Wife (early 60s) is rapidly declining mentally. Am trying to figure out what to expect - is there a forum with case histories?

HI - thank you very much everyone for the detailed responses. She has had a lot of physical tests (ct scans, ut scans of arteries, multiple MRIs, etc.) and the only thing obvious is nonactive/questionable parts of the brain. Pick's disease?/Silent strokes?/Nothing conclusive. The concensus seems to be vascular dementia from what I can gather. She has had extensive mental evaluations/testing (just had another set two weeks ago and will get the report tomorrow). She is at the dementia stage 6 level bordering on 7 as far as I can tell by taking the online tests. She is VERY mobile but her mind just does not work well at all (can't complete a sentence or find the bathroom many times, forgets kids or grandkids or other people, has no clue who the president is or what state she is in or the date/season/etc). I understand that many people have many different causes and respond in different ways - that said, I think that there is some consistency in the mental decline due to dementia itself from what I have read (forgetting people, longterm and/vs shortterm degradation, fear, depression, confusion, etc.). I am hoping to get an idea of what we can expect by not only "trend monitoring" of her decline but also considering the experiences of others. Again, thanks for the comments!

The OPs profile says ALZ/Dementia. Its part of the profile questions. ALZ runs in my family. It "usually" doesn't progress this fast. My Aunt lived over 12 yrs with it. ALZ even though under the Dementia umbrella effects the brain differently than other Dementias and is hereditary.

Dementia is so different in everyone. There are basic stages but they can over lap. Your wife is so young. Not that there aren't people on the forum that aren't caring for people your wifes age. There are and some of the Caregivers are the husbands so ur not alone.

We can only tell you our stories. A few of us are professionals, like nurses. You have described Dementia perfectly. I would wonder though why your wifes seems to be progressing so quickly. I hope you are taking her to a Neurologist. That tests have been run to rule out other causes for the decline. Low potassium, diabetes, UTI and other factors.

Has your wife been diagnosed with progressive dementia and if so what the cause of it is? Whether, and if, she has one of the 4 major causes like Alzheimer's, Lewy body, frontal temporal or vascular, what you can expect differs in each case. In fact, even knowing the cause won't insure that everyone progresses the same- they don't. Once you know the cause of dementia, you can educate yourself by Googling “dementia”, Alzheimer's, etc. Clinical websites like webmd, or mayo clinic will site symptoms, prognosis and treatment options (of which there are few). You can get expert caregiver advice from YouTube videos like Teepa Snow, dementia careblazers, and mmlearn. Books are excellent resources. “The 36 Hour Day”, “Learning to Speak Alzheimer's” and “The Dementia Handbook” are written for the caregiver. They are available at your library or on Amazon. Caregiving is not for the faint of heart. The more you know, the better caregiver you will be.

"When you've met one person with dementia, you've met one person with dementia..."

Nobody can tell you what to expect when it comes to your wife and your feelings. Sorry.

She's very young and her disease does sound very aggressive. Are you happy with the input you're getting from her medical/care team?

Honestly, your best resource right now is a complete physical by her doctor and the Alzheimer's Association website -- Alz.org

Does your wife have an actual diagnosis of ALZ by a doctor? There are other medical issues that can cause similar symptoms, like a UTI or thyroid problem. If she has not been seen by a doctor please do so asap. It's helpful for us on the forum to know the answer to this question so that you get the best guidance.