I can speak with some knowledge here and "not bottling it up" sometimes isn't an option.I knew for a long time my husband had a problem but having him admit to it and do something about it was difficult.I talked it over with the GP in a visit for myself but was told the approach had to come from him.They would not instigate it and as he wasn't on medication for anything else they could not even call him in for a review.It was some time before I was able to persuade him to make an appointment when a referral was made to the Memory Clinic where a diagnosis of Alzhiemers Disease was made but I lived with it for about three years.

Ann you gave my sympathy. It took us ages to persuade mum to go to the doctor and, looking back, the signs were there for quite a while before.

Take care

The forum on the above mentioned web site was enormous comfort and support whilst helping my mum.

I really understand how you feel. My husband has frontal lobe dementia, now worsened by a fall after Christmas. I knew for a long time there was something wrong, we even had to come back from living in our dream house in France. It is a lonely road even when you have family, Michael's children think I am making it up so that is difficult too. The Alzheimers Society have been good as have local carer support groups although hate being labelled.
I wish you all the best

Ann it's ridiculous that the approach has to come from the patient as they often won't admit there's a problem, and so treatment which could slow down the condition is not prescribed soon enough.

Beth it's the person who is living with them 24/7 who notices first. Family members do tend to think you're 'making it up' or exaggerating the situation.

Thank you all for your responses , and best wishes to you Beth it is very hard isn't it? My husband is now on 10mgs of Aricept every other day for 2 weeks and then everyday until a review in August if there are no side effects. So far there is no improvement at all after 6 weeks and my fear is that treatment was started too late. I also have the same problem as Beth with family not being with it 24 hours a day and then only seeing what they want to see.I am sorry to sound so down but that is how I am feeling just now. We have also had to notify DVLA and that is not going down well at all.

Ann when my mum was put on Aricept we were told that the main purpose was to slow the decline, not improve matters. I think mum was diagnosed too late for it to be any help at all really.

As mum lived on her own, it took a while before we three put our experiences together and I was detailed to go with her to the GP. The defiining moment was finding a letter from a company trying to collect a £3,000 electricity bill

My mother referred herself for tests, he father had suffered from it and she knew. She is now in a home at £550 a week some judge in London ordered that and I fell out with my sisters over it. Her false teeth were lost at Christmas she is still without them ................ God help us all!

I feel for all those who live with or have loved ones with dementia as it is such a difficult thing to deal with. Everyone is different and no two cases are alike. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with early onset dementia just over a year ago and it has been an uphill struggle at times. She does take anti-depressants when she wants to, so not daily and lives in an assisted living flat. Our daughter cleans for her and my husband, who is ill himself, takes her shopping. At first we were all in total shock but now seem to manage quite well. Who knows what we have to come but at 82 mother-in-law is not going to be cured. Physically she is great but her mind is not quite there. God bless everyone, sufferers and carers alike and I hope you all find solace and help.
Take heart. xx

My heart is full for all of you. Hope we can all find some peace somehow.

This is exactly where we are at the moment my husband is definitely struggling ( the rest of us are as well if I'm honest ). He's only 67 but is very defensive when I try to talk about it. So I don't push it. I have just become a dementia friend and will soon be a champion. It's some thing we can all do. I was a Sister in a dementia unit so had some insight but living with it is so much more difficult. I have nothing but admiration for suffers and carers

My husband, 64, has just had a diagnosis of Alzheimers this week. We have known there was a problem for a few months now but to be told "officially" is very hard. We have lived with his MS for the past 34 years and had put the memory problems down to that, how wrong could we be.

To all of you, perhaps posting for the first time,as I haven't noticed your names before, I send you my best wishes.It seems that,like me, some have recently diagnosed partners and I have found that Dementia Week,while bringing the problem into public awareness is a double edged sword. The interview with Ian Botham in todays Telegraph has filled me with dread for my,and my DH's future.

Yes the future seems very scary. I've just read the interview ann & I so hope it doesn't end up that bad for us.

It starts as memory problems, but this has a knock on effect & soon leads to lots of other problems, which I had no idea about.

We've started going to a dementia meet up in local café once a month. It's good to meet other people who understand what you're going through because they're going through similar themselves.
Although saying that I did wonder as we got ready to go on Thursday if it was worth all the stress & aggravation I had to go through to get there!
I was glad that I'd persevered though & felt better for it.

(((hugs))) for all of you with partners who have been diagnosed. It is horrid and seems so much worse for people who are still young!

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