Caring for Alzheimer's

Posts Tagged ‘grandpa’

through the years my grandma has always been pretty sharp. she has always been very stubborn and hates it when shes wrong. but lately, for the past couple months, i have noticed a change in her behavior. she has always been the nice one while my grandpa was the grumpy one, but lately she has been acting out for every little thing! she has been very….. touchy i guess. she gets mad super easily and to her nothing is ever her fault. when shes wrong, she gets mad, when something is missing, she blames others and gets mad. today we were planing a meal for a family get together for about 25 people. i had found some snacks in the freezer that i thought we could use for the party. obviously there weren’t enough, but we could still use them. my grandpa told my grandma, "i don’t think there’s enough." and my grandma flipped. she slammed the snacks on the table and said, "fine! we wont use them. GOD!" then she tried to laugh her way out of it a few minutes later. little incidents like this one have happened almost everyday for a couple months. she never calls when she knows she will be home late. sometimes she will visit a patient (shes an IV nurse) and she will be gone for hours! no one knows where she is! she will come home around 11:00 pm and say she just went shopping.. i guess she could be stressed since we moved in with her last year…. but i don’t think so because we have helped her quite a bit. am i over reacting? could it just be the fact that shes stressed? she really worries me! i love my grandma so much! she has always been there for me and now she has been very difficult! especially to my grandpa! please help! my grandma means the world to me!

Hi. I’m 16 years old and right now I have a lot on my shoulders. First, I have school and grades to concentrate on, but right now they are dropping a lot. See, I take care of my grandma. She has dementia/Alzheimers and I don’t know if you have ever known anyone with that or taken care of them, but it can be really hard and stressful. My day consists of getting up, getting ready for school, getting my brother off to school, and then leave to go to school. Try not to let my grades drop, then come straight home, cook dinner for my brother, and leave right after that to go over to my grandma’s house. Stay over there until six. I take my homework with me and try to do it over there, but it never works. She asks me the same question every 2 minutes, and I have to clean her house and cook her dinner as well, while my grandpa is at work. Then I come home, and feed my dogs, and finally eat dinner, get my shower, and try to finish as much hw as possible. It’s hard and stressful, and I will admit some days I just break down crying because of all of it. I don’t ever have time to hang out with my friends, and on the weekends, I try to catch up on work, and then go out and run errands for myself. I also babysit my cousins 2-3 times a week, to get some money and help my aunt out. So instead of coming home from watching my grandma at 6, I leave and go straight over there to babysit until 10. that’s when she gets home. A lot of my friends are getting mad at me and started not talking to me, because I haven’t had time to spend with them, and say I have too much on my shoulders. Sometimes I feel I should just drop out of school because my grades are going from straight A’s to straight D’s and a few F’s. I don’t think my teachers understand what all I go through at home. My mom has depression and can’t do much, so I basically run the house. Along with all that, I also have health problems, which stress only makes worse. I am hypoglycemic, and if I skip just one meal, I can pass out, which it’s really easy for me to skip meals a lot of the time, because I’m so busy, and I’ve just skipped breakfast before, and actually passed out at school. I also have anxiety which stress also makes it worse because it gives me anxiety attacks. I’m not on any meds right now, but I’m considering it. Anyways I know this is long, but I’m in desperate need of advice. What should I do? Continue doing all of this, or do I just need to focus on school. If I stop taking care of my grandma I don’t know who will be able to. Please help. I really need some advice here, so stressed out.

So here is the scoop, my fiance and I live with his grandparents to help take care of them. He grandmother has Alzheimers.His mother moved back from New Hampshire a couple years ago to help out. (We’re in CA).

When she moved out here, she decided to see the same psychiatrist that my fiance sees. He has ADD and takes Adderall for it. The Dr. put her on the same meds. At first things were OK, put then it seems that her mental state has really been debatable. It has really gotten a lot worse in the past couple weeks. Let me run down some things she has done in the couple weeks,

1. She has started either talking or humming to herself constantly.
2. She has been accusing her son of stealing her car keys to take gas from her car and hiding her kitchen tools.
3. Accusing me of clogging up the toilets and that anything I leave in the house (like a bag) collects dust to worsen the grandpa’s COPD.
4. She sometimes doesn’t sleep at all (maybe a few hours)
5. She sometimes sleeps all day
6. She recently kicked out her husband (end of last year), then now called him over, called him a piece of s**t and asked for him to move back in, after saying she wants a divorce and never wants to see him again (all in the same breath)
7. She thinks some rooms in the house smell like rotten meat.
8. She is blaming me right now for everything wrong in the house.
9. When she is talking her to herself, it varies from talking to another person, from highs to lows, to the dog (we actually have a dog, so not that bad), to just mumbling to herself.

