My mother is 67 she will get up at 3:00 to 4:00 in the morning sit in the recliner with all the lights in the house on and no TV and staring to space I will get up and find it like this and I don't know how many hours it would be or I will find her in bed with her bedroom light on in the hallway light on along with the bathroom light and just laying there scratching your head staring into space I asked her what's wrong and she looks at me and says nothing why? So I will turn the lights off get her some water and put it right back to bed and turn her TV to something that will play on
Read Teepa Snow's website.
Buy a book or two on dementia. There are many out there.
Gena / Touch Matters
My mother refuses to be diagnosed. We have the funds to provide 24/7 care in my parents home with my father who can stand, but not transfer on his own. We had 15 hr care before my mother fell (probably a TIA given the recovery) and her memory and behavior completely changed. She refused medical care so we called Hospice and because we had already moved to 24/7 care, they visited once a week and provided items (i.e. had we not had caregivers, they would have managed some other supports.) Now my mom is "back" ... sort of and using her walker all the time. She is still trying (stubborn and proud) to find moments not to use the walker. Hospice may discharge her today but her blood pressure runs about 200. I know, complete danger and could be regulated with meds (tested out on an urgent care visit she insisted upon), but she refuses meds (I don't take medicine! and shoves them away). We're all past fighting with her though we find moments to make changes...like the bedroom - set up just like the old one though smaller. She still tries to use her original room sometimes (no surprise).
She won't use the care bell (strung on her walker because she forgets it, will lay on it and got bruising on her ribs) so we moved her to a room next to the caregiver (we provide a room in the home) rather than the "master" on the other side of the house. My mother is up and to the bathroom 2-5 times a night and often wanders. Like a mother with a new born, we listen for movement and let her do her thing as long as she is not in danger. We'll (care team members) ask if she wants water.
Yes, something is going on and its her life. My mom is belligerent at times and sweet at times are we are never sure nap to nap who we will get. And...she'll not get a diagnosis from the only doc that would possibly do it...who simply says "she's getting old".
Life just is sometimes. I don't live in the same state. Visit two weeks every month to take care off finances and the house itself (caregivers can do that). This trip it was pool timer and door bell chime and cockroach elimination. It's crazy and I'm glad I have a technical brain.
May each make decisions and hold to them until another viable solution (idea relative to resources and practical to personal circumstances) comes along. Only guarantees are taxes and change.
Even if she does not have Parkinson's this presentation can give you an idea of what neuropsycologist testing should be like. When my husband was tested, we were told he did not show signs of Alzheimers at that time. There is a variety of dementia diagnoses and it is very helpful to know which one to receive proper treatment to slow the progression.
Most of all if you are feeling like there is something wrong there probably is so be proactive.
Does mother have any history at all of mental illness? Depression?
How does your mother go about her daily life? What activities does she have in home or outside of the home?
What discussions have you had with mother when, for instance, you find her sitting up at 3 a.m. with all the lights on?
What does she say when you sit down and talk to her about this?
Does mother have an MD?
Are you medical POA or on her advance directives?
Is there forgetfulness?
I think that you know already that your next steps need to be to the MD office for an assessment for Mom. Has this been discussed with her?
I look forward to your answers and hope you will participate on this thread.
First start planning…who can be POA…see an elder care attorney to help with legal stuff. Also start planning for care…is there family who can care for her or will she need a facility? Who is paying for care? Does she have funds? Will family help pay or will she need to go on Medicaid? Medicaid rules vary by state, so find either elder care attorney or social worker can explain rules. Basically to qualify for Medicaid, she cannot have much in asssets or they will require her to pay. Also, she can’t give away her assets…Medicaid has a 5 r look back at financial records…any funds magically disappearing in prior 5 yrs of her applying for Medicaid will be examined.
Care in a facility or having home care can be very expensive. Having family do care can be grueling…it’s a very hard job.
Get diagnosis first, then attorney and or social worker to help with plans and rules.
At 67, this would be no ordinary cognitive "age related" cognitive decline. It may be ALZ, which is one type of dementia that can come on at a really early age. The only sure way to diagnose most dementias is to discount any other health issue with symptoms that can mimic dementias.
AnnReid mentioned thyroid and this is correct. Also, a UTI, stroke, tumor, vitamin deficiency (if she is an alcoholic Vitamin D is doesn't get readily absorbed), and other mostly treatable problems. She will need a neuropsych exam by a neurologist (scans, other testing).
BarbBrookly mentioned depression, and she should definitely be checked for this.
My cousin was 68 when they first saw obvious signs of a cognitive problem but it was masked by a thyroid issue: her ALZ made her forgetful so she wasn't taking her thyroid meds properly. This caused her to lose weight (she was already a thin person but became emaciated), which caused her prescription to not be appropriate since it is weight-based. It became a circular problem since no one suspected that she had ALZ... she was "too young". Now she is 71 and mostly bedridden. It's been a fast trajectory for her (this is not the case for everyone), so no time to lose with your Mom. I wish you all the best.
My mother developed different sleep/awake habits in her 50s, when my father was on a Nightshift schedule at work, and never returned to more typical sleep times until she entered residential care at 90.
I’d want to know scores from a thorough Thyroid screening, and that would show up in a comprehensive blood test too.
When was her last physical and complete blood tests?
Has she been screened for depression?
Perhaps your mother just has some insomnia, and instead of just lying in her bed trying to sleep she gets up to sit in her chair.
Your mother is young to have any of the dementias,(though there is early onset Alzheimer's)and really what you're describing doesn't at all sound like any of them.
And sun downing happens typically later in the afternoon going into the evening when yes, the sun is going down, thus the name. With sundowners folks are often much more confused, anxious, and aggressive. They can also pace or wander more then as well.
So what you've described doesn't sound like dementia or sundowners at all, but if you're concerned why don't you make an appointment for your mother to have a thorough check up/physical at her doctors. Any concerns and questions you may have can be addressed then.