82 year old hallucinating

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my 82 year old grandmother has undiagnosed Alzheimer’s. She won’t accept it and so hasn’t been diagnosed but has been very slowly progressing with it but I’m the past 6 months seems to be deteriorating more rapidly- struggling to converse, zoning out at times and repeating herself a lot more than usual. She lives alone but my mum is heavily involved in her care and it is becoming more and more. Recently she has been adamant she has ants in her bed. She has seen them running all over she says. She will not sleep in it and will only sleep in her uncomfortable chair. Are these hallucinations common in the elderly or is it an Alzheimer’s symptom?

When did it start? With the elderly, urine infections can cause them to hallucinate. If this is only within the last week or so I'd get a doctor appointment booked.

Not sure about the Alzheimer’s, but if she’s losing her vision at all she may be experiencing Charles Bonnet syndrome as a separate issue in addition. My granny had it, she got it as her vision failure suddenly accelerated, and saw spiders on her bed, soldiers around the room etc.
I believe it is not well known so worth looking into. Good luck.

Agree with Lochjeda UTI would be my first thought. Get it checked out quickly - DMum ended up in hospital with sepsis due to a UTI.

So sorry to hear about your DGM. Hallucinations in themselves are not a normal part of ageing.

They can happen as part of an acute illness, typically a UTI but also many many other things and the elderly are more susceptible to this.

However hallucinations are also more common in dementia itself. Given your DM hasn't had a specific type of dementia diagnosed - she isn't known to have Alzheimers as she hasn't seen a specialist or had a scan, it would make me wonder if she has another sort of dementia such as Lewy Body where hallucinations can form a much more frequent part of the illness.

Basically what I am saying is that she needs to see a doctor and the time for your DGM being in charge and saying there is nothing wrong has been and gone.

It could be a uti, but there are also types of dementia that cause hallucinations (dementia with lewy bodies, maybe?)
Take care.

My Nan didn’t have Alzheimer’s but she did hallucinate when she had a urine infection and this is something that is apparently very common in elderly people, they can hallucinate if they have a UTI. I noticed when she was in hospital for something unrelated as I took her to the loo snd it was cloudy. Check on her urine to see if it is cloudy and/or ask someone to do a test.

Another suggestion for UTI, they can really mess with elderly people. My poor Granny suffered terribly with them.

My mil used to think relatives were staying in her house. She insisted they stayed on the sofa she would go into town shopping and when she got back they were gone. We checked for uti but that was clear. She was then diagnosed with dementia

Alzheimer's symptom possibly - my mum has early onset and complains about bugs on the walls etc

My uncle was like this at Christmas. He had a UTI.

Thanks all. She has no temperature or pain but my mum will take her to the dr to check for uti. We googled Lewy body dementia and it could well be that. First dementia symptoms started about 8 years ago I’d say but very mild- she bought the same book for her great grandchild 3 times but otherwise was ok. It’s been so gradual but really seems to be progressing a lot more of late. She definitely needs a diagnosis so we know what we’re dealing with- which type it is etc. she has no idea she has anything wrong and goes mad at even the slightest mention. She gets offended at my mum helping because she thinks my mum is insinuating that she is dirty and messy.

My grandad's hallucinations were due to Alzheimer's, medication helped.

My great aunt had the same hallucination. I think it was either a UTI or medication-related. I remember my mother telling me that this specific hallucination was very common and helped her GP to identify the cause. She was fine very quickly after that. Hope it's the same for your granny.

Definitely get her checked for a UTI, constipation, chest infection.

Also, what is her bedding like? Does it have a tiny repeating pattern on it? Dementia can affect visual perception. So things like tiny patterns, rugs, swirly patterns on carpets can be seen as ants/bugs, holes in the floor.

Both my mother and father have had hallucinations with UTI infections.

My best friend's Mum had hallucinations and was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia a few months later.

My Dad's in the early stages of dementia and has had episodes like this when he's dehydrated. We've been very concerned when it's happened and as a process of elimination, have flushed loads of fluid through him. It sorts the hallucinations within 12 hours

My DF has Lewy Bodies dementia. Things were always crawling all over the place at home. He’d be leaning forward from his chair quite often watching them on the ground! (In a home now)

My Dad also has LB dementia and he has hallucinations frequently. He is often seen trying to pick something up that is not there. When he has them at night it can take a while for my Mum to convince him that it's not real and to go back to sleep. They did get worse when he had a UTI but for now he is coping with them and most of the time accepts he can see things that are not there.

A couple of other things you mention also suggest possible LB dementia. The zoning out and struggling to converse could be signs - it's very common with LB dementia to have fluctuating attention, where you're 'present' one minute and not the next, and cognition problems where it's hard to understand things (rather than just forgetting them). You can also get problems with spatial awareness/visual interpretation and REM sleep disorder. Does your GM have any Parkinsons-type symptoms (tremor, stiffness, stoop to one side)? The two often go hand in hand.

seeing insects that aren't there is a specific sign of Alzheimers, a GP told me. My mum saw spiders on the floor of an art gallery and was pointing them out to me and following them. They weren't there.

May be time to get her assessed whether she wants to be or not. There are brilliant new drugs that slow the progression of the disease right down, so the sooner she starts them, the less damage it will do her.

Thanks all. The bedding is plain, no pattern. She doesn’t have any tremors or stoops that I’ve noticed but is struggling a lot more to do physical tasks like getting dressed and putting on shoes.

my mum is taking her to the dr this morning . She has mentioned to the dr that she suspects dementia but explained that my gm gets very angry at the suggestion of any mental impairment. My gm thinks she is going to the gp to check for uti (which is she is as well) but I’m hoping the dr can subtly assess for possible dementia. If the dr suspects dementia (which surely they will), will she be referred? I just can’t see her agreeing to go to a memory clinic or wherever you may need to go to to get a diagnosis. Has anyone ever had a parent or grandparent who is adamant they don’t have dementia get diagnosed? No idea how it will work! Thank you

DMum has various neurological things going on, LB dementia and Parkinson's both suggested, but no definitive diagnoses - she was seeing things crawling up the walls, and water swirling on the floor amongst other things BUT she had a serious UTI, and once that was treated the hallucinations, vacant staring, frequent falls etc all stopped. Please have her checked for UTI - it can become serious very, very quickly.

Have had two parents with dementia and one of them got regular UTIs and this sounds very much like a UTI. There is an NHS test for dementia which asks all sorts of questions, including remembering an address and coming back to repeat it about 5 questions later, drawing on clock faces, counting back in 7s from 100. It takes at least an hour to complete and in our NHS Trust was done by a psychiatrist and is from GP referral. The other thing to ask the GP to check is her sodium levels. Sodium imbalances can also present with dementia like symptoms.

My mum had hallucinations which we thought were down the the macular degeneration but most of the time she would know that they were things that weren't really there such as a dog sitting in the arm chair or someone on the sofa.

turns out she has a uti which lots of you suggested. She also failed the little memory test from the dr - didn’t know what year month or day it was. Didn’t remember the address she was given to remember. But was able to count back from 20. Not sure what happens next. But very much hoping now she has treatment for the uti that the bugs disappear!