I do believe it has a lot to do with the Adderall she is taking, and I do believe she is taking more than the recommended dose because she always runs out before her next prescription is written. But the scary part is that she has been out of pills for a few days now and her symptoms have not gone away.

Before a few weeks ago, she was still passable for sane, even though she was accusing her husband of taking money out of her bank account to make it over drawn. (he doesn’t even have access to that account, it’s hers)

My fiance believes that the smell part is a big deal. She has been on about smells for a while.
1. She couldn’t sleep next to her husband because he smelled too much.
2. She smells an intense cigarette smoke in my fiance’s car.
3. She smells rotten meat in the living room.
4. She has been putting a bad smelling incense around the house to "clean" the house
5. She used to sleep with the dog every night and now doesn’t because it smells too bad.

And I’m sure it related but she has been cleaning far more than usual. She spent 5 hours cleaning a room that was perfectly clean. She also has been making it look like no one lives here. For examples, the bathroom used to have air cleaners, a plant, shampoos, soap, etc and now it looks like a hotel bathroom with nothing in it.

I guess what I’m trying to get at is that she has been exhibiting some really unreasonable behavior and doesn’t see how anything is wrong except for everyone else. I can go on forever listing things, but really we just don’t know what to do. We have tried talking to her Dr. and letting him know everything that has been going on. His response was "I’ll do some looking around." What does that even mean? We are at out wits end. Please, anyone with some advice out there as to what could be wrong or what we can do to fix it?

Mine is: i am a senior, doing my graduation exams, so i have to study. i live with my mom, dad, sister and grandparents, but dad is in the hospital with septis, a shattered vertebrae and maybe a tumor, and mom is there with him and when she isnt she is a wreck.

That leaves me and my sis to take care of my grandparents.

My grandmas alzheimers has gotten worse lately, and she is losing control of bowel movements. my grandpa threw his hip out last week so he practically breaks into tears if he sits the wrong way or rolls over.and has shingles (some type of nerve infection).

And my sister is so stressed out she has started skipping school, and hasnt gone in a week.

Am I looking for sympathy? you bet your ass. why does your life suck?

My Grandpa has Alzheimer’s and tomorrow and basically all week I’m going to baby sit him. Most of my family just leaves him alone all day and he freaks out about where his wife went and who is going to pick her up and where is his van and all this stuff. He usually goes and walks to the mail box 10 times a day. So I’m baby sitting him for money and I don’t want to ignore him all day so is there anything that we can do to keep his mind occupied while my grandma is working? I will be over about 9am-4pm… If I take him for a walk around the neighbor hood, will there be a chance he will walk around the neighbor hood again? I don’t want him to get lost.

~Thanks every one
If it helps he is 86 and grew up in the Philippines… I already know a lot about him. Sometimes he still thinks he is young and in the Philippines.

My Grandpa has Alzheimer’s and tomorrow and basically all week I’m going to baby sit him. Most of my family just leaves him alone all day and he freaks out about where his wife went and who is going to pick her up and where is his van and all this stuff. He usually goes and walks to the mail box 10 times a day. So I’m baby sitting him for money and I don’t want to ignore him all day so is there anything that we can do to keep his mind occupied while my grandma is working? I will be over about 9am-4pm… If I take him for a walk around the neighbor hood, will there be a chance he will walk around the neighbor hood again? I don’t want him to get lost.

