Lelore

Hi everyone,

My husband who is 44 has been tentatively diagnosed with AD. I say tentatively because his psych doc thinks this is what he has but wants to get a second opinion from a neurologist. We are waiting for that appointment. My husband has had about every test available and every other cause (that the psych doc is aware of) has been ruled out. He had a PET scan a couple of weeks ago and the results were typical of someone in the early stages of AD. Although early to the doc is different than the early stages that I read about when comparing symptoms.

This is really scary. My husband has been so depressed. We went to Indiana for the weekend and spent time with the kids and my parents at Holiday World. Overall, things went well. My husband was very nervous and scared each morning. Being in a different place really seemed to un-nerve him. We lost him once for about 10 minutes at the water park. That was scary, but everything turned out alright in the end.

My husband is not as yet on the meds for AD. His doc didn't want to start him on them until after the appointment with the neurologist. What has been your experience with these meds? My mother-in-law has told my husband that her doc told her that once he is on these meds he will become almost completely normal again - and that he will be able to go back to work. This is what is depressing my husband more than anything right now. The fact that he can't work and has to be looked after 24-7. Do these meds really have that big of an impact? I don't want to get my hopes up and then not see a big change.

Lelore