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Looby82 Asked April 2020

Are we doing enough to help my MIL?

Hi,


We've suspected for a while that my MIL has some form of dementia but haven't managed to convice her to go to the doctor.


Since she's been in isolation the problem has got worse - most likely due to the stress of the situation. She calls us up to 20 times within an hour to ask us the same questions, is obssessed with making sure we know when to pick up her medicine (we've assured her we know) and forgets how long she has been in the house as well as why she has to stay indoors.


I do feel she might be lonely and a that might be a bit behind the phone calls but she is never really interested in having a social chat if you know what I mean. We went round to her house the other day and spoke to her from a distance and she just seemed to want to rush us away.


We're convinced she needs to see a doctor and will work on making that happen once we're out of lockdown but is there anything that we could/should be doing for her now?


We're not in a position to let her move in with us because I work in a school one day a week and my husband is out working with the homeless - it just wouldn't be safe.


I'm doing her shopping and am satisfied she's doing OK physically, it's just the memory problems. She complains of migraines but we think that's down to macular degeneration in her eyes and watching TV. We also think she uses the word migraine to describe a headache - natively she's Portugeuse so probably a language issue. I just worry that by leaving it for the time being she could be missing out on treatment - I'm not sure what help is out there.


Thanks


Laura

MAYDAY Apr 2020
Plenty of probiotics and vitamin C

CharK60 Apr 2020
I doubt that you can get any treatment/testing done right now so you should keep in contact and continue with what you’re already doing.

My mom has been complaining about and treated for a UTI. We have even had home nursing here.

When the nurse updated doctor that she is still uncomfortable the doctor said, “she will just have to deal with it now. There are no appts for 2 - 3 months now.”

Sorry, charlotte

p.s. (I’ve been treating her for yeast infection.)
MAYDAY Apr 2020
Just tell the doctor to prescribe an antibiotic for UTI... He doesn't want to see her now, so just treat it as a UTI..Tell him be done with it. He can diagnose her when covid clears up... Seriously,, my friend's mom had these all the time, and finally got to point. just give her the meds.. if they don't work, I will drive her in..

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gladimhere Apr 2020
It may be dehydration, especially with the headaches. I only get headaches when I am not getting enough to drink. It may be possible to get her to drink more. Each time she calls remind her to drink some water. Maybe over the course of a couple of days, as she rehydrates, the calls will lessen.

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