~Thanks every one

I’m 13 years old, which is the first thing I should mention. There are so many problems in my life right now, and it’s really getting to me. First, my dad. He’s 58 years old, a smoker since the age of 15 but trying to quit, and a good candidate for Alzheimer’s disease. He has a lot of trouble remembering things, and it runs in my family. He is also a very good candidate for lung cancer. His father died from a stroke or a heart attack before I was born (I forget…), and his mother just died from lung cancer. She only smoked for 20 years and quit about 40 years ago. He is also an alcoholic (not a severe one though). He got really, really drunk a couple nights ago and stumbled and hit his head on the balcony. He had to get stitches on his forehead and his eyes are bruised, and his nose is cut up. Next, my mom (50 years old). She is severely depressed. Her mom committed suicide before I was born, and her dad is suffering from congestive heart failure. She does A LOT of weed every night. She is also very, very dramatic (being depressed and all) and cries about twice a week. She and my dad don’t get along at all and my dad gets frustrated really easily. Her mom killed herself when she (my grandma) and her husband (my grandpa, the only grandparent still alive) got a divorce. If my mom and dad ever get divorced, which they probably will since they don’t get along at all, I really think she will do the same. All my mom ever does is loads up on anti-depressants then goes to sleep. Oh, and smokes weed. Then, she loads all her problems with her father and my dad onto us and cries to us. She is overweight too, and she never ever eats. It’s scary. But she never loses weight. Then, there’s my sister. My mom doesn’t get along with her either. They have had two fights today alone. My sister is 17 years old and goes out and parties a lot. She is a really good kid though, like she has never ever done weed (thank god, since it runs in my family haha), has a 4.7 GPA, and is still a virgin (awkward?). She just likes to have fun with her friends on summer nights. She does drink, but not excessively. But the thing with her is that I think she has some form of mental disease. I think she might be anorexic. You can see my question that describes her symptoms here http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqD_JYYoNhQf9Z1t2QrCZaPty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20110702014834AAzbU0d she might also be bipolar or something. She just gets so angry all the time. You can read the story in that question about her throwing her phone at my mom. Then I have a 20 year old brother, who’s actually fairly normal. He smokes weed, but what 20 year old doesn’t? Then there’s me. My brother lives far away (he’s in college), my sister is always out with friends, and what 13 year old wants to chill all day with her parents? I mean, sure, I go out to dinner with them, I do my mom’s makeup, I go downtown with my dad, but I’m not about to spend all my time with them. Especially since they’re so… depressing to be around. Here’s my problem though: I don’t have many friends. Girls in 7th/8th grade are just plain awful. I have about 3 friends that I would actually call up and hang out with, and I don’t even like hanging out with them. My sister even told me that the nicest friend I have is a bitch, so it’s not just me. I can’t make any new friends, it’s summer! Hopefully, I will in 8th grade. But anyway, I have nothing to do. Ever. So all I ever do is eat, run on the treadmill (I don’t do any sports, so I feel the need to), and watch TV. I use TV like a drug to get away from my problems. When I watch my favourite TV shows (Friends & Ugly Betty) I feel like I’m in a different land, away from a reality. I spend almost all day everyday watching TV or on Tumblr. I go to sleep at like 7 AM and wake up at like 2 PM. I can slowly feel myself becoming depressed. My dad says I live the life of a pothead, minus the weed. Everything is so fu*ked up. I just wish I was young again when I was oblivious to all these problems going on in my life. There’s nothing right about my life. Why does everyone in my family have such problems? They need to learn how to act. Their 13 year old daughter is slowly slipping into depression, because they’re all dumping their problems on me. I feel like the song Family Portrait by Pink describes my life fairly well. "Mama please stop cryin’, I can’t stand the sound, Your pain is painful, And it’s tearin’ me down" "It ain’t easy, growin’ up in World War III, Never knowin’ what love could be, You’ll see, I don’t want love to destroy me, Like it has done my family" "In our family portrait, We look pretty happy, We look pretty normal, Let’s go back to that, In our family portrait, We look pretty happy, Let’s play pretend, Act like it goes naturally". It’s weird because when I was
It’s weird because when I was younger, about 8 years old, I would look at our family picture and say, "I wish Mommy’s smile was real. I wish Daddy really put his arm around her like that in real life." and when I would do my mom’s makeup when I was younger I would ask her to smile while I did her blush and think, "I wish this smile was real. I wish she would smile in real life." Right now my sister is in her bedroom crying and my mom is bawling in her bedroom because of a fight they had. I can’t stand it. What can I do? Why is everything like this? I don’t want to turn into that when I’m older. All I want is a childhood that isn’t so damn fu*ked up. I don’t know why I posted this. Maybe I needed to vent? Maybe I should have written this into my diary. What can strangers do? Well, I hope someone out there can tell me something helpful. Because right now nothing is right and I don’t think it ever will be. Thank you for reading my stupid question that should probably be in a diary. Or a t
[Cont.] It’s weird because when I was younger, about 8 years old, I would look at our family picture and say, "I wish Mommy’s smile was real. I wish Daddy really put his arm around her like that in real life." and when I would do my mom’s makeup when I was younger I would ask her to smile while I did her blush and think, "I wish this smile was real. I wish she would smile in real life." Right now my sister is in her bedroom crying and my mom is bawling in her bedroom because of a fight they had. I can’t stand it. What can I do? Why is everything like this? I don’t want to turn into that when I’m older. All I want is a childhood that isn’t so damn fu*ked up. I don’t know why I posted this. Maybe I needed to vent? Maybe I should have written this into my diary. What can strangers do? Well, I hope someone out there can tell me something helpful. Because right now nothing is right and I don’t think it ever will be. Thank you for reading my stupid question that should probably be in a diary

My Nana (grandma) has been forgetting a lot of things and she’s getting older and isnt taking care of herself. She drinks non-stop and takes pills for depression and parties all the time.

