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She sometimes doesn't recognize me or her home has wandered off an the police found her and brought her home we bought her a tracking device she wears God forbid it happen again. She continues to have hallucinations an is often confused and doesn't recognize her home an think she is somewhere else an gets confused about night an day. It's so sad to see my mother like this my wife an I are doing all we can an are debating on moving in with her to help out. Sometimes I just feel helpless

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A couple of weeks ago I attended an all-day conference on Dementia. One of the break-out sessions I attended was on the state of research. To date, there have been 5 drugs approved for treating dementia. There are none currently in the pipeline to be tested on humans.

The speaker said that the current 5 drugs, including Namenda, are somewhat helpful for some people but none of them has a stellar track record. During the question period he answered that "There is no current way to change the trajectory of the disease. None of the 5 has been shown to slow down progression."

If Namenda helped your loved one for a few months, it was worth taking. If it is no longer helpful, it would make sense to stop it (after consulting her doctor.) That means there are 4 other dementia drugs that could be tried, if her doctor thinks it worthwhile at her stage.

There are additional drugs (not developed specifically for dementia) that can help with some of the symptoms.

Have a heart-to-heart discussion with the doctor who is monitoring Mom's dementia. What other drugs, if any, might be useful.

This year's conference focused more on non-pharmaceutic treatment. Who we interact with our loved ones who have dementia and how we arrange their environment can have as much benefit as some drugs.

Before you make decisions about how best to care for Mom, learn all you can about her disease and about interacting with people who have it. You moving in with her might be awesome, but it might be even more awesome to have her in a care center near you, so you could visit as a loving son often.

Browse this forum for personal stories about moving in with Mom and about placing a loved one in a care center. Don't make any decisions without doing a lot of research.
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Please get mom to a safe facility. Namenda is useful to slow down the progression of dementia, but if she is already in later stages, it will not reverse the damage she already has. Get her to memory care, PLEASE.
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Your mom's dementia seems pretty advanced, is she living on her own? You need to educate yourself about dementia before you jump to the rescue. Are you prepared to put your life on hold for years as the disease progresses? Are you OK with the thought of caring for not only her mental but physical changes such as incontinence, bathing and personal care? There are meds to control her moods and anxiety, but it sounds as though you need to consider memory care.
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