@bookjockey - You are most welcome to our Connect community. We are all patients helping other patients, and any help is welcome. You and your sister have your arms full. Make sure that you take care of yourselves too!

Merry

Help is what is needed, more so than what people expect. I was my husband's only caretaker but I knew that I wouldn't last much longer doing it myself. This disease takes a huge chunk out of the family and major caretaker.

Being a caregiver is not a pleasant task for sure ! It does take a toll physically on the caregiver and emotionally on both parties . My wife has suffered from dementia about 3 years ( with uncontrollable bowels) for about 10 to 12 months now . She is 77 and I,( her husband) am 79 . We have been together for 60 years married and 2 years dating . GOD has blessed me with the physical and mental strength to do what needs to be done! My most important prayer ,is that I will outlive her so that I can be here for her . My everyday tasks are : nurse..maid .. cook.. bookkeeper.. secretary ( phone answerer ) in one way or another. It does get physically challenging at times as well as emotionally! I find myself getting impatient at times , when that happens i mentally boot myself in the butt and remind myself, that it is not her fault ! It does take an emotional toll on her as well . She sometimes cries because of what I have to do to help her and keep things going ! Remember caregivers , they are feeling the pain of all of this too ! From all that I have been able to research on the subject, it doesn’t seem as any med helps ! We have tried turmeric (did nothing) , lion’s mane mushroom supplements ( also nothing ) . This best advice seemed to be for us to eat certain seafood at least twice a week ( or more ) . Tuna , salmon ,haddock, and a few others are best , and try to get the .... Wild caught variety ! Keep a stiff upper lip LOL !

Thanks ! We are in the process of getting hooked up therapist now! We have to get referred and are working on that . I do appreciate your posting that info !

We got hooked up! She has an appointment in about 3 weeks ! Again, thanks for the info!

I am wondering if and what type medication any of you caregivers are giving for your loved one with Alzheimers that are in mid to late stage. We recently took mom of Donepezil as the doc said it was more for early onset and they had a different med for more mid stage and to see if it was the cause of some ongoing stomach issues - it was not. While she said neither was a cure but to slow down the progress, I figure why not. So can anyone share meds or anything they are giving their mid to their mid to late mid late stage Alzheimer sufferer.

my wife is taking Memantine (10 mg) twice a day and Ashoganda root extract for those times when she becomes very anxious or upset. The Ashoganda was recommended to us by a pharmacist (he takes it himself). My wife has tried a bunch of others prescribed by her neurologist but because of the side effects, she is off them. hope this helps

BUNZMAN
my wife is taking Memantine (10 mg) twice a day to "slow" the progression. (not sure if it is working). She is also taking Ashoganda root ( Galia) for anxiety (and it does work). none of the other medications she was prescribed worked WITHOUT serious sideeffects. The only thing that does work is exercise! she will get on a treadmill at the gym and walk for 90 minutes! the cost of the gym is cheaper than the medications and it works without any side effects. HER NEUROLOGIST HAS STATED many times that exercise is the only proven things that works for mid-late stage dementia .

Dear Bunzman,we tried a few supplements.... turmeric,lions mane mushroom, and some other med ...... none worked ! A lot of drugs advertise being good for dementia etc. but , unfortunately do nothing but empty your wallet! I did a lot of researching on the matter ,and so far the best help that I found by that research , was eating certain seafood twice a week . Try to get wild caught fish if possible.. salmon ,tuna,flounder, cod,sardines to name a few ... do a search on that subject ! The seafood made the biggest improvement for my wife !! Even tuna salad sandwiches for lunch , which you can buy pre made in the envelope type containers . It helps !!