My grandpa died in April in 2006 from alzheimers, and he was only in his 60′s. The alzheimers took control slow, and we cared for him over the years. It was, and still is, the most painful part of my life. My nana was a mess after he died and never recovered. Now she’s showing the same beginner signs my grandpa did. I’m terrified she’ll suffer my grandfathers fate. Please help.

Are we all paranoid because of how my grandpa died or can she be dying?

Please, help.

OK, here’s the story.
I live with my mum, sister & 2 grandparents. My dad lives across the other side of australia. We are not particularly wealthy (we live in our grandparents’ house). My grandfather has alzheimer’s and Parkinsons, and my grandmother has her 8th bout of cancer and limited time to live. My sister and I share a room but i have my own little section. I’m 15 by the way. I go to a private school and i love it there because i don’t have to see my sister, but one problem is that its 1 hour away and i am a competitive swimmer, swimming 16 hours a week and in year 10 with shitloads of work to do and no time to do any of it.
My sister and I are extremely different in many ways. We clash horribly. Sharing a room doesn’t help one bit, but there are no other rooms in the house. I can’t study with music on, and she can’t study without music on. She has it on her stereo FULL BLAST and when i ask her to at least turn it down she goes INSANE at me! That is only one of the many, many problems that we have.
Another is my grandparents. I know they’re old and slow but i am a very impatient person and i can’t help that! It’s in my half-german genes. They drive me CRAZY. My grandpa gets very confused and trashed my half of the room the other day looking for the toaster. I can’t stand things being untidy. That is again only one of the many problems i have with them.
My mum doesn’t understand me one bit. Correction, she does but she chooses not to care or help me. When i seek support from her she tells me to pull myself together and deal with what i’ve got. Which is true i guess, but i’m a teenager. I need privacy, space, and this is what i’m not getting! I’m going INSANE.
One more thing. I know this is self-inflicted stress, but if i acheive this, this will be at least one thing in my life i’m happy with. I’m trying to lose weight to make up for being so ugly. NOt anorexic, just a bit skinnier. I know i’m not fat. But i feel fat! So i want to get rid of this bloated feeling. It sucks being the ugly one in my group of friends, so i have to make up for that by being the skinniest.
I think i am either a little bit depressed or just get really stressed easily. I hate my house, it’s so old and yucky. The carpet in my room makes me want to vomit. So does my reflection. One factor that does not help my mental state is that i get literally no time to myself, it takes 2 hours to get to/from school, then 2 hours of swimming, i’m supposed to be doing 3 hours of homeowrk and study every night too. And of course, i’m exhausted by the time i get home from school every day.
I cry almost every day. It’s terrible. I hate it. As in the question, i honestly thing i’m going CRAZY. Please help me!
And thanks for reading this. It probably sounds so childish, i know. But please put yourself in my shoes. I can’t cope with life the way it’s going for me.

Ok so like shes 82 years old. I feel like she is getting alzheimers disease or something. Well for the past couple of years she’s been reckless and forgetful. My grandpa is kinda useless because he’s a uneducated alcoholic at 84. Any ways she was always the leader of the family because she was educated even went to college and she controlled the bills and everything. Well recently she’s been drinking so much alcohol and gambling it’s kinda gotten out of control. She’s really behind on her morgage of her house and many other house hold utilities. And usually when she drinks or gets drunk she forgets everything like where she is or stumbling or slurring her speech. And about 5 times she has been drunk and cooking and it burns to the point where it’s almost a fire. Does she need medical help or something because she has never been this out of control before and I’m worried she may accidentally kill herself or burn down her house.
Ok I dont know what’s wrong with yahoo answers but Ameretta is the best answer and it won’t let me choose anyone as best answer:
Thanks for your help I will try to convince my mom to help her with this advice.
@Ted I am 16 (17 next month) and I was just looking for some advice to get my mom or aunts or uncle to help her. I was just really worried and so is my family. Also I was the only one in my fam with a yahoo answers so I will share all yalls advice with them. Thankyou!