Vascular dementia early stages

I have seen this, so it is certainly grounds for a GP consultation - ASAP as there are now drugs to slow things down. It can also be caused by a whole heap of things, for which a diagnosis is important - don't let them fob you off without a full check.
a) overuse/missing/changes to the drugs that many of take as we get older
b) low blood sugar if he is not eating properly, or he is and they have not adjusted his diabetes medication
c) if he has lost weight and they have not adjusted other meds d) mild and not noticed water infections - my mum had this, a very calm mild mannered lady, she would repeat things, get very cross with the TV remote, snap for no apparent reason
e) undiagnosed cancer (e.g. prostate cancer may only seen as a need to pee more often until it spreads into other areas, including the brain)

Farview, just be a bit careful here - if he is saying you’re putting pills in his food, making his tinnitus worse, or causing it, it may well be that he is developing psychosis (of which one symptom is a highly negative state where people start to live outside reality). Don’t delay getting some help; pyschosis gets more and more difficult to treat the longer it’s left. Very very best of luck and you have my sympathy.

Symptoms of vascular dementia can be as varied as the person suffering from it. For one of my uncles it was a slow and systematic loss of memory. For his wife it was a simple case of being 'away with the fairies' . She quite simply lost all contact with reality and we learned how to live in her world to help her cope with ours.

There is so much very helpful advise here
I’ve noticed sone extremes of behaviour
Not totally out of character but much more pronounced and verging on violent
I was shocked when this happened
Tests are being scheduled by the GP as TIA was suspected including scans etc
Covid May have played a part also
It’s been tricky and unpredictable
Many of the descriptions you’ve all given seem
Similar
I know everyone is different and it would depend on the area of the brain impacted eg by TIA
I’ve raised the general concerns and for Utica diffilct episodes with my GP practise so they are well aware
The tricky part may come if any diagnosis is made

Both my parents had dementia, different types. However they had a medical diagnosis.

My mother was very good at covering up. I spoke to her GP and he was quite dismissive, said I was imagining it, until she ended up in hospital with a broken hip,
She saw a geriatrician, who realised right away that something was wrong.

I’m wondering why OP has assumed vascular dementia?
Not saying it isn’t, as it is apparently the second commonest form after Alzheimer’s but surely the first thing is to have an assessment by a health professional.
There are many sad anecdotal examples quote here but everybody is different.

My mother lived with us but she started getting violent towards the children so she had to go in a home My late mother in law had the beginnings of it (husband couldn’t see it)she kept buying the same food so there was tins of it

My father had it. He kept reliving the Clydebank Blitz, trying to drag us from our beds, to save our lives..

He was a civil defence worker, left his post to do something and came back to find a huge hole in the ground and the body parts of his comrades scattered everywhere.
He buried the trauma deep in his mind and it was only when he developed vascular dementia, it resurfaced.
We knew nothing of it, until then.

My MiL had Vascular Dementia, she became a calmer personality, being a bit feisty most of her life.
She eventually slept longer and longer through out those last years.
In the end she must have slept over 23 hrs out of 24 before she passed away.

My late first husband had vascular dementia. It did affect his personality quite markedly, particularly in his interactions with me; less so people whom he saw less often. He was really quite remarkably unpleasant at times, to the point where on some days I dreaded being in the same house as him. Not a lot of fun.

I wasn't aware that it was dementia until the doctors mentioned it (in passing!) during his final months in hospital. It helped me knowing that the last few years had been affected by his disease rather than my own failings.

My mum had vascular dementia but she was not awful, always gentle and sweet. She was attacked in A&E ward by another dementia patient who was vile. His wife was sobbing in fear and shame. Poor lady, my heart went out to her. She just kept saying that it wasn’t him, luckily my frail mum was ok after I laid over her to protect her. Mum MIL also had it and was so dirty, she had been a lovely clean and smart lady, it was tragic. She couldn’t keep a thought in her head and she was super intelligent. She fell out of a hospital bed and died of pneumonia after breaking her leg. We felt that was better than the alternative. I like to remember both mums as they were, kind, loving and generous. Now I’m older I worry myself sick about it as I used to have a first class memory and now don’t. My heart goes out to those with sad stories here and elsewhere, it’s a tragic end to a life in my opinion.

