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myssi45 Asked February 2016

Does anybody know the stages of Parkinson's and dementia?

My husband is 71 years old, from the symptoms he has had Parkinsons for about 7 to 8 yrs. He was diagnosed last year and is on Sinemet 3 times a day and Aricept once. He no longer works because he was self employed and felt it was a safety hazard. He just sleeps alot, rarely watches TV with me and talks some. His voice is soft and he sometimes wakes believing his dreams are real, asking me things like where's the baby? We don't have little babies anymore. He also acts out his dreams, moving, kicking, talking. They say he has moved to moderate Parkinsons and Dementia, where is this in stages? I just love him so much and am afraid of losing him. He's already so different but still so loving and caring. Is Parkisonian dementia the same as the others, will he forget who I am? Thank you for any help.

jeannegibbs Sep 2016
Frustrating, your best bet for understanding where your husband is in his journey with Parkinsons with Dementia is to discuss it with the specialists who are treating him.

Alzheimer's Dementia follows a fairly predictable course and the "stages" are well documented. That simply is not true for most other kinds of dementia. For you husband, there are deposits of a particular type of protein forming in his brain and interfering with its functioning. Depending on where those deposits form he has physical symptoms (Parkinson's) and/or cognitive symptoms (Lewy Body Dementia). There does not seem to be a predictable pattern to the development. It can start with mostly physical symptoms or mostly cognitive symptoms, for example.

His doctors may tell you that your husband is in a moderate phase or that he is nearly the end or that his symptoms are mild. They will probably not tell you that he is in stage 6 or stage 4 -- that just doesn't apply to your husband's type of disease.

Frustrating Sep 2016
How can i tell what stage his parkinsons and dementia is in?

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Frustrating Sep 2016
How can i tell what stage.my husbands dementia and parkinson is in

pargirl Apr 2016
I don't know why some develop Lewey Body dementia and some don't. My FIL lost his battle with Parkinson's to bad fall and broken hip at 84. His journey with Parkinson's was 10 years. He had a lot of issues with Parkinsons but dementia was not one of them thank goodness. God Bless to all of those that battle both.

CaringForTwo Apr 2016
Myssi my heart goes out to you. My dear husband also has Parkinsons, but not the dementia diagnosis, although I am told that is a stage he will eventually move into. I see signs of it, he is making mistakes he would never have in the past.

Parkinsons proceeds differently for each patient, but it sounds like you now need to focus on the dementia aspect. You need information and support.
I recently discovered a caregivers support group that meets weekly in my town, and am struggling to carve out the two hours to attend. It is a place for venting, getting advice, sympathy, information - and the rule is that whatever is said in the group stays there, so it also feels very safe.

I urge you to ask the doctor or nurse where your husband was diagnosed for good sources of information and possible support groups.
Keep posting here and searching this site too for information. The experience and compassion of the caregivers posting here is invaluable.

myssi45 Apr 2016
Well, they changed his diagnosis. It was Parkinsons with Dementia, now its Dementia with Parkinsons. He is forgetting more and getting more confused. He knows who I am still, he remembers that hes always called me Precious, but he cant remember my name lots of times. I'm okay with that, he knows me, loves me and knows I love him and thats what counts, I guess. Thank you all for your help, knowing your there helps a lot.

tdnp37 Mar 2016
I feel and pray for all. I am going through it with my Dad. This is all new to me so all who have posted has really helped! Sometimes it is too much but you can't walk away. He gets angry sometimes and demands to move out of his assisted living place which is so nice and they are such good people. I work over 40 hrs a week and can not be home to take care of him like he needs. It is so hard. He thinks he can drive and before I moved him in there he tried and have the dents in his car to prove it. I was so terrified he would hurt him self or someone else. He for gets things but not people yet. Thank you everyone for the posts again!

Bowlergirl1106 Mar 2016
There is a type of Parkinson's disease that includes dementia, it is called Leweys Body Dementia. My husband has been diagnosed with this and is 3 years into our journey. He did remarkable when first started on Aricept; he was able to figure out how to put shoes and socks on again. Aricept tends to work well for about 2 years and then the symptoms start returning. He recently has his Ned increased and though it's helped he is "losing" himself. I believe he will pass before he completely forgets everything. Leweys Body patients life expectancy isn't as long as some of the other types of dementia. I would suggest the book The 36 Hour Day, it's about living with someone who has Alzheimer's one of the most recognized types of dementia.

Daughterof1930 Mar 2016
Trying to answer, but also know I'm not completely informed here and hope someone with more info will help me out. We have a family friend who is diagnosed with a particular type of Parkinson's that is associated with dementia more than standard Parkinson's disease. Sound familiar to anyone? This man is in his late 40's now. So, I'm wondering if this may be the type of Parkinson's your husband may be dealing with. No one can say for sure how quickly his symptoms may progress or if he will forget you, sadly those are things you have to live out to know. I'm sorry you're having to watch this progression with your husband and glad he has you in his corner to love and care for him.

pargirl Mar 2016
Although my FIL did not have this he did have to have a feeding tube due to low voice and swallowing problems. Please look up Lewey Body Dementia. This is a dementia that goes along with Parkinson's. I have a couple of friends that are going through this now. ONe with their father, the other with her husband. Parkinson's is as hard as dementia/alz. (I'm going through alz/dem. with my mom and did with my grandmother also). They are all so hard and I pray everyday for a cure or at least a better life with medication. Good luck and God Bless....

Isabelsdaughter Mar 2016
My mother never forgot who I was. Never. She forgot who my niece was though and called her by my name towards the end.

Cherokeelady54 Mar 2016
Dementia and alzheimer is almost the same its just a different name where they gradually lose reality slowly in a few years it gets worse at the last stage

Midkid58 Mar 2016
My grandfather had dementia--but this was many years ago. He just slowly faded out. I am pretty sure he was on no medications--it was hard to watch this sweet man be angry or frustrated at times.

Daddy had Parkinson's. The dementia was the last stage. (That is not true in all patients, so don't just take my word, that's just how dad's progressed) It was sad, and he was depressed because he was aware of it, but we did take excellent care of him and he had a lot of visitors and family. At the end, mother just asked for only family as he didn't know many of us. It's not great and I wish I could paint a better picture. Everyone seems to move on their own timeline with this disease. Daddy, at least, did not experience anger--which is perhaps one of the scarier side effects of Parkinson's. He got sweeter and more loving each day.

I hope you can have the same experience. My heart goes out to you.

MrsBrendaAnn1 Mar 2016
Gee I thought it was alsheimer that caused our love ones to forget whom we are. Thank goodness my mom is not to that point but I have wondered if she has Parkinsins since sometime she cannot get her legs to move or her fingers to grab to even poor a bowl of cereal.

Cherokeelady54 Mar 2016
I know with just dementia they do eventually forget who you are,my mother forgot who i was cause she tells me,i dont know who you are,and when i tell her she tells me no your not my daughter i have no kids, but she has 5 kids all grown up and two just passed away recently and i couldn't even tell her cause she would not even remember

freqflyer Feb 2016
For the stages of dementia, there is a very good section on Aging Care that is related to this subject. Click on https://www.agingcare.com/Alzheimers-Dementia and scroll down to the articles you need, there is a separate one on the different stages.

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