Support Group for Those of Us Living With Mild Dementia

Posted by SusanEllen66 @SusanEllen66, Sep 18, 2023

I know there is a Dementia Caregiver Support Group.

I would like to have a group for people like me. I am entering the Mild Dementia phase from Mild Cognitive Impairment.
It’s frightening to think about my future.

Could a group for Dementia Patients be started?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Aging Well Support Group.

@shirleynz

I think two things happen when we get older. 1. We have done the same things so many times we no longer think about what we are doing. We do things in auto so we then haven’t lodged them firmly in.
2. Every day is the same with few demarcations to tell us what day it is. This means the days whizz by without us remembering which day of the week it is. I also think a lot of what we fear could be dementia is actually overload and overwhelm. We live anxious unsupported lives and wonder why we can’t function properly. I have retrained traumatised horses and dogs and even a few cats. The first thing I do is give them the life that their species requires then I quietly support them without any expectations. I give their brains a holiday. No demands no critiques no jobs no nothing except routine and support. They soon become brighter and responsive snd happy. Only then can the mammal brain take things in.
Give your brain a holiday. Xx

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That kind of life is what I long for, at 82 and living with long-haul Covid cognitive difficulties. It also sounds a lot like what I've been advised to do by docs in my post-Covid rehab program. It's hard to accept and makes me feel like I'm being lazy, resting so much and taking hourly brain breaks. But this mammal is taking your obsetvation to heart and will keep it in mind when I start feeling compelled to do more and keepbusy.

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@shirleynz

I think two things happen when we get older. 1. We have done the same things so many times we no longer think about what we are doing. We do things in auto so we then haven’t lodged them firmly in.
2. Every day is the same with few demarcations to tell us what day it is. This means the days whizz by without us remembering which day of the week it is. I also think a lot of what we fear could be dementia is actually overload and overwhelm. We live anxious unsupported lives and wonder why we can’t function properly. I have retrained traumatised horses and dogs and even a few cats. The first thing I do is give them the life that their species requires then I quietly support them without any expectations. I give their brains a holiday. No demands no critiques no jobs no nothing except routine and support. They soon become brighter and responsive snd happy. Only then can the mammal brain take things in.
Give your brain a holiday. Xx

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Very reassuring to read...thank you!....I am quite over-loaded at the moment as I have responsibilities that involve myself and other peoples expectations.....In the future maybe I will resist being over involved and just focus on my work...My Ego finds it hard to say no to flattering situations... and then I get all angst out.

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@fromthehill

Very reassuring to read...thank you!....I am quite over-loaded at the moment as I have responsibilities that involve myself and other peoples expectations.....In the future maybe I will resist being over involved and just focus on my work...My Ego finds it hard to say no to flattering situations... and then I get all angst out.

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Yes we have to guard against our egos leading us through a lifetime that revolves around it’s mischief and beliefs and false pride. Otherwise we will one day be in our death bed thinking ‘wow, it’s over and I didn’t live the life that my soul craved and I was in a constant state of overwhelm, darn it, too late now’
Keep checking in with your life. Sit down and ask yourself if you are living the life you want. Reinvent yourself - that’ll surprise the people who lean on you to do stuff they don’t want to do. Make the people around you stand proud fir themselves - you don’t have to prop them up - you’ll be doing them a favour.

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@annielouise

That kind of life is what I long for, at 82 and living with long-haul Covid cognitive difficulties. It also sounds a lot like what I've been advised to do by docs in my post-Covid rehab program. It's hard to accept and makes me feel like I'm being lazy, resting so much and taking hourly brain breaks. But this mammal is taking your obsetvation to heart and will keep it in mind when I start feeling compelled to do more and keepbusy.

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Somewhere along the way, no doubt in your childhood, somebody placed in your mind with harsh words and deeds and maybe punishment too, the belief that you’ve got to WORK you can’t be lazy you have to be seen by others and yourself to be WORKING, DOING and being busy. Well here’s the thing. That was THEIR belief and it’s not one that is actually required during your life here on Earth. We can quickly scoot around doing basic