Ive seen my neighbour deteriorate over the years from a whining needy snitch to someone who can be verbally abusive and potentially violent. As she got worse I would hear her yelling at her husband and grown children - although never at the grandchildren. She became more and more paranoid with an OCD about rubbish, drains and bins, convinced that everyone had it in for her. Every few weeks the Dynarod guy was called to jet out her drains. I now realise she was putting oil and fat from cooking down the sink!!

Talking to her was like having a conversation with a tape recorder and she could not follow a simple set of instructions. She forgot how to do everyday tasks like pegging out washing, but insisted upon doing it. She was flinging the scrunched up and dripping wet garments over the line and then walking on without putting any pegs in. Her husband had to "help" her by following behind and re-arranging and pegging all the garments so that they hung properly.

Her poor husband died of a heart attack 3 years ago and the deterioration is now much more evident. She once became hysterical and was shouting and banging at my (locked) gate trying to get in. She fled when I threatened to call the police. She was wandering around in her pajamas and flipflops with no coat on in early march.

Her children live a distance away and an interfearing neighbour tried to rope me in as an emergency contact. I refused point blank. There has been no one at the house now for about 3 months and I assume she has moved in with one of her adult children. I expect to see a FOR SALE sign on the property any time soon.

Alison333 yes, UTI - i couldn't think of it. Thank you

2020convert we're in Staffordshire.
It's a family business, there are 25 purpose-built one-bedroom apartments in the grounds of the care home.

Both my parents have and had vascular dementia. My mothers caused by strokes which led to her going into a carehome. Her personality has changed she is happy and greets everyone as if she has known them for years but hasn’t seen them for years. My fathers I reckon was triggered by the isolation the pandemic forced us into and he deteriorated so he ended up in a home. There were times of aggressive behaviour but when this happened it was usually an underlying cause usually an infection. When he was well he was his usual mild mannered person. He passed away at 90 in November mainly due to frailty.

Suzieque66

Well thats all good and fine but what if the person refuses point blank to go to the doctor ? You cant drag him along ...

Dementia charities/helplines can guide you with this.
Although GPs can't discuss a patient they can discuss relatives' concerns and act on them.
Some GPs will call a patient in on a pretext to assess the situation, others may do a home visit or get a district nurse to call round to assess, this starts to get the ball rolling.
There are ways and means as this is an extremely common situation (someone with suspected dementia refusing to see a GP).

