Dementia

Why? They have to start somewhere surely? I don't mean I'm putting my watch in the fridge and other bizarre things - symptoms are mild at present and that's typical. I know I have never experienced anything like this before - I don't like internet diagnosis

because symptoms usually start gradually, so that it takes a while to notice the changes, when you see them, you look back and realise they have been developing for a year or more.

I still think your DH is right to be cautious; depression and anxiety can make existing problems worse.

My H lived very well for the first 3 years or so after his diagnosis and I had noticed the first symptoms about 18 months before that so ,yes ,in some people it can be a time of almost normal living apart from the anxiety.
His decline is faster now but he is also ageing fast, he is 81, so I put some of it down to that.
I did have a false sense of how it would be at first but the reality is catching up now.

My post on Fri 07-Jul-17 00:06:30 - No flippancy intended but this week I have 'mislaid' 3 things. Two of them turned up where they shouldn't have been and I'm still looking for the 3rd

Just to let you know the 3rd item turned up today, somewhere I'm sure I checked last night

My love and admiration to all who are experiencing dementia at first hand - in my experience it is the most dastardly illness imaginable. The worst thing I've had to do in my life was to tell my ex-husband that I thought his mother had it. This was many years after we'd divorced but I kept contact with her as she was still our son's grandmother. Unfortunately I was right and he looked after her for as long as possible at home and after she needed residential care before dying 2 years ago.

It does sound as if you are suffering from anxiety nananina, dementia sufferers that I have known have been unaware of their condition and have usually been diagnosed because relatives were concerned.

Yes I take your point and I AM anxious. I was recently treateed for a large black mole on my back and I had a biopsy with the dermotolgy dept who said it could be melonoma and asked if my parents had died of skin cancer and I got very anxious but it's a wart so it's likely I AM anxious. My appointment with the dermatologist is tomorrow but my lovely GP phoned me last week to say it was all ok.

The criteria for dementia must be very complicated and vague. This article shows that when a govt. programme offered a bonus of £55 for each diagnosis of dementia, for 6 months from Oct. 2014, the number of people diagnosed suddenly rose by one fifth:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12108080/Dementia-diagnoses-rise-by-one-fifth-after-GPs-offered-55-bribes.html

TriciaF The criteria for dementia must be very complicated and vague. It is. There are different types of dementia but I think I'm right in saying they are all debilitating illnesses that result in death. IMO the hardest burden falls on the carer of the person with dementia because, as the illness develops, the individual has decreasing awareness of his/her abilities and activities. The majority of people with dementia are elderly and may have other illnesses to contend with too, as will their carers - most of whom are equally elderly husbands or wives. The suggestion that GPs accepted a so-called 'bribe' to diagnose more cases is an insult to GPs, as care and support for the individual and their carer would cost an awful lot more than 55 quid.