Is this the beginning of Alzheimer’s?

A couple of years before my mother was formally diagnosed with progressive dementia, she started viciously lashing out at a few caregivers in the ALF she was living in with my dad. I was shocked to hear the level of nastiness coming out of her mouth, including curse words, hurled at one of the nicest gals that she really liked a lot. She wound up calling her a lazy B and all sorts of things one day for practically NO reason at all. Mind you, my mother has always been rather mean and nasty, but was able to keep it HIDDEN; then one day, the mask started to fall off. She couldn't hide the ugliness anymore, and that's when I knew something was wrong. She wound up getting formally diagnosed 2 years later after I begged the ER doc to admit her after ANOTHER trip to the hospital for vertigo. He agreed, she got admitted, tested for cognitive issues, and was diagnosed at that time.

That was in 2016; she scored an 18 (out of 30) on the MOCA (I think it was) test. Nowadays, in her last stint in rehab, she scored a 10. She lives in the Memory Care section of the ALF now and acts vicious quite often.

I'd get your mom to the doctor and express your concerns to him, as I did with mine. In my experience, there is no medication available to 'slow down' the progression of dementia. There are medications available to treat symptoms of depression, aggression, anxiety, etc., but nothing I know of specifically designed to slow down the loss of brain function (unfortunately).

Wishing you the best of luck

Without a doctor testing her is is difficult to tell just from what you have said.
It could be the start of some form of dementia.
It could be simply a hearing problem, if she can not hear clearly there is plenty reasons to get upset and frustrated.

There are medications that may slow the progression of dementia. And the earlier they are taken the better.

The fact that she realizes what she has done, the fact that she is sorry for her outburst does not sound like dementia to me. (but I am not a doctor, don't even play one on TV)

Has anything else occurred in the past 6 months to a year that she may be depressed about? Depression can cause some of the same signs you might see in someone with dementia.

From what I have read, this could be a symptom of Dementia/Alzheimers.

I don't have any good answer for you :( Sorry. But I think it is a very good thing that your mom recognized that this isn't her normal behavior. If she is at all willing to go for the neurological evaluation, I would get that done. Maybe tell her that "it will be good to get a baseline evaluation done, just to be able to see if there are changes in the coming years" ??? If that will help soften it up a bit?

I am going through the very same thing, except my mom doesn't see it at all.

Mom just turned 75, and has experienced forgetful things, and it could just be old age. Hard to say. But the emotional outbursts, that are not in proportion with the situation . . . those are troubling. Many times, like your mom, it's because she didn't hear correctly or didn't quite understand something.

My sister witnessed one that really shocked her, the outburst was aimed at Step-dad. When mom left the room, sister apologized to him, and his response was "It's ok, I'm used to it" :( They have always been very "bicker - y" with each other. I'm often uncomfortable with their exchanges. But it really does seem to have escalated on her end a lot in the last year or so.

Sister and I are talking about how to talk with mom, and get her to go for the neurological evaluation to find out . . . . . but we haven't figured it out yet.

You're right to be worried, but (amateur guess, please note) perhaps not about Alzheimer's which typically has different early signs (e.g. getting lost on familiar routes, losing track of normally ingrained routines).

But anxiety and loss of social filters and extreme (for her) reactions are certainly worth investigating. The key point is that this is not normal *for* *her*; and marked changes in behaviour or mood should be checked out. Reassure her that this is a fact-finding exercise and not "the beginning of the end," and if she would like it then go with her to her doctor.

Could be almost anything, from a vitamin deficiency to brain chemistry imbalances (both correctable) to, yes, possibly more sinister causes which you should encourage her to worry about only if she gets to them. But whatever the reason it's more likely to be treatable or manageable if it's found out earlier on; and nothing is more frightening than the unknown. So best of luck to you both, please let us know what happens.