Hi Horti, my husband was diagnosed with vascular dementia a couple of years ago and it’s a horrible disease. We had moved to Devon after looking after both sets of parents in their late stages of life and dying also step father. We lost 7 family members in 8 years and i especially needed to get away from everyone which was stupid on reflection but we moved to Devon and didn’t find the people we came across as particularly friendly plus COVID kicked in.
My husband started having what I thought was nightmares night after night waking me up, he’d push me out of bed, telling me the ceiling was flooding , get up and kick an imaginary football around the bedroom, this went on night after night. He also complained of head and neck pains (still does). Then one morning he got up and was very quiet so I asked him what was the matter and he told me something that had happened to us 42 years ago was my fault, he’d dreamt about it and realised I was to blame, he absolutely went mad. I told him it was 42 years ago and I wasn’t interested in dragging up the past and to grow up and he suddenly got up and started hitting me even though I’m physically disabled/ bone disease . He’d never hit me before in his life but that was it, I’ve unfortunately never felt the same about him! I visited the Doctor and asked for some sleeping pills for myself as I was exhausted and couldn’t sleep because he was waking me up nightly and I broke down that he’d hit me and I hated being on my own with him, it still didn’t occur to me it was dementia even though I’d had to section his Dad because he was violent to my MIL I just thought my husband was turning into a very nasty old man like his father. It was only by grabbing my phone during that particular nasty episode and putting my DS on speaker phone who told him to leave me alone that he stopped. My DS & DIL suddenly appeared at our door 2 days later (wasn’t supposed to visit due to COVID) and said to me that they had realised his behaviour was changing that I then broke down and said I couldn’t and wouldn’t cope with violence. Doctor sent hubby for a head scan on the pretence of head pain but we didn’t hear anymore. Long story short, I put house on market as son wanted us living nearer so we’ve moved 20 minutes away from them and as soon as we changed Doctor and I explained what had happened they sent him for a CT scan. They managed to compare his brain scans and diagnosed Vascular Dementia and because he actually believes his hallucinations they’ve put him on melatonin tablets at night which really help. I was torn after 43 years of marriage about staying with him, it was me that was in shock for a long long time as it’s like treading on eggshells, he can flare up so quickly and be so nasty which is out of character for him. He’s now under the mental health team and they’ve been brilliant but can’t do anything more until he gets worse. We’ve had to stop him driving as he came extremely close to having an accident which caused another tantrum which I let my son deal with because fortunately he takes more notice of him than me for some reason. The doctor and mental health team have told me if he gets violent I’m to call the police straight away and if he gets up at night not to wake him because he gets aggressive. I live day to day and try not to plan things because he’ll go on and on about it. My last dog past away last year and I wasn’t going to get another one then suddenly I got asked to foster a little girl, which we did and he’s absolutely fallen in love with her and she him! He takes her out for walks, feeds her etc but has got lost so I’ve put a tracker on her harness and because she’s very pretty People kept stopping him to stroke her which was annoying him so I’ve put a ‘reactive’ sleeve on her harness and they’ve left her and him alone more. It’s a horrible situation to be in and I completely understand, my first suggestion would be to get your Doctor to get your DH under the mental health team who can help with medication if he needs it and general advice etc. our doctors surgery have a member of the carers team on certain days who also give advice and help. My DH isn’t at the stage where he needs to go to day centre but he will be going when he’s at that stage so I can have a break. He’s had a couple of TIA’s we think. But on the whole it’s like looking after an overgrown stroppy child who you’re constantly watching and clearing up after. It makes me sad and depressed that this has happened but short of leaving him I’ve realised I just have to get on with it until I can’t anymore. It does frighten me especially sleeping with him which I hate doing but our 2nd bedroom is my craft room and I’m sad as he has no empathy for anyone but himself. It’s as if his feelings have been turned off. He’s completely self centred now which is unfamiliar for him. He doesn’t like me going out on my own and hates to be left but the dog helps that a bit even though I worry if I’m out he’ll accidentally leave the gate open. I won’t hesitate to have him sectioned if the need arises because of the aggression. I suggest you get your doctor to refer you to the mental health nurses who are fantastic as your first move. Happy New Year.

When my mum was diagnosed with Alzheimers (over 10 years ago) I found tremendous support from this organisation (sorry, for some reason it won't show as a link you can click on, so you'll have to type it in)

forum.alzheimers.org.uk/

The saying goes "When you've seen one person with Alzheimers you've seen one person with Alzheimers" i.e. every single one is different.

My little mouse-like mum became angry, a nuisance to her friends (she lost all sense of time so would be phoning them in the night to see why they hadn't visited her), she was also found several times at the local bus stop at 3 a.m. (we don't get buses in the night in our rural area).

When she was admitted to the care home we had a fraught couple of months where she tried to escape, but once that was over she was actually fairly happy there. Medication calmed her down and I found her a more interesting person than I had experienced growing up. Often they revert back to their childhood or early life and it seems she had done quite a lot of interesting stuff that I hadn't been aware of.

Unfortunately she died of an unrelated medical emergency which at least saved me the distress of seeing her deteriorate further with AD.

