Who knows?

If on Medicare, you are supposed to ask her Primary Doctor to refer you to a Geriatric Specialist or Neurologist. Tell her regular doctor your concerns about her dementia progression. Her Primary Doctor is supposed to find and refer you to other specialists in your area.

That way you have her Primary Doctor in the loop, and will see a specialist too. The specialist will do the various testing and know the proper medications. GP doctors don't know that much about it. Mom will be easier to deal with and feel safer with her regular doctor she knows is "helping her out." She will (hopefully) listen and cooperate with the specialist her Primary Doctor sends her to.

If you don't like the new specialist, ask her Primary to try another one. I ended up getting a terrible Neurologist, who was rude and didn't return calls. We got a fabulous Endocrinologist who has worked miracles! Trust your gut.

Make sure you like the specialist, since you end up going to the specialist more than the Primary doctor.

Lol needs help , I don't need auto correct to make me look stupid so don't feel bad 😉

You need c a neurologist. He will run the necessary tests to determine what type of Dementia she has. This i no portant to get the correct meds.

A GP knows a little about everything and alot about nothing.
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I think it's helpful to have a doctor who is experienced in working with dementia patients. Mostly you want a doc who can help with accurate diagnosing and can prescribe meds for depression, anxiety, agitation, etc. Whether this is a gerontologist (who are very hard to find in my area) or a neurologist or a good internist or GP. A good doc knows when something is out of their league and can refer you on to an appropriate specialist at an appropriate time.

My mother has Kaiser Advantage and she was referred to a gerontologist s soon as she was diagnosed with dementia. Although they don’t specialize in dementia specifically, they do specialize in health concerns of the aged and dementia is one problem common in that age group. They are also trained in things like how the body of elderly processes medications differently than younger people. I also suspect they may be more compassionate towards the elderly, and likely to try and stay updated on various treatments for them due to the fact that they chose to specialize in caring for them. It’s a relatively new specialty so finding one may not be as easy as we would hope.

There is nothing much that a specialist doctor can tell you about dementia. There are no cures. It is still the case that they can’t analyse the plaques until the sufferer is dead. To learn about dementia, there is probably more practical experienced information on this site than in most doctor’s offices, and certainly more information about caring.

If your M is happy and comfortable with her doctor, I’d stay stick with that. You can find lots of information on the site, so explore it. Click on ‘Care Topics at the top right of the screen, then on D for dementia – and the right letter for all the other types of dementia. You can also use the magnifying glass symbol to find many more thread from people who have been in your situation.

If you find out as much as you can now, then decide to go to ‘higher’ medicos, you will have more sensible questions to ask, so it’s not a waste of time.

Hi needs help . I hope you are doing well, thank you for commenting. Its not that I am unhappy with her doctor,we have no issues, I just can't help but wonder if she is getting all she can in regards to meds and I could use some insight as far as some of her behaviors go . Do I need a referral ?

Ckamelian,

Mt mom had Parkinson’s disease and dementia. She saw her primary care doctor and a neurologist.

Are you dissatisfied with her current doctor? What type of issues are you facing?

There are geriatric doctors that specialize in caring for the elderly.

Is your mom on any medication? Do you think her meds need adjusting?

Wishing you all the best as you continue on your caregiving journey. It’s hard. I hope that you have help so you can take necessary breaks.

Take care.