Problems with cooking - dementia?

[puffinus]

In recent months, I've become increasingly worried that my DM is developing dementia. No diagnosis yet (she's waiting for a memory appointment), but there have been lots of signs that something isn't quite right. But some days she seems really OK, and I wonder whether I'm exaggerating things?

Anyway, one recent thing is that I've realised she's cooking less. My dad has been cooking more and more, and a couple of times she's made something when we've been there that's just been 'odd' in some way (a component missed out, or a meal just presented slightly strangely). Today on the phone she was telling me she was in the middle of cooking roast beef (a roast was always her go to dish), but she was a bit flustered because she couldn't remember how long to cook the potatoes for. It was all a bit odd - she couldn't remember the name 'roast potatoes', but she also described them to me almost as if they were a dish I might not be familiar with. The whole conversation was just slightly strange. She then said she mainly makes more simple things these days, like scrambled egg, because she cant really be bothered with cooking now, or my dad cooks.

I'm not sure what my question is, really. I'm trying to get a handle on what sort of stage my mums at - whether this could just be ageing or mild cognitive decline, or whether this is more likely to be a dementia sign? She can be so 'with it' on other days, but there have been lots of little indications that somethings not quite right.

Yea that sounds like my relative who has recently been diagnosed

One of my first thoughts about cognitive decline was when she had clearly forgotten how to make a family favourite that we ate all the time growing up, she thought she was winging it I think. She really wasn’t. 😂

Forgetting how to do tasks they could previously manage with ease is very likely to be the start of dementia in my opinion.

Plus there is the forgetting the name of something. When my mum went to her memory assessment there were about 20 images that a 5-6 year old would know on a page and she was asked to name them. Even 5 years later I remember some of her responses:

Kangaroo - 'I don't know'
Yacht - it's a boat. When asked what type of boat 'I don't know'
Owl - it's a bird. When asked what type of bird 'oh I'm not very good with nature. I don't know'.

Could you get her to the GP so he can test her and refer her to the memory clinic? The sooner she can get some medication the more likely you can slow down the progression.

The Alzheimers Society has a useful table to destinguish betweem old age and dementia

Thanks all. @Choux she's already had a mini test at the GP and has been referred on, because (I think) she couldn't name a couple of the objects, and she couldn't remember the phrase they told her at the beginning. But she been warned it's likely to be a six month wait for the next appointment.

My friends mum was in tears at the kettle as she couldn’t remember how to make a cup of tea, poor lamb.

It was vascular dementia.

@puffinus I don't know if this will help but re: six month wait for appointment. If you can find a phone number/email address for the memory clinic then it's worth getting in touch and say that you are able to attend at short notice if they have a cancellation (if you are able to attend at short notice obviously!). Also, they told us that we could be seen sooner if there was a clinical need that made the appointment a priority. We pointed out that DM was getting muddled with her tablets which was a bit worrying and seemed to speed things up.

Obviously things will work differently in different areas but that was our experience.

Once/if you have a diagnosis then there's lots of other things that can be put in place to help.