Good luck to you, do the best you can, and accept it will not be perfect but there is no right and wrong way to "handle" this terrible disease.

Well thats all good and fine but what if the person refuses point blank to go to the doctor ? You cant drag him along ...

2020convert. There are three complexes with some extra care apartments in our relatively small town (Somerset), more seem to be added weekly. They have also been built in the large town (Wiltshire) we moved from ten years ago If it’s something you’re interested in worth googling for your area. Most that we’ve seen are part of a complex with ‘normal’ retirement apartments. The only downside for people needing extra support seems to be cost! We decided to move to a bungalow, no in-house support means both or one of us may need to move again in the future, with luck we won’t and will escape the debilitating disease that any type of dementia can be.

parky642

do please see a GP, as there are other issues that can mirror dementia but are easily treated with antibiotics. I know of at least 2 such cases but sorry, can't remember the illness/condition

Untreated UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections) can mirror dementia. Is that what you were thinking of?

I would suggest you contact Dementia UK, they train Admiral Nurses and you may have one in your area. She would be your support from day one and right through to the end. They support carers and "teach" them how to deal with our loved ones who live with Dementia regardless what type. There are so many different types of Dementia and everyone is affected differently so there is definitely not specific pathway. We tend to say VD is more steppy than Alzheimer's which is a gradual slope, but some Dementia are much more steep often depending on age too. Get a referral from the Admiral nurse or if you haven't got one insist your loved one's GP refer you to a Memory Clinic for assessment. If you have a Memory Cafe in your area join them too, they should be a wonderful support as should your carers link. Good luck.

My father had vascular dementia. He had been a volatile type of person all his life and could get very worked up and angry so at first it was difficult to spot. We noticed him struggling with words where previously he had been very talkative and excitable. His memory got worse. He got very frustrated and angry. His GP was pretty useless tbh and put his behaviour down to an exacerbating of his inherent character traits. The mental health nurse who we insisted assess him was very nice but couldn’t decide whether he had dementia or not, which was no help whatsoever! This was a long time ago and the Health service was perhaps not as aware of this condition as they are now-although they really should have been. To cut a very long story short, we eventually got a diagnosis and my mother got limited support at home as Dad refused to move into the specialist care home he needed. His GP would not diagnose him with limited capacity at that stage or refer him on. My mum had suffered a TIA earlier on so struggled to care for him, even with carers. My sister and I both lived a considerable distance away, but stayed with them as often as we could, both juggling jobs, our own illnesses and families. It was a horrific time. Eventually things came to a head when my father attacked the doctor when he made a rare home visit after months of begging. We had to get Dad sectioned as he could not be removed from his home otherwise. My mother was very reluctant to do this. We got him settled satisfactorily after a long struggle to find decent care. Sadly Mums health broke down shortly after and she had to be admitted to a care home herself. She died before him although we never told him as we knew he was too affected by his condition to understand properly. I do hope that dementia diagnosis and care is quicker, kinder and more effective now as what we suffered as a family was terribly painful and frustrating. My advice? No more than trust your own instincts and fight all the way for the best care for your loved one no matter what the ‘experts’ say!

My husband has had encephalitis this year and his personality has definitely changed. He is impatient, irrationally bad tempered and shouts and swears at the tv and radio. He also rages when he struggles to complete a task. It’s difficult and he finds it hard to cope with.

There was no internet to refer to when I first had to cope with FiL’s vascular dementia, but I did find a little book in the library.

One term that will be forever with me is the ‘catastrophic reaction’ mentioned in the book. I soon found out what that meant - a truly violent rage (over the tiniest thing) - so frightening I had to leave the house and take the petrified dog with me.

It was so utterly unlike my ‘normal’ FiL - I knew dh didn’t really believe me when I told him. TBH I probably wouldn’t have believed it, either.

However he did it again when dh was present. Dh is a big hefty bloke but even he said he wouldn’t have dared to approach him. It didn’t happen very often but was always over some minute thing over which I had no control anyway.