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Friend getting worse

(31 Posts)
miep Sun 16-Oct-16 11:13:19

We have a friend aged about 75, who lives alone and in the past. Every conversation is about how hard done by she was by mother/grandmother/ex-husband/daughter/everyone else on the planet and she makes shockingly nasty comments about everybody here in our small village, though never to their faces. She repeats herself constantly (even five minutes later) and gets very mixed up as her memory is obviously going south at speed. We used to invite her for lunch every sunday, but have now given up as we can't stand the nastiness. Recently she came round at 8pm saying she'd just come back from shopping (the last bus is at 6) and lost her keys and that the neighbours, who have a spare set, were out. We know that the neighbours were in and that they don't have a set in the first place. She eventually left at 9pm after we said that we were going to bed - quite truthfully. Now her downstairs neighbour tells me she has taken to sitting in the garden in her nightwear, talking to imaginary people and giving other invisibble people the royal wave. We are fairly sure that she suffers from Alzheimers or another affliction of the same variety. Despite the fact that she is so rude and unpleasant, we think something should be done, but have no idea what.

Does anybody have any advice? I could tell you many other instances of her current VERY strange behaviour, but that's enough for now.

Sorry this post is so long, but we are really rather worried.

Eloethan Tue 18-Oct-16 15:17:40

It does require medical investigation. It might not be Alzheimers. I believe urinary infections can cause some very odd and uncharacteristic behaviour in elderly people. Also, for a short period of time, my Mum started seeing things - horses looking over the garden fence, giant cobwebs, etc. etc. I read that such "hallucinations" can sometimes occur when a person has macular degeneration, which she has.

nanaK54 Tue 18-Oct-16 15:30:39

My dear mum who died last year completely 'lost the plot' with a urine infection, she could hear loud music and saw children in her bedroom- all very worrying at the time.

mags1234 Tue 18-Oct-16 15:52:33

Our bowling club is in the same position re the increasing memory loss etc of a member who lives alone. We re being as vigilant as we can, and if she gets into situations where she s not safe we will have to act! It's very worrying cos she thinks she s fine.

nannyjan Tue 18-Oct-16 17:13:35

We had a similar situation with my mother in law. We live 300 miles away and she wouldn't accept there was a problem or that she needed help. Her younger son loved much closer but she was very rude and nasty to his wife and wouldn't let them in when they called. We eventually got a home visit from a nurse after contacting the Gp, but it took several attempts. Even then she refused. Any help and they couldn't do anything. Shortly afterwards, the neighbour contacted us to say they hadn't seen her for a few days and the police had to break in and rescue her. We think she had a stroke , her speech had gone. She had pneumonia as a result of hypothermia, her kidneys were failing and we all agreed that she should not be resuscitated. Without any treatment, she pulled through and three years down the line she is well cared for in a specialist nursing home for dementia patients. If only she had accepted help earlier, but she would not! Very difficult, even if you are family.

EmilyHarburn Thu 27-Oct-16 12:46:40

Take Notanan's advice. Once Adult Social Care have been notified it is up to them to contact her relatives etc. And you can rest assured that you have done your duty.