Alzheimer's Mom seems to talk non-stop. Any advice?

I was wondering, if when your mom talks all the time, does she make sense? Is she talking about real things that are happening or did happen at some point in her life? I was thinking that maybe it gives her reassurance somehow to hear herself talking, even if no one responds to her. Have you ever tried having her put headphones on or ear buds in and listening to music that she might like? If she's in need of noise or voices or music in her ears, I just thought you might try that. It's just a thought.

jeffrey, mine can talk a lot, too. It has been a fairly recent thing. She will be watching TV with the volume up. She begins to talk in a low voice when I come in about various things. They make sense, but are usually stressful to me -- what work has been done or needs to be done, gossip about family. I have to mute the TV to hear her because her voice is so low and monotone.

JessieBelle - this is the same sort of situation I have as well. I try to stop and calm any confusion that she has, or see if there is any other discomfort she has (cold, tired, hungry). But there is so much of it at times, I sometimes just need to reassure her that everything is fine. I feel bad about as I don't know how much is anxiety, and how much is the cruel disease simply ping-ponging ideas around at random.

jeffrey20832, people with anxiety associated with bipolar disorder also can be non-stop talkers. I'd try the new doctor's suggestion about change in medications. It will be a real benefit to all of you if Mom's anxiety can be lessened. Realize that treating these things is often trial-and-trial-again. Each brain is unique and discovering what will calm Mom is a big task. It sounds like you are doing the right things on your end. Does distraction work some when she is anxious? After you reassure her that things are OK does it help to suggest some activity or a snack?

Change in meds would be in order.

You sound like such a really lovely person. I am so sorry. May I please ask you a couple of questions? it won't help you, I'm afraid, but it will help me. Can you please tell me what anxiety issues she's having, and what, if you know, the klonopine is having an effect? If she is still having that, and is having a problem, I'll bet I can tell,you what it is. And please, whatever you do, don't stop it suddenly ..it is awfully addictive. Thank you, Luv.

My mom who had major anxiety issues, was on klonopin and an ssri antidepressant. New geriatric psychiatrist added Remeron and mom has been so much calmer! Medication like this is try and try again...it may take time to get it right, but do allow the doc to try different things.

Jeffrey, unfortunately, my mom is almost 95, & in a nursing home. I'm embrassed to admit we could't take care of her either in her home nor ours. She's on Exelon patch 13 mg too but that's all she's on!!! Nothing else - besides bp meds, etc., but as for Memory, repeating - NOTHING! And I really believe "less is more" when it comes to meds anyway. Now mom thinks "white specks" are coming out of vent in her room & in the hall I& that's why nobody was IN the hall Saturdays around 6 pm when we visit her. And she repeats herself too. REMEMBER, medication can cause SIDE EFFECTS as well. Do you try to take her for walks, or maybe play games, get her interested in somethig else? Hope this helps...

With her being on Namenda and the Exelon patch, they have side effects, and I am leery of these meds because, having tried them on my husband, they caused more side effects, so they were stopped. These meds are standard protocol for dementias, they do not change the diagnosis and will more than likely cause behaviors you didn't recognize nor expect. Mirtazapine comes in two forms, both oral and disintegrating, and treats depression (which can have anxiety). If you are to really know if it will work, take her off the other two meds (with approval or not), and see if the mirtazapine is the med that will help her. My husband constantly talks to himself, I will hear him, and I've asked him about it. He just says he is talking to himself. Maybe having dementia causes one to not be able to silence the mind and one has to hear the words in order for the mind to know what it is saying. Since I don't have dementia, all I can do is allow him to be who he is at this point in time, because there will come a day when he will not talk at all. My best to your family.

Enjoy her now because as the disease progresses she will no longer be able to talk.
My father can barely get out two words. So I have to talk to myself and answer my questions so that he has something to listen to.... he understands everything.

Jeffrey - Dementia/Alzheimer's is such a devastating disease - and affects people a little differently as it progresses. Not sure what you can do about your Mom's constant talking, but I think 'letitbe4u' is correct - there may come a time when your Mom cannot talk or speaks very little. My husband (later stage Alzheimer's) barely talks and when he does, usually makes no sense because he struggles to find his words. God Bless You for taking your Mom into your home at this time to care for her.

