While I suspected this for some time, his dementia is now confirmed

[wifeofparky]

I have observed behaviors in my husband that made me wonder if it was more than just aging and normal memory loss but yesterday, our Movement Disorder Specialist confirmed he has dementia. He will start on Aricept today.I know it helped his Aunt when she started it several years ago so i hope he has good results with it. He has mostly non-motor symptoms which are hard to control since they are unpredictable and new one keep popping up.

[FeeBee]

I think my husband has the same problem and will ask the specialist outright on April 2nd if he has it as I prefer for us to deal with something however difficult than wonder all the time. I dare not leave my husband at home by himself for more than about an hour as he forgets what I have told him, has lost track of time passing and then panics that I am not there. Good luck to all of us!

[Hidden]

My husband also suffers from Parkinson's related dementia where he knows what he wants to say but the words do not come out right and his cognition is bad. I can leave the home for an hour or so but after that he starts to panic. He couldn't take Aricept but is on Namenda and Exelon but neither have really helped. I am now trying coconut oil in his diet as I heard that might work - have my doubts but am willing to try anything at this point. Also put together a picture binder of food, activities, restaurants, family pictures, etc. that he can point to if he wants something and I can't understand him.

[wifeofparky]

His is early symptoms and I leave him three days a week while I work. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of retirement yet as I need medical insurance. I hope the Aricept helps as he gets very frustrated when he can't finish his thoughts or explain to me what he is thinking. He is safe at home alone and calls me at work if he has a problem. This has to be the worst part of the disease. Raven and FeeBee, have you looked into adult daycare?

[FeeBee in reply to wifeofparky]

My husband has just started going to a Day Care centre once a week. Ironicaly it is the one where we used to volunteer at about 10 years ago! For that reason, luckily, he is familiar with the surroundings and even some of the same carers are still there and greeted his first day with big hugs. This Tuesday while he is there I have a day's painting lesson booked and I can't tell you what balm it is for the soul although my paintings are rather c**p!! My husband cannot call me as he gets in a muddle with the phone.

[wifeofparky]

Sometimes my husband has no trouble dialing the phone or using the remote but when he has a bad day, he will try to call using the remote and change the channel using the phone. Not funny and really scary. He is not ready for Day Care yet but it is something I will use when the time comes. I pray it won't be for a few years though as I need to work for 33 more months.

[FeeBee in reply to wifeofparky]

Yes, my husband gets into all those sort of muddles. They put him on Exelon patches last Tuesday but by yesterday 11 am he was frighteningly weird, having seen something on Tv and thinking it was real and ranting about scams and me being in with the baddies! The Dr thank goodness said I could take the patch off and he is much more settled today.