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Patients "act out" when it's just you there?

Caregivers: Dementia | Last Active: Sep 23 9:03pm | Replies (12)

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@jmg60

@chris20, YES! I have the same situation, my husband is completely obstreperous with me, won't relax his foot so I can put on a shoe, won't let me wipe the food off his face ( slaps my hand away) and I tell his Neuro these things but at the office, my husband is all smiles and little chuckles. He doesn't really speak due to severe aphasia but he can totally fake a conversation for a minute. Doc: "How are you Tim?" Tim: "GREAT!"(big grin) Doc: "Any changes? Are you having any issues?" Tim: "NOPE! All good!" now if he had to say more, he can't. But it's fascinating! It's on purpose. If anyone had to spend 30 minutes with him, they'd figure out he's masking. I think it's a sign of overall intelligence that they understand when to "be good". For you, hire help, take breaks, look into respite care, be good to yourself!

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Replies to "@chris20, YES! I have the same situation, my husband is completely obstreperous with me, won't relax..."

I have the same situation here. Doctors have no idea how bad it is because he tells them he's doing "very well, much better" even though his chronic pain is getting worse. He says he wants to be the "model patient and make the Doctors proud of me". I tell Doctors, family, friends what I'm experiencing but I worry they think I'm exaggerating. They can see the confusion but not the really bad times. It's so frustrating!

Oh wow 😮 same with my husband. We are now arranging for help to come in several times a week, and as mentioned in a separate post, we are now seeing the neurologist, a psychiatrist and a counselor. The neurologist is not as helpful with the “bad behavior” as the psychiatrist and counselor. They are the ones keeping ME sane.