Caregiver displaying same symptoms!! - Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia Message Board

urblessing · 06-13-2001, 04:37 PM

Help! Over the past 2 weeks, my father (84yr) has been displaying similar symptoms of my mom (82) with Alzheimers. Mom seems to have 2 personalities with this disease. She "thinks" she's married to 2 men (the same) and has 2 sets of kids. My dad is starting to believe her! He says my mom's sister (really my mom) has the same name, the same husband and the same kids. I know this sounds screwy, but could my wonderful dad be getting it too? So far he has been the sole caregiver. I go to help him on my days off from work (usually 3 days/wk) He has refused outside caregiving or even the idea of putting mom in a long term care facility. I am at a loss. My sis lives in Florida and is stressing much more than myself. Please, someone out there, give us some ideas of where to go or what to do.

gizmolove · 06-15-2001, 09:18 PM

Hi,

Gizmolove here. I hope that this helps. My mom went to see her brother in 1986-87. He
had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's for a
couple of years. May Aunt was taking care of him at home and Mom went there to help. After a few days with her brother she began to exhibit similar strange symptoms and after 5 days I was called to go down and get my mom because she was out of control and no one could handle her. I was to come back the same day with my mom; but it ended up being over 3 week before I finally got her home on a plane. All I had was the clothes on my back and a return airline ticket for 2 hours after I arrived and I didn't get home for over 14 days !!!

I found out that after a one week evaluation in a mental ward that she was suffering from "Periodic Phychotic Episodes". She was placed on Thorazine. She was on Thorazine for over 10 years after that and it seamed to keep her calmer and the "Episodes" of Phycosis at bay.

Now, she could have been thrown into a phycotic episode by the reality of seeing her dear brothers condition. Or she could have been wrongly diagnosed 10 years earlier. I don't know. All I know is that she DID end up with Alzheimer's along with her mother and brother before her.

You really need to get both of your parents to a trained and qualified mental health care professional in a skilled enviorment for quality mental health testing. Only a qualified mental health care specilist can make the proper diagnosis and start to administer the appropriate drugs to eliviate the symptoms that your mom and dad are suffering from. The diagnosis's could be mirrored or they could be quite different from each other. You're dad could be suffering from a breakdown for not being able to cope with his new stressful condition of full time care of his wife. But, he needs to be looked at.

Get him help.

Hope this helps !!!

Take Care,

------------------
Gizmo

acitigal · 06-18-2001, 08:16 PM

Your situtation sounds very scary, but please don't panic. Your father might just be overwhelmed.
My father is the primary caretaker for my mother who is in the first stages of Alzheimers. He became so distressed by the prospect of losing her, he too started to manifest symptoms of Alzheimers. However when he went to his physician, the Dr determined that it was not memory loss but clincial depression that was manifesting itself as memory loss.
Alzheimers can be very stressful on the caregiver. Be sure to have your father see a physician. He can take tests to rule out if he is in fact suffering dementia, and please don't rule out depression. My father has responded well to antidepressives and is functioning much better know.
I hope this helps you