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Is it MCI or Dementia?

Caregivers: Dementia | Last Active: Aug 4 11:04am | Replies (51)

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@tay1

Thank you for your reply. You are correct - he doesn’t trust doctors and he has begun to mistrust his primary care doctor. I don’t trust his primary care doctor either and I get the feeling from his doctor that he just rushes SO through and doesn’t really listen. SO goes for his wellness checkup every year m, where they have him draw a clock with hands, remember words that are given to him at the beginning of the exam, etc. I have gone to a couple of those with him and I feel like there is no communication from the doctor regarding the results of the exam. Any issues he has with pain in any areas of his body - back pain, neuropathy, hearing loss etc are referred to a specialist, only at the request of SO and then we have to follow-up to make sure it happens. Sometimes we just do our own research to find a specialist and then SO loses confidence in them too. 😳 SO does his own research online about supplements. He keeps saying he is going to find a new primary care doctor, but he doesn’t take the initiative to do it. I will see what I can do about helping him find a new primary care doctor. Thanks for your concern. We both have good days and bad days - the good peppered with bad - at times!

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Replies to "Thank you for your reply. You are correct - he doesn’t trust doctors and he has..."

It sounds like he and I might be related.

At least, I used to be a lot more like that before I had a stroke. Now that it's too late to have prevented that, I see that I was too afraid to deal with my issues.

Maybe your SO is different, but I learned the hard way that fearing potential bad news is a *lot* worse than getting more facts.

I hope he can learn from my mistake.

Hi, when I knew my husband was acting differently we had his Doc refer to a Neuro clinic. They did 3 hours of testing to come yup with a diagnosis.
I wonder if you need to kick it up a notch and make an appointment with his Doc without him, just so you can get advice and next steps. Maybe he'll end up coming with you if you tell him you are so concerned you made an appointment, and maybe your insurance company website has a search for providers so you can see their ratings and choose a Doc that's a better fit. Good luck to you!

Does he have insurance that will cover a neurologist? If so, can you ask your doctor to refer one if you need a referral? I am going through this with my mother due to her having memory loss which was started due to a severe UTI and with her not taking her thyroid medication (she had hers removed when she had thyroid cancer several years back). She has been in the hospital three times since February but seems to be doing better now that I got her home healthcare and got her medication back on track and she’s walking every day. But my point is that I ended up taking her to Neurologist and I will be taking her back on May 2. She lives four hours for me so I stay 3 to 5 days with her every time I go. She is 86 and my stepdad is 92 to Neurologist cause it’s about 40 minutes away. Her Neurologist not only did visual and verbal test (which she failed miserably) but he also did an EEG. Since she got started on her thyroid meds correctly and things seem to be improving, he did not want to give her anything to help her with her memory until she has taken her meds on a regular basis. He wants to see if that was the cause of her memory loss and dementia state… Sometimes a UTI or not taking thyroid meds can mimic dementia , But when we go back to see him to see if her memory is better, he will give her something to help her with her memory. There is medication out there that will help clear up the brain fog and slow down the process of dementia. Just an idea to see if you can get to Neurologist … My mom’s neurologist is awesome and very nice and very thorough. Hospital My father passed from Alzheimer and my brother was taking care of him and it is very very hard for someone to take care of someone with dementia. if you happen to get upset sometimes just remember you are only human. May God bless your husband and you!