No diagnosis after seeing a psychiatrist and a neurologist. Is this temporary or permanent?

My mom went "crazy" 10 months after my dad died. The professionals kept saying grief, depression, or complicated grief. It came out of no where with her asking where my dad is buried. She had these "dreams" that she thought were real. In her mind she was digging my dad up and burying him all the time. Her short term memory was still good (at 80 years old) and her MRI came back clear. We found her calcium level was elevated in her blood, so they thought it was her parathyroid. She got a few of those removed and levels went to normal, but not her thinking. She then was in hospital for dehydration many times. She wasn't eating enough. It was becoming unsafe for her to drive because she went out looking for my dad! Then she did have a mini stroke, but not lasting effects. Then she ended up getting a pace maker. Because of all this, they believe she has vascular dementia due to brain damage caused before pace maker. Before the psychologist thought it was complicated grief that could turn into dementia. They were married for 60 years. Long story short, they put her on Seroquel for a while. That helped her. We also got her in a Memory Care facility. She is thriving. She likes the independence of her apartment, the activities they have during the week, she has gained weight, and recently has been taken off of Seroquel. We just now give her a strong dose Melatonin in evening. I know our situations are a bit different, but similar in that you think they are going "crazy." This ended up being dementia, and since then her short term memory is worse. However, she's still very smart. She'll still get upset with us kids from putting her in MC. However, she has those times where she expresses her thankfulness for being there as well. It's tough stuff! We are all Christians as well, including my mom, but sometimes dementia gets in the way with that too. I pray for you to find peace, help, and trust God that He is taking care of her. Sometimes the only way I can sleep is picturing me putting my mom is Jesus' hands. Also, an elder agency in my area was very helpful.

You do not mention if she has had an MRI or CT?

About 10 years ago a friend's sister in law started acting incredibly erratically. She was in her mid 60's and was a trained accountant. Her husband had died 7 months earlier and she was living with her younger brother and my friend. They were at their wits end, and I and another friend who is a nurse suggested an ER Dump.

The ER doctor was fantastic. He was young, compassionate and took the time to ask her questions. He asked what her husband died of and a light bulb went on. Her husband had worked in Asbestos mines. He died of a cancer caused by Asbestos exposure.

Now the new medical guidelines are that is a man worked in Asbestos mines, his wife and family need to be tested for exposure too. This young ER doc knew this and sent her for an MRI, then and there. She had several lesions on her brain caused by Asbestos.

There was no cure, there was no treatment, but the family had answers and were able to provide comfort care at home until she died.

Sometimes it is a physical issue that causes dementia like symptoms.

I wonder if a geriatric psychiatrist and/or a geriatric neurologist would be able to deal with this better. They would have more experience in the presentation of dementia of any kind. Once mother got into the hands of a geriatric psychiatrist in a geriatric hospital, things started to get unraveled, we got a diagnosis and she was put on suitable and effective medication and placed in a specialized facility.

I am sorry that you and your mother are having to deal with this. It must be very scary for her and I know it is worrying for you.

You have my prayers. ((((((hugs)))))

I’m so sorry that you and your family are going through this situation.

I feel that not having answers to problems is the toughest part.

If we know what is going on, then we can either formulate a plan to move forward, or grow towards acceptance of whatever can’t be changed if the situation is untreatable.

If we are hanging in limbo, we feel hopeless.

I am glad that you have your faith to comfort your family. At times like this, I am sure that you rely on faith to carry you through.

I love the poem, ‘Footprints In The Sand.’ We all go through periods in our lives that we don’t know how to reach the other side.

Many cases of dementia are not diagnosed until autopsy. In fact that was once very common; they are getting better and between CT , MRI and symptoms can often do better nowadays. The worsening over 6 months makes me want to be certain the Urinalysis and C&S of Urine was done. I am so sorry. This sounds like a combination of things and it could be that only a combo drug cocktail can give her some relief without turning her into non-functional. Often this takes experimentation, just as with mental illness. How dreadful for you all.

Thank you . We have an appointment with neuropsychologist 2 weeks from now. I hope they can tell us what's going on.
Also she lost so much weight! I am trying to make her eat and snacks but she is not always compliant.
Any ideas?

I assume this is a follow up to your March 9 post. Well, join the crowd... or at least you and me. After a visit with our PCP, then a neurologist, and finally neuropsychologist, we had no diagnosis of my wife's mental state. After an exhaustive evaluation, the neuropsychologist could only tell us she had dementia but couldn't tell us why. He told us that he's conducted these tests thousands of times, but never had such conflicting results. In his final report he wrote, “Her presentation is remarkably inconsistent with what is generally evidenced by most people with dementia”, and he also wrote, “her good score would argue against a progressive process”, and yet she performed extraordinarily poorly on memory function. He added, “There's a real possibility that the patient could show significant improvement in her cognitive functioning”, and concluded his report with “...the patient presented an extraordinary complex picture”. I had no idea how extraordinary and complex the days ahead would be.

So many times an accurate diagnosis can't be made until the condition advances further. You may want to ask the neurologist to refer you to a neuropsychologist who is trained to conduct a more definitive test. These sessions can take a full day with a break for lunch. It's more than frustrating not knowing what you're dealing with, but further testing by the appropriate clinician can help.