Do you find that dementia is inconsistent?

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Grace1965 Asked July 2021

Do you find that dementia is inconsistent?

I feel like there are times of clarity during a day but then she (87 YO mom) will ask me something completely off like first thing in the morning she asks if it’s almost bed time. It just seems like a wave, up and down all day. She has a lot of issues with time of day, month and day of week. I guess I’m just asking if I am imagining things or if it happens in waves. I also believe she kind of hides her confusion sometimes. She will occasionally talk about me in the third person and then when I tell her I’m Grace. She kind of brushes it off and ignores it, wondering if that is common. Thanks all!

Alzheimer's & Dementia Dementia Behaviors

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score 1 · Answer 1

That is the "normal" of the disease, I have raised the question here awhile back as I was questioning my decision of placing my dad in an AL MC. at times he is perfectly lucid, coherent later on he calls me crying that there are spiders allover his room coming down from the ceiling, all over the walls and crawling up his legs. Another time he falls of his bed because the dog was stuck on the light fixture and he was trying to get the dog down. My dad at times confuses me with my sister, and asks me how (she) me is doing. The broken record of questions which has been asked and answered multiple times,

Welcome to the insane world of cognitive challenges. :-)

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score 2 · Answer 2

One of the things the memory care manager told me is that she believes dad dreams a lot and can't tell the difference between what is real and what is not.

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score 4 · Answer 3

Without question!
Last Tuesday I drove mom to Bingo. The whole trip takes les than 5 minutes. She was mad b/c people weren't flying the flag for flag day (it was July 13). I said "Because it's NOT flag day" and she wouldn't let go of it.

Picked her up and hour later and showed her a calendar and said "Mom, flad day was June 14th" and she said "Do you think I'm stupid? I KNOW when flag day is".

It's liek banging your head against the wall--the frustration is so great. I think her thought process just floats in and out of her head with no reasoning whatsoever.

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Oh bless your heart. I feel for you.
Kindred spirit, p

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score 5 · Answer 4

Every day, all day!

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score 1 · Answer 5

Yes! Inconsistent! Yes!

For example, Friday and Saturday were very good days for my wife who has dementia. We had normal conversations, etc. Today, starting at 5:30 am, she became very, very restless. She can not sit still. She’s made umpteen trips from the living room down the hall to the bathroom making u-turns and coming back. Wash, rinse, repeat. This has happened before; she’ll calm down sooner or later. No uti.

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score 2 · Answer 6

Yep, that's my dad. I never know which end of the spectrum I'm going to get when I go visit. Yesterday was more normal, grumpy him as he always used to be. I have figured out that he says a lot of things because he is wishing things are the way they used to be but says them in present tense. (I.e. "If I had a car, I'd drive myself to Seattle." "I can walk outside. My legs are plenty strong.") He hasn't driven in years. He is a 2 person lift from his wheelchair, and so on.

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score 3 · Answer 7

My Mom has PD and this comes with dementia. There are days when my Mom speaks in a clear loud tone with full memory and is able to carry on a normal conversation as if she only has physical symptoms....and then there are days when my Mom speaks in a whisper and can't remember the time.

Obviously we all prefer the good days.

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score 2 · Answer 8

Describing dementia symptoms as inconsistent is like saying the Pope is a nice guy. It is indeed an understatement. Words like unpredictable, puzzling, inexplicable, confounding, don't even begin to describe the behavior a person living with a dementia will exhibit. I can't tell you what to expect, but I can suggest you learn about dementia and it's causes. Begin by reading The 36 Hour Day and watching YouTube videos on dementia.

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