My mother has been an anxious incessant talker for years, and when she began to take risperidone and remeron, there was a huge imrovement. She does not take any of the memory drugs, because she has declined them which is fine with us. I think if she had started them years ago it might have been helpful, but now at 89, I don't think it would make much difference and perhaps would have unwanted side effects.

Jeffrey, my mom is on Exelon patches and mirtazapine, which her neurologist put her on when she was getting up in the night and wandering. She doesn't show a lot of anxiety, more frustration, when she can't remember something or can't get something to work, but I feel stressed when she is stressed because I want to fix it, but I can't.

In my case, it's my dad who talks all the time. He doesn't have any form of dementia; he's just always been that way. It's hard for my mom to understand or remember what he says, because anything important was surrounded by a couple of hundred other words. We've tried to remind him to keep it short and sweet when talking with my mom, but were not going to change his personality now!

I personally have a hard time concentrating when it is noisy around me and have a low tolerance for noise levels. I work with students who have autism and we use the headphones you can buy at sporting good stores in the shooting section to cut down on the noise for them. Sometimes I use them too. Just thinking you might want to give them a try if the non-stop talking is getting on your nerves. You could still hear your mom if anything important is going on and it might give you more patience for the times you are directly interacting with your mom. Peace and good wishes!

I visit a lot of people with dementia who have these anxious moments. The trouble is that they vary so much from person to person. I try to change the subject and find something else to talk about, because as you have probably worked out reassuring over end over again does not work it just keeps it in the fore front of their mind. How about putting some music on to sing along with from her past

I know it is hard when a parent has alzheimer's and the stages are dragged out,, my dad is in the late stage, bed ridden and does not speak anymore. I would give anything to hear his voice again.. My advice, please, don't take it the wrong way, enjoy every word she says, because you never know when she will just stop talking.. take care and be strong,,

My father-in-law is in the same boat. He gets stuck in a thought loop, can't find his way out, so he basically thinks out loud to try to sort it out. Does that seem like what she is doing? Can't hurt to try.

With everyone it is different. We nor the doctors administering the meds know what the persons life will be like with Alzheimers. The brain is so complex and what is happening to your moms brain may be different than what is happening with my moms brain. The brain is so clogged up with damaging gunk that who knows what function in the brain is affected. I do know that every med that my mom was given that the Dr. wanted her to try did more harm than good. My son is a physician and he has told me many times. "Mom why do you think they call it the "Practice of Medicine" Dr's don't know what these drugs are doing. My son even prescribed some supposedly calming meds and they hyped her up so much she was like a squirrel in a cage and was talkiing more than normal too. My mom is a very private quiet lady in her true character. Now she has cussing outbursts and anger issues.
My mom is starting to talk to herself now as well and is imagining other people here. I now am giving her homeopathic anti anxiety lozenges that I can safely give her several times a day. They seem to work well for her and then in the evening a about a half hour before she usually goes to bed I give her a sleep aid that is working well. It has melatonin in it and some Valerian leaf. She gets up to go to the bath in the middle of the night. She is not drugged out at all and wakes up refreshed. Mind you she can't remember anything you talk about or person she sees or anything that she does do past a couple minutes. What I do know that she can remember and will carry with her all day is any emotional feelings of any situation. I made the mistake of telling her that her husband had died years ago when she insisted he was here, then she changed it to she knew she had a man friend here and she wanted to know3 where he was. She went through the house opening doors looking for him. I tried to turn it into humor and said she must be hiding him in her closet somewhere because I hadn't seen him around. It made her mad and she walked up to my hubby and in a very agitated voice. said " What the he.. is going on around here" He calming told her that it was just he and I and her living here and she looked at him like she though he was lying as well, but she won't try to argue much with him. She had been at her adult day center for 4 hours and so coming back home to her home here with us does usually cause her some anxiety. I gave her a couple of the anti-anxiety lozenges and she was fine in about 15 minutes.
It is hard to walk on egg shells around her for sure, agree with her assumptions of things that are pretty crazy. I am trying to learn, not to correct, but to accept the person she is now. So far we are surviving it all. I do know that as confused as she is here, I know she would be so scared and angry in a strange place away from family and her things. Here she does get to see me. her only daughter my
wonderful sweet and patient hubby, and lots of grandchildren and great grandchildren that live near and are always stopping in. Yes I do have a brother and she has one too still living but, my brother never offers to see her or call her or anything. Her brother has come to visit about 3 times this past year. I used to take her to their homes but she is ready to leave in about 5 minutes and go home so that won't work either. Good luck everyone.

