Is there a timeline for Lewy bodies dementia?
Mother is aged 95, in assisted living , very bright, intense personality, vision issues, hearing issues , regular checks for UTI ‘s.Mom is from the generation when mental health was taboo and anyone needing a mental health evaluation was crazy ( she is fine it’s everyone else plotting against her) . She has been on seroquel for several months. She is sleeping much better. Her hallucinations and paranoia continue to become more frequent, all day , they are not pleasant. my question is in regards to a time line. It’s been about 18 months since her hallucinations began and they’ve increased in frequency. We are extremely frustrated with her continued ability to check all her billing, records and know exactly what medications she takes and when. We had to use our POA to get her treatment (medication). She has been told it’s a sleeping pill as she was unable to sleep. We had to pay out of our own pockets for psychiatric evaluation done at her facility , they visited her without her knowing what it was for( told her a fib) because it would show up on her bill and she’d flip out. We also have to pay for medication check ins . None of us ( sister and I ) can afford this we are all old and retired ourselves . Will see lose her ability to figure this out. We are afraid of her finding out and getting mad at us. She’s a scary type mother .
And at this point your mom should no longer have access to any of her accounts, so remove whatever it is that she's using to look at them whether it be a tablet or phone, and quit tip toeing around a woman who's brain is permanently broken.
It doesn't matter if she gets "mad" at you at this point, as all that matters is that she's now kept safe and is looked after for whatever time she may have left.
And it's always been my understanding that the life expectancy with Lewy Body dementia is 5-7 years as it's the second most aggressive of all the dementias.
In general, early stages involve confusion that comes and goes, hallucinations, and sleep issues. Middle stages bring more consistent confusion and movement problems (like Parkinson’s). Later stages involve severe cognitive decline and full-time care needs.
One thing to watch for is sudden changes—those aren’t always “progression” and can sometimes be caused by infections, dehydration, or medications, which may be treatable."
Information courtesy of ChatGPT5.3