Hi,
My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in the past year. She is now in a memory care facility, but recently, her behavior has become overly aggressive and almost violent. She hit anothe resident so that they required medical attention and then pulled the fire alarm. We worry about her being kicked out. Most of the other residents have Alzheimers, so they don't have as much experience dealing with LBD. We like the staff for the most part and would like to not have to find a new place.
She has been seen by a neurologist and has a follow-up appointment in the next week. But I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with LBD with a family member and or medications or other ways of dealing with the aggression.
My husband is going to talk with the neurologist about her medications. Currently, she is on Donepezil and Seroquel.
When patients or loved ones get to this extreme, they usually end up in psychiatric care for as long as its needed.
The unfortunate thing about drug management is that it is very difficult to find medications that do not cause worries over balance (often a problem with Lewy's), apathy, appetite loss, falls, and etc. Moreover, often, when a medication cocktail is working, it works only for a certain period of time. This is entering into catch-22 areas where there just isn't a good answer. I sure wish you the best.