Mirtazapine is Remeron! Give it a try.

My aunt have advanced dementia is taking in a empirical way, but under her physician permission and supervision , the following food supplements (that I pasted bellow) and are Controlling her hallucinations ,delusions, sundowning , agressiviness ,agitation , cryings, yells, etc , that she use to have when she was not taking the supplements.
We are using in an absolute empirical way ,and this is only an anedoctal report.

In an empirical way we are giving:

1) L-CARNOSINE : 60 miligrams three times a day.( it is CARNOSINE and it is NOT L-carnitine).(only these small doses).

2) L-GLUCURONOLACTONE : 300 miligrams 2 to 4 times a day.

3) GLUCOSAMINE SULPHATE : 200 miligrams 3 to 4 times a day. I know GLUCOSAMINE it is a supplement for joints. But when she started to use GLUCOSAMINE for her joints we saw an amazing calmness and control of agressiviness and agitation.
We can find in the medical site PubMed SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES that shows that glucosamine stabilizes tau in the microtubules in the neurons, and works as an alternative fuel to the neurons too .

4) ACETYL L CARNITINE (ALCAR) - 30 to 60 miligrams three times a day.(it is NOT l-carnitine , but is ACETYL L-CARNITINE)( only these small doses).

5) EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL - One tea spoon by mouth three times a day

But if the patient have diarrhea even with these small doses , the caregivers makes massages with the oil in the thin skin of the arms with the tea spoon of the oil ,once the coconut oil has a comproved fast trans cutaneous absortion (according articles in PubMed)

A lot of friends of mine , after my report , are giving to their relatives with different types of dementia ,with the same amazing effects to enhances cognition,mood and to control the odd behaviors.But this is only an anedoctal report , without none scientific foundation, based in empiric observation only.O

Only the doctor of the patient can gives permissions, and knows the right supplements and the right doses of each supplement.

Talk to the doctor of the patient before gives any supplement or medicine drug.

I know someone whose mother with Alzheimers sings and whistles constantly constantly CONSTANTLY. My friend had to learn to just plain cope with that. If there's anxiety involved, of course you want to see if you can address that, but in this case identifying and solving the underlying motivation wasn't to the point. It's a reminder that Alzheimer's behavior sometimes just IS.

To comproves the efficacy of the supplements above to control the mood and behaviors disorders of my aunt , her physician it is using (still in a empirical way) the tests that are used in trials with AD drugs ,as the famous test called Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home Version (NPI-NH)(Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathology in Patients with Dementia Residing in Nursing Homes) created by the prestigeous AD researcher ,professor doctor Jeffrey L. Cummings, MD , that is professor of Neurotherapeutics and Drug Development in the Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic . Professor Cummings is Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas.

The (NPI) test is one of the most reliables neuropsychiatric test for patient AD in any stages of Alzheimer disease dementia type , and can be used with others dementia types, once it is specific to mood and behavior disorders, while the so called Minicog or Minimental test is specific for test the cognition in the firsts stages of AD dementia type and others dementias types.In an empirical way , me and friends of mine are using the NPI-Q TEST, as one of the parameters to comprove the effectiviness of the food supplements that I pasted in the comments in this post.

Using the NPI test (that can be applyed and analysed by the physician of the patient) , still in an empirical way , it is very intersting once we can really mensure the improves in mood and behavior of our relatives with dementia that are taking that food supplements. We makes the tests before to starts the supplements and each month and it comproves great enhancings in cognition, mood and behavior.

To find the NPI scale , we have only to search in google pasting the words : Neuropsychiatric Inventory Neurotherapeutics and Drug Development in the Neurological Institute

