if anyone has ever heard or had any experience of such sudden onset of dementia? We did have her checked for a UTI but was negative. Her blood work was ok although her B12 was low but not low enough to cause hallucinations. We can not figure out what is going on with this being such a sudden onset? If anyone has any similar experiences please let me know as we are all kind of in denial and just cant believe its happening this fast.
You have certainly done the right things to rule out some of the treatable possibilities.
Do any of you live close enough to see her regularly? Does she have symptoms in addition to these delusions/hallucinations? How is she at managing her finances? Not paying bills, paying some bills twice, sending money to the wrong places ... these kinds of things can indicate the beginning of dementia. Is she having a difficult time with decisions that she used to make easily? Any changes in her depth perception? Any problems falling? I know that we think of dementia as a disease mainly of memory, but there are many other aspects to dementia, and different kinds of dementia have different primary symptoms.
I would suggest that you (especially any of you living near her) observe her closely for a while. Keep a notebook of anything unusual that you notice. If/when you are able to get Mom to a specialist, "for a baseline evaluation", you can summarize your observations for that doctor, in advance of the appointment.
I know by experience that sudden onset dementia is certainly possible. A few episodes of delusions do not prove dementia, but they are suggestive enough to warrant further observation.
Good luck! Keep in touch.
If your mother is anxious about the thought of having tests, explain that (this is true) you're concerned she might have had a small stroke and could be heading for a much worse one - which can easily be prevented, so it's terribly important to get checked out as soon as she possibly can. Then have a quiet word with her doctor before the appointment, and s/he should be able to take it from there. Good luck, hope it turns out well.
There was a TV show where a woman would "sundown" because she was restricting her fluids too much at night. Once the genius doctor figured it out, everything was hunky-dory. I hope you get a magical cure too - but it's not likely.
Good luck from one Irish Lass to another. :-)