Medications are helping my husband so much, how will the doctor know if his dementia has gotten worse?

Is the test you are referring to a neuropsychological test, normally ordered by a neurologist? My reading indicates that a series of these tests measures the progression of the dementia and the effectiveness of the medications he's taking. Here's a link for an interesting article about how it works.

http://www.alz.org/georgia/documents/role_of_the_neuropsychologist_in_AD.pdf

Thank you Sunnygirl1, they did do an initial CT scan so I guess that can tell the progression. Also I guess if they did test him the tests would be a little harder than drawing a circle and making a clock and setting it at 10:30. He did that ok but at first made the hands of the clock the same length but then he corrected it. Thank you again..

The medications only slow down the progression of the dementia. They don't disguise it or mask it. As well as your husband is doing on the medications the dementia is still progressing which will be evident in his next round of testing.

Also, I think it's wonderful that your husband is doing so well!

Thank you so much. I am overjoyed. I am enjoying minute to minute. But every morning I wake up I wonder what the day will be like. I CAN tell he has Dementia now. Such an evil demonistic disease to rob people of their mind.

tarajane, what difference would it make if the meds made it hard to determine exactly the degree of change? Really? You still have to deal with what you face everyday. Some days will always be harder than other days. If the tests were to say "he is now 8% percent worse than he was 6 months ago," but your experience with him is much better, what would the test results do for you? And if the tests claim he is stable but you are tearing your hair out because his behavior is worse, again, what is the value of the tests to you?

My husband had a half-day worth of testing every year. This was partially for research purposes. And it helped the team adjust his treatment plan. During the testing a specialist also had a long interview with me, and by the time the doctor saw us together the next day he was well-informed about test results and my husband's home behavior. I'm in favor of testing.

But don't expect test results to have a big impact on your daily life.

Thank you jeannegibbs, today is not a good day for me (oh poor me) but today I don't expect much of anything right now at least for today.