To think there is definitely something wrong with DM?

[Lovestosing]

Posting for traffic. I'll try to be brief but pretty upset right now so I'm sorry if I start rambling. DM is mid sixties, and has been acting very strangely at times for over a year now. Some examples are being overly anxious when driving or being somewhere new when she has always been very confident before, having trouble processing numbers, becoming extremely untidy and unable to see the mess, suddenly unable to do things like put bedding back on a bed, put a harness on the dog, etc. She can't dish out portions equally, most recently giving one person literally half of a dish that was meant to serve 5 people, one person a tenth, etc. Today she has been looking after my kids and I asked her to hang out some washing as I didn't have time to. She has hung it up in the most bizarre way, I thought one of the kids had done it, it literally won't dry like that, I have had to redo it all.

She has had a brain scan and numerous blood tests and no one can find anything physically wrong with her to explain it. I'm in tears as I know this isn't normal. Does anyone have any experience of this?

So sorry to read this OP, what a fraught and worrying time.

I dont have any experience but are you able to visit the GP with your DM? It certainly sounds like she needs further tests and assessment.

Has she had a brain MRI? I am going through tests at the moment and my bloods and CT were clear but MRI was abnormal and showed mini-strokes. A CT can miss things.

It can be difficult to get help for neurological issues and quite often there isn't any help though just knowing what is happening helps a little. I presume she has been through neurology, if not get a referral. If you can afford it consider going privately but it is very expensive.

You may be better posting on the general health board, sometimes there are people on their with medical knowledge.

Keep checking with GP/hospital - could be TIA or some form of dementia

Definitely sounds like something untoward is happening. I'd take her back to the GP until they agree to run more tests

Does your DM work?

Has she had a dementia assessment from an old age psychiatrist. You can’t diagnose dementia on the basis of a scan . She needs full cognitive testing ( mmse - which might be done by the GP is not adequate )
Hope she’s ok

Your DM does need a full cognitive assessment, OP.

It sounds like one of the many forms of dementia.

Sorry for the delay. Thank you for your replies. She no longer works, she retired some years ago. She has an appointment with the psychiatrist in November (it was made in April). She is having visits from a nurse and has attended a memory clinic but no one is suggesting it could be dementia (which we all think it is). She did have an mri which didn't show anything up. To be honest we haven't been told much, and it's really frustrating.

I was a Specialist Dementia Nurse for fifteen years and I'm afraid it does sound like one of the dementias.

Have you looked at the Alzheimer's website? There's loads of information on it which may help you.

The website gives advice and support regarding all the different kinds of dementia, not just Alzheimer's Disease.

Have a look at the symptoms of Dementia with Lewy Bodies and also that of Fronto-Temporal Dementia.

Either would be possibilities. I hope you get an answer soon. I have seen countless people with dementia who display exactly the symptoms your mother does.

Please go back to her GP and say that you want her to have a full cognitive assessment at the nearest Memory Clinic.

If nothing else, they would be able to rule out dementia.

Don't let them fob you off. It is very important to get a diagnosis.

Wishing you and the whole family well.

www.alzheimers.org.uk/