HELP!!! I'll try to be as brief as possible. Around 8 years ago, my FIL (who is NOW 86) was doing well, going to horse races, running around with girlfriend, driving, etc. Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, he didn't know which end was up! Totally out of it. We didn't know what to think. After that episode, I took him in for a check up and cat scan. The diagnosis, "Aging Brain" the doctor said, whatever that means. Time went by. He had a few more of these spells. They resemble amnesia, he doesn't know what is going on, doesn't remember anything (what year it is, who president is, etc) and he talks out of his head ex: (I cleaned my carpet today and threw it out the window, I put the sign on my house -he no longer has a house, I can't find my tricycle, I can't find my clothes, and on and on). Most of the time when he is in one of these "spells" his blood pressure is low. Once it lasted all day and hubby took him to ER. They checked him over and sent him home, said it was probably a mini stroke. Finally, I got him in to see a Neurologist. They did an MRI on him and said he had several "deep" mini strokes. I asked if he could have AD and the doctor said he couldn't tell. Well, this has been going on for 8 years! We had to make him give up driving as he was getting lost a lot. He had another spell yesterday which prompted me to write this. He usually messes up his TV remote when he is having one of these. WE are at our wits end. He usually comes back around in an hour or two, but today he was still out of it. I'm afraid he'll get stuck in that mode. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone when I'm around him like that! It's hard to describe to you. Yesterday he kept looking in his draw and at all his figures and stuff and must have done it 50 times or so, looking, for what he didn't know. His memory is shot. He has no reasoning left and cannot make new memories. He doesn't remember what happened in the past either unless it's 60 years ago. Well, what do you all think?? Should I be worried about AD or does it sound more like the mini strokes are causing the dementia, and what about these "spells" that come and go? I've tried the doctors but they are not really any help. They did put him on plavix. Up until now he is able to live alone in a senior complex, but I'm afraid of what we may be facing. Thanks for listening, I knew you all would understand and maybe someone has dealt with these in and out, come and go "spells". Cindy

all those other names, 'old age dementia' or 'aging brain' are just euphemisms for Alzheimer. He ought to see a neurologist. It sound like AD to me .. and he should probably be in a good Alzheimer Unit of a NH..

Good luck with it

Love,

Martha

Hi Cyt

My ex-charge ALWAYS got the remote messed up ... even writing down which button was for which channel was pointless, she would throw out the paper, throw the remote at us (cause we broke it), sometimes she was nice and would just hand it to us to fix ..

She had her good days and bad of course. We did notice that on days where she would be leaing to one side she was having series of TIA's and that would be when she would mess up the remote, not take her tablets, wander off ..... you get the idea I'm sure.

He needs an MRI if you can afford it. It will give a clearer picture, but unfortunately, Martha is right .. Aging Brain is just a nice way of saying "form of Dementia". "Natural degeneration" is another one I've heard.

Find a doctor who specialises in our elederly population .. you will make headway. Get a proper diagnosis, then you'll know for sure which battle to fight.

cheers
Sally

I got the feeling from the neuros my mom has seen that they look at the elderly, don't care what the root cause is, and simply begin reciting the pharmaceutical company jargon and pushing their drugs. Which is fine, but when I explain that my mom suffered adverse effects from a particular drug, they all go into the scripted: "Really? That's very unusual. The vast majority of my patients do very well on (insert drug name)."

I couldn't believe the last neuro after my mom had repeated strokes simply said it was Alzheimer's and recited the usual drugs. He completely ignored her strokes and "diagnosed" Alzheimer's with no tests. I could practically see the bubble above his head thinking, hey, she's old--it doesn't matter and stop wasting my time (he spared 5 minutes)--and make sure to pay up front.

And this fellow was highly recommended by my mother's cardiologist who insisted she needed to see a neuro. There were 2 drug reps when we entered, 3 more while we waited, and another 2 that we saw upon leaving. A large aromatic buffet had been set up for the office staff, the only things missing were the umbrella and coconut drinks. No wonder it took 2 months to see this neuro with all the drug company people courting him.

Went back to the geriatric physician. He may speak from the same pharmaceutical company script, but at least he seems to be compassionate.

Cyt, I'm so sorry about your FIL and know how distressing those symptoms are, and so many seem identical stages my mother went through and is now worse. I'm glad he at least received an MRI. My mom only had a CT scan when I witnessed her stroke.

Thanks everyone - and Glenna, you are SO right about the doctors! If this was a young person, they would be on top of it so fast, but not the elderly person. They seem to give up on them. And you are right about the meds. Right on! It sure is frustrating, it takes so long to get in and then you don't get answers or get the run-around. That's just what happened to us. I felt after talking to the Neuro that I was the one trying to doctor my FIL instead of him. He was lousy! So I guess we'll take it one day at a time and hope and pray he goes peacefully in his sleep some day (like we would all want) and not have to be totally out of it, not knowing anything for the rest of his life. For now he does enjoy eating out and watching TV and does have his good days. Don't know for how much longer. Cindy