My Mom has dementia and is starting to complain of blackouts and hallucinations.
She told my son's fiancee (who told me), but didn't want me to know because she didn't want me to worry. She hasn't complained about this until this week, so my guess is these issues are recent. I also found out that her angina caused her to be up all one night recently, but she didn't want to wake me up to tell me. At the moment she is laying down on her bed with the lights out and no TV on. She takes 10 mg Celexa daily for anxiety and depression. Up to this point her doctor felt she is doing quite well, blood tests are good, and weight is steady. I'm going to call her doctor Monday to let her know of these latest developments, but does anyone have any experience with anything like this? The fact that she told my son's fiancee made me think she really did want "someone" to know, but put it back on his fiancee to tell me. We can't help her unless we know what is going on.Very confusing.....
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Are the "blackouts" occurring while she is in bed? Is she just falling back to sleep? Or does she say they happen when she is on the way to the bathroom, for example? Does she fall?
She suffers from anxiety. She has dementia. What she believes is happening to her may not match the reality you and I would see. Assure her that you are there to help her, and if she has any trouble in the night she can call you. Do discuss this with her doctor, but it is possible what she needs some treatment for is increased anxiety, and not necessarily for hallucinations or blackouts.
Yes, she has been attention seeking a lot of her life, even when I was a child. She told my son's fiancee and knew the fiancee would tell me. My dad used to tease her about being a martyr. Interestingly she is all sweetness and light around other people, including our children and our young grandchildren.
Regarding the hallucinations - you know, I think she dreams and then thinks she is seeing things. She shared this with me several months ago now, and it seems to happen when she naps. A few times she told me she was hearing cats meowing or people talking. Hey, Mom we have two cats in the house, another neighbor's cat is frequently outside in the woods by our home, and we have neighbors within earshot.
And I do believe she thinks she is having blackouts, again because she naps frequently, has no short term memory to speak of, and so thinks she is blacking out. And she has had no falls.
Good point - between the dementia and anxiety, she sometimes doesn't know what is going on or what is real.
Perhaps some of the issue here is boredom and lack of a social life. Unfortunately, she has no interest in being with others her age or joining in a senior center. So we're her social directors, which isn't saying much. My husband and I work opposite shifts, so we don't have much of a social life, either! :o)
Thank you for jump starting my brain. I stressed to my mom the importance of telling me when she has any unusual pain, especially around her heart. Good grief! And when she told me "she didn't want to wake me up" when she was having the angina attack, I did feel she was being manipulative. I leveled with her and told her if she isn't going to let me know she is having chest pain, I am going to have to figure out another living arrangement for her because I can't have her living with us and hiding such important information. Not sure if that was the attention she was seeking, but that is what WILL happen if she continues to not tell me. And from the look on her face, she understood.
I am going to call her doctor tomorrow about all of the above. Thank you again!
She loves getting ooohs and aaahs from the fiancée too. Maybe the MD can increase the Celexa slightly. It does help pleasant dreams.
The hallmark of hallucinations is that the patient thinks what they see is real, they don't know it is an hallucination. They chat with invisible visitors, convinced they are there.
Up all night with angina? Baloney, you would have heard her.
10mg Celexa is a small small dose.
The stories will get even better with time. Take it with a grain of salt.