Can someone give me a brief description of what the early stages of dementia look like?

You know that something is off about your mom and that's good that you realize it. Many times someone with dementia or Alzheimer's can be slipping mentally but still retain their social skills and this confuses people. On the surface, to a Dr. or a friend or uninvolved family member your mom may seem fine. My dad didn't know where he was but he knew who the president was. Go figure.

But don't confuse social skills (or ability to have a polite conversation and chat) with rationale, like capnhardass said. My dad could sit and have a social conversation with someone, 'Hi, how are you?' type of thing but then put two shirts on a half an hour later.

You're noticing those little things and your mom is lucky that you do notice those things. You'll be on the lookout for things that might be a danger to your mom because of her dementia, even if it's in the early stages. We often don't realize that someone is a danger to themselves until they put themselves into a dangerous situation (leaving on the gas burners or wandering outside alone).

Thanks so much for the comments. I'm just....so lost, I guess. I know my mom is not the same and it's hard. My children are noticing things about her memory and confusion. I hope I'm able to get her doctor to take me seriously when I take her back on Monday.

First there is forgetfulness that is normal with age such as forgetting a word temporarily, eventually they remember...this is normal age related forgetfulness. Then there is confusion that sets in. In my mother's case, the confusion showed up after having an out patient hernia procedure. Her driving was restricted for the 3 three weeks. She needed to go to the hospital to pre register for a mammogram. She got confused about how to enter the hospital for outpatient procedures because they had done remodeling a few years earlier. (I live in the same city as mom,it is a small city)The way mom wanted to enter was the way they had patients enter during the remodel. That was the day after her her hernia procedure. A week later I took her somewhere else, and again, she was confused about the location. Her PCP is mine also, so I made an appointment with him. I told him I know you can't really talk with me about this but I am concerned....He said is this about your mom? I said yes...and I told him what was going on since she had the hernia surgery...he said...because mom had several memory tests prior to this, I am sorry, your mom has dementia. My mom had several memory tests because she was concerned due to family history, I was with her when she had these tests, but it was not until the confusion set in that I knew what was happening...my father passed away in 2003 from Alzheimer's so I knew what I was dealing with. This was in 2010, mom is now mentally incapacitated..,a=she refused to take Namenda to prolong the progression, She is now taking Namenda and an antidepressant because she does not understand what these drugs are for, she still maintains there is nothing wrong with her even though a neurologist has diagnosed her as mentally incapacitated. It is not just short term memory, my mom does not always the difference between me and my sister unless we are both with her at the same time, and she thinks my brother is her brother. She does not think her siblings have all passed so I just play along because it is not worth having her grieve over and over again Yes, short term memory is the primary trigger, having to repeat things over and over then it progresses to some on of the long term memory and you just have to go with flow. My mom has 3 sibs who died from Alzheimer's...all developed it in their 80's including my mom. Blessings to you, and I hope this helps!!Hugs

It starts out slow, things we feel we would forget ourselves.

.Like OncehatedDIL said phone dialing, checkbook.. But then it's like on steroids...
I know now I have to keep reminders for myself to check on things my Mom should be doing..Now it's daily she asks me what pills she should take, she doesn't want to shower, if she naps she doesn't know if it's morning or night when she wakes...She gets confused about what season it is..Turns on the TV remote and looks at the phone answering machine to come on..

She doesn't have much interest in seeing anyone or family.. If she is in a social situation she can't follow the conversation and would rather sit alone in front of the TV..

But ask her about where she went to high school or her Mom & Dad, she'll remember all that...

You notice it's short term memory they have trouble with...

For MIL with vascular dementia, she began having trouble specifically with short term memory.

She could still use her old phone on the wall, her cell phone became impossible for her.

She couldn't remember whether or not she had taken her meds, so she took them again.

The biggest marker was her checkbook. Writing checks became more and more difficult, math became impossible. We could see how far back the dementia had started being a problem by looking through several years past checkbook registers.

i can try. when the elders " irrationaltity " exceeds what can be blamed on personality and normal aging. its rationale that eludes my mom more and more . the irrational behavior may degenerate into combativeness as the disease progresses because nobody else is seeing things the way they do.