Experience of early vascular dementia?

DinkyLass

I'm an unofficial part-time carer for my Grandparents, and I'm starting to notice some changes in my Granddad's behaviour.


He's just turned 87 and despite the odd water and chest infection every now and again, he's pretty healthy for his age. He had a series of mini strokes a few years ago but had a stent fitted and all seems to be well on that front.


Mentally he's usually sharp as a tack, always cracking jokes and winding people up, but lately he's starting to have trouble forming sentences. He says he can see the words in front of him but can't get them out. He seems to be tired all the time and sleeps a lot more than he used to. He also seems to get more anxious about things and anything outside of his normal routine causes him a lot of stress.


His mother developed dementia in her late 80's so it does worry me that he might be heading down the same route.


He's a very proud man and I know he gets frustrated and not being able to do normal daily tasks so I'm unsure how to proceed...do I just be honest and tell him to see his GP or could I speak to his GP and voice my concerns without him knowing?


Or, there's a chance that I could be worrying about nothing other than him being old! If anyone has any personal experience of early dementia signs I would be very grateful for some advice or assurance!

Person_one

Its definitely worth a trip to the GP, as depending on the cause of the dementia, there are early interventions that can slow the progress of the disease in some people, and some medications that can help with the anxiety.

It sounds like he's aware that he's experiencing some symptoms, and that you're close enough to have a chat and let him know that you're worried.

Robinette

My mum has vascular dementia and did not exhibit any of the symptoms you mention; however, she did have other symptoms, which we did not connect at the time but are very common. These include:

Dressing inappropriately, such as wearing a mac and hat on a very hot summer's day.

Losing awareness of time, such as washing her car in the middle of the night.

Hallucinating and hearing voices.

Not recognising her home.

Forgetting how to play games, such as coming out of the rooms in Cluedo through the wall rather than the door.

Giving birthday cards at Christmas and vice versa.

Getting confused about numbers, such as saying the window cleaner charged £700 rather than £7 and that her house was worth £200.

Telling my answerphone off for being silly and not talking to her nicely.

It seems ridiculous that we didn't realise anything was wrong (she's always been a bit strange!) until she drove to the doctors and then forgot how to drive home...luckily the receptionist was a lot more dementia aware than we were and mum saw a consultant the following day, was admitted to an assessment unit and then to a care home, where she has been for the last seven years.

If any of this strikes a chord, please seek help.

RAS

What makes you think this is vascular dementia? There are several sorts?

Or he may have had another stroke that has not been assessed yet?

Suggest you talk to him about making an appointment with the GP, and offer to take him but not intervene?

Rambosmum

Word finding difficulties is often the first real noticeable sign of dementia. It sounds like he has some insight in to his condition and so may be open to you going to the gp with him, or may feel able to have the conversation himself. The sooner it's diagnosed the better as though there is no cure there are medications which slow the progression. If he sees the gp on a regular basis and he doesn't want to mention it, you could speak with the gp who could carry out an assessment on his next appointment, the gp wouldn't be able to give you information but would be able to take information from you.

bluelass

Hi there. My mum (sadly passed at 61 last year) was diagnosed with this in 2007. Mum had the symptoms eg unsteady on feet, clumsiness and being forgetful plus some slurred speech around 18 months before so she was only young to get it. It was uncovered after the GP refered her to neurology at the local hospital and CT and MRI scans showed that mini strokes called transiamic attacks (sorry if spelt wrong) had occurred. My mum died suddenly at home and the autopsy revealed a clot on the lung was the cause of death but also revealed cardiomyopathy. Myself and my brother have been advised to be tested for the cardio and im waiting for my appointment. It is an awful cruel disease and I only hope scientists will find a cure.

PasturesNew

Whether you get even close to an assessment will depend on where you live. We tried (unsuccessfully) to get one as the system was so inefficient it couldn't keep up with us.

We had to have conversations.
Then wait for the person to phone.
Then an appointment was made (3-4 weeks away)
By then the patient was in Hospital and so the test cancelled.
Hospital never tested her, even though she was there 2+ weeks.
Went into a home. Home never tested her .... and as it was a dementia-friendly home that was the end of it. No point pressing for an assessment when she was in what we considered to be the right place.

DinkyLass

Thanks for the feedback.


I looked at the vascular dementia mainly because of his previous strokes, along with the fact that he does have some weakness and constant pain down his left side. The hospital have put the weakness / pain down to a fall that he had last year. The fall was initially thought to have been a mini stroke but the hospital were a bit dismissive and just said 'it was probably another water infection'.


I think I'll keep an eye on him for a few more weeks and if there's no change I might speak to his GP directly. I just think that if I speak to my Granddad directly it might stress him out even more.

Slinky

Not sure if you're aware but it is possible for your parents to give permission for their doctor to talk to you. My Dad did this when he ended up having a scan for bladder cancer which fortunately turned out to be nothing. He said he didn't want us having to worry about his health at any time and the doctors not talking to us about him because of confidentiality. It made life a lot simpler in later years when he did fall ill.