Once upon a time, through a number of years, I experienced anxiety attacks, and I do not have dementia and never had. However, when a persons body is dealing with some kind of stress, in any form or for any reason, anxiety can complicate matters. When I had that horrible stuff affecting me, I wanted to be around someone constantly. I was reassured that way, and felt more safe. Second, I wanted to be talking and working through my weird feelings, which helped keep my mind off of the anxious feeling within myself. Drugs that were offered to me at once time, only made matters worse. So now I am a person that you would have to hog tie down and force into my being to get me to take those drugs.
I got some breathing exercises from a chiropractor that helped the situation, plus I watched some videos and did some reading on the subject of anxiety, so now have a better measure of recognition and control of the issue. I have a bedridden husband that has makings and issues with dementia, but I do not let him have drugs for it, and he is not anxious, for that is not his personality. He was always laid back, with attitude, "if you can do something about something, do it! If not don't worry about it. " Unless you can smooth things out for her by removing the possible aggravation of drugs, maybe my husband's old time solution will work for you. " Just enjoy the sound of her voice, be glad you can give her support through her anxious moments, and "don't worry about it." What do you think? Take care, and here is a hug for you. joylee

When I posted earlier, part of it got lost somehow. Here's what else I said: My father-in-law is in the same boat. He gets stuck in a thought loop, can't find his way out, so he basically thinks out loud to try to sort it out. So we give him poker chips, coins, nuts and bolts to sort. It seems to help him 'sort it out' in his head. Does that seem like what she is doing? Can't hurt to try.

When my mom is having a bad day, like today, she is convinced she is where she grew up and chatters constantly about going and seeing the neighbors, getting a bus, you name it. Drives us bonkers too. She is on no medicine and 94. Thank God it doesn't happen too often.

sounds like my long deceased grandpa, old broom hair nostrils. ill bet hes being kicked from heaven to hell , back and forth since 1978. even the almighty and the prince of darkness require respite from that crap. back then it wasnt altzheimers, we just called it ratchet jaw.

My mother had anxiety also and started to get very combative and angry to the point that I gave in and allowed the Dr. to put her on Respidone. It is an anti-psychotic and is being given in a very small dose. We noticed the difference almost immediately although it did not get rid of the "loops" as I call them with her talking. Mom will get stuck in a loop and repeat the same thing every 4-5 minutes or so. For example, " they didn't think that we would last, I was a city girl and Frank was a country boy". She always continuously says that she wants to get out of assisted living and go home. I just try to change the subject or ask her a question about something in her past, encouraging her to try to focus and talk to me. It is obvious that her brain is not functioning like it should be and she is losing more and more of her memory. cherish the time that she still has and can talk to you because soon she will be silent.

Yes, my mom has dementia at 67 and she talks non stop too. Her anxiety get worse and she worries over everything. The furnace is going to break, the sink is leaking, where is all the dust coming from, the pipes are going to freeze...etc. On and on. I know it draws on your nerves. My mom takes generic for ativan and it does help some. But some days it is more than anyone can take. At this point there isn't anything that you can say to calm her nerves. sometimes you will just have to agree with her on things. With dementia they have lost their ability to reason. You cannot reason with the unreasonable. Good luck

My mom also talks nonstop about things that are not reality. She says those ladies want me to do this or that and I told them no. I don't want to do that. She can't tell me who the ladies are or what they want her to do. It is constant and I try to tell her that I told them that she was not going to do it. She is on zyprexa 5mg at night and the dr. added 2.5mg in the morning. So far the added dose in the morning just makes her take a nap. I wish there was something that could calm her anxiety better. I started to add rescue remedy from supplements store throughout the day. Just 4 drops in about 2 oz water, several times. I don't know if it is helping just yet. Nice to hear others ideas.

Have you checked the symptoms of the Namenda. My mother took it and her behavior changed rapidly. She was back as before when she came off of it. Check her meds. You will get lots of education from that. I would do a bookkeeper and keep all her dr. records intact where you can refer back. Drs. don't know it all but you do because she's with you. My mom is better off with me but my dad is still home. I take care of her like a nurse.

This may be interesting to anyone dealing with the dementia issue, memory issues, depression or stress. My mom has been slowly going down hill with the dementia, I found myself feeling more depressed and trying to think possitive. One of my friends suggested I try the mineral Lithium (not the medicine) she researched it exstensively and the studies were strongly suggesting the recovery from dementia. So four days ago I started her on 5 mil. am and pm. I can honestly say I am shocked at the results. By today she was making decisions and asking for things she hasnt done in over a year or so. I am looking forward to what I can report in a month from now. I have been so forgetful and stressed since I am caretaker 24/7 for 7 years now. So I decided to take it too, and have notice sort of a cloud of depression lifted off my shoulders. It could be my imagination, but I dont think so. Ps. I hope my mom does start talking, I miss her chattering.