Follow
Share

My Mom just finished treatment for vascular insufficiency prior to the virus shutdown. It definitely improved her memory, so for sure her dementia issues were at least partially due to vascular dementia. I moved her in with my family because she could not shake some standing/sitting habits that were making her legs swell up every day (and during shutdown there were no activities at her senior living). She is sleeping on the bed in my home office. Every night for 7 nights straight, she has rearranged my office. For the first few days I asked her not to do it, but she claims that she didn't do it (so doesn't remember). I wondered if this compulsion was a side effect from her diuretic, but since being at my house we have been able to end the medication. She only rearranges things at night. Is this a symptom of Alzheimer's? Or is this still the vascular dementia? Her insistence that she did not do the rearranging (which is quite a bit of work!) is so odd...

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
It is hard to say your mom's behavior is caused by Alzheimer's or vascular dementia (VaD). If I had to give it a guess I would say VaD because that is what she was Dx with. Moreover, my mother use to and sometimes still does move things around and claims that she didn't do it!

I am sure others with more experience will be on to give you more answers.

However, does it matter whether it's Alzheimer's or VaD because they both causes the person to do abnormal and crazy things and it just gets worst as time goes on. As the caregivers say here "her brain is broken!"

Good luck! Hugs!!
Helpful Answer (4)
Report

What is “treatment for vascular insufficiency?”
What exactly was given or done to your mom?
What medication did you end? This is very interesting.

About her nocturnal habits. You know she is moving the furniture. If it won’t hurt her or the furniture I would leave her in peace about it. She’s contained and it possibly enables her to sleep better.
I have a family member who would do this anytime left alone. She would just decide to start rearranging. Sometimes the design was better than others. Very annoying. And one would think the task would be too difficult for one person.
Anything that interferes with the brain functioning is going to result in unusual if not abnormal behavior. She appears to have a compulsion to move furniture. Some of us have a compulsion to shop, gamble, eat, drink, work, know, exercise ..., any number of things. With dementia most behaviors stop and something else starts up. In the demented it might be wandering, repeating questions, picking their skin, calling out things like “help me”, rocking ...the list goes on. Moving furniture doesn’t sound so bad to me but do keep an eye out for other new behaviors.

My aunt, 93 with dementia, has started going through a roll of toilet paper a day. Right when it’s hard to find....and she wears depends and doesn’t go to the bathroom that often on her own. Baffling.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
ginaging Apr 2020
She had vein ablation to close leaking veins. It worked for one leg completely and the other leg partially. She had been taking a diuretic, but now she does not need it because (in addition to completing the treatments) we have a routine of walking, keeping legs elevated plus a new compression device called Flexitouch system, which is an advanced intermittent pneumatic compression device (lymphedema pump). Thanks for your reply!
(1)
Report
ginaging: I'm sorry that this is happening with your mom. I agree that it does not matter if AD or VaD. My MIL who is now in last stages of AD, did this a few years ago before she was entered into Memory Care. She too had no memory of moving stuff because of dementia. Goes along with not recognizing family members , repeating questions over & over, forgetting they just ate a meal,etc. These exact things may not happen to all dementia patients, but strange behaviour & memory loss will worsen for all patients as time goes on.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Vascular dementia doesn't go away with treatment, you might be able to treat the problem that caused the damage (TIA's and mini strokes, diabetes, too low/high BP, high cholesterol ...) but the damage to the brain doesn't go away and it is cumulative. One of the things I found most confounding about it is that symptoms can be an odd mix of physical and mental disturbances that are very much related to whichever part of the brain has been damaged, it doesn't follow the same progression as ALZ.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report

Your mom may have both AD and VaD. It's called mixed dementia and is not that unusual. Nor is rearranging furniture that unusual. My wife was in MC for 15 months before passing away with MD. Part of that time she occupied herself by moving furniture around in the facility. She would move dining room chairs, tables, even a small sofa. The MC director once told me she tried to stop my wife from doing that but finally acquiesced. She realized it was a losing cause. The nursing director told me my wife had moved all the dining room chairs to the far side of the building. She finally stopped when she complained her back hurt and she walked stooped over. DUH! I wonder why?

So it's not uncommon, and just another befuddling behavior of the disease. Although this is an insidious disease, I look back and laugh at some of the behavior I observed.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

I feel your pain. I have a ceiling lamp above my round dining table which I prefer to be centered above the table, but not possible. My mother moves it out of place all the time! If I tell her please stop moving the table she denies doing that! :/
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter