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My father has had three episodes in the last 2 weeks. He becomes uncontrollable, speaks unintelligible words and curses for several minutes, then he relaxes and sleeps for a couple of hours.

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Swearing isn't at all at odds with certain stages of AD. Also, the aggression can be part of it, often, as noted, brought on by frustration and/or fear.

I agree that he needs to have a thorough exam to look for an infection or other cause of this behavior. His medications and his med schedule need to be checked over, too. If none of these are the problem, then perhaps the doctor could prescribe something to help.

I've seen several comments on antipsychotics that have helped some people. Sometimes they work miracles, but other times they make matters worse. This type of therapy isn't generally a first choice but the do have their place with certain patients.

If your dad is given any new medication, monitor how it's taken and how your dad responds as it absorbs as well as over time. Keep in contact with the doctor. There may be several med changes needed to find the right drug that can help.

Good luck. This is terribly hard on all of you who love him,
Carol
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agitation in dementia often is the result of lack of control. i never lifted a finger to help my mother without first asking her if she wanted my help. my sis on the other hand would hover, take control away and generally be an annoyance. mother pushed her caregiving away more than a few times over the years.
lol. i learned a valuable lesson as a much younger man one day trying to corral a 300 + lb sow onto a truck. i was young and stupid and crowding the hogs thought process. the wise farmer told me you have to give a 300 lb hog time to think or he'll break both your legs and flip your truck.
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If he was Irish and this happened on St. Patrick's Day I would not be alarmed. However, he is just as toxic and the cause needs to be identified, stroke or kidney failure or even thyroid malfunction. When he is delirious dial 911 and transport to the ER.
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When ALZ took general control of my mother, she would go into rages and swear like a truck driver (No insult intended toward truck drivers!) and throw things and be a terror to whomever she was around. Once the meds started working, she totally stopped the rages and became more calm. Now she's sweeter than she ever was. We eventually had to reduce her "antipsychotics" because she was sleeping too much, but even at a lower dose, the drugs work fine.
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My Mother n law had more and more frequent outbursts of rage and verbal abusiveness toward my Husband and i. We finally spoke with her Dr.and he put her on AntiPsychotics.It has helped tremendously. She also suffers from hallucinations and the alzheimers meds have not really addressed this issue.She hasd been tested for UTI's and other infections which have all been negative. These are all associated with the alzheimers disease.
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I don't know if they're automatic symptoms, but my mild-mannered grandma started doing all that as she got sick. With regard to being physically out-of-control, be aware of that. Someone in this list mentioned trying to ask before helping the person they're caring for, and that's one way to be careful about this. But my point is that, as frail as they might seem, when my tiny grandma got agitated, she was very strong. She would push hard and it's possible that, if the circumstances had been right, that she could have pushed my mother (caregiver) to fall and be hurt, maybe down the stairs while being helped up or down, or just catching my mom unaware and throwing her off-balance. I want to specifically mention this because, if you haven't dealt with this, before, could really be hurt. They're not doing it to be mean, just maybe more out of frustration and not realizing what they're doing. I just mean that you need to be aware of this.
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Yes. Although each dementia patient is unique.
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Yes outbursts and the slip of the tongue are very likely to happen. However you mentioned a few episodes where this happened, you may want to have him checked for a UTI as this can change their behavior. If he is fussed over too much and he is not welcoming it then it will cause an outburst. But I would definitely have him checked by a Dr.
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My Mom has acute dementia and has been progressively been losing her short term memory (from 1 day -to- 15 min - to now- less than a minute) over the last two years. During the last 6 months she has had fits of control-freak anger. Her granddaughter (their have always been very close) moved in with my Mom with her young son. (My niece, myself and my siblings were all for this. My Mother often said that would be a nice arrangement after my Dad passed away). However, my Mom now wants the house empty and dark when she goes to bed (at about 7 PM) and throws a fit and uses foul language with my Niece and her son. I understand that part of it is motivated by a feeling of a loss of control, and by a "sun-downer syndrome" trigger; but my Niece and son also need a peaceful place to live. My 90+ yo Mom is strong and (walker level) ambulatory, and moves around the house quickly when she gets into her fits and could easily hurt herself or one of the other two. We have tried several approaches to reduce this behavior to a minimum and have come to a point of trying some atypical anti-psychotic drugs (with her primary MD and a consulting Psychologist advice). The drug seems to help in reducing the outburst but doesn't completely eliminate them. We are trying a slow ramp up (titration) in hopes of finding the "right dosage" that balances affect with risk (all drugs have risks). It seems to be working somewhat and has promise to be a solution for a relatively peaceful home environment that will allow my Mom to stay in her home. You might consider such an approach with your Mom's MD and a referred Psychologist.
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Hell yes! I've been called names I wouldn't use, had things tossed at me, and had my Mom attempt to strangle me (and she used to go after me, but I learned to run fast and installed a lock on the door). Now I look back and see it with some humor. I sure as hell didn't at the time. But my Mom is starting to get worse very quickly and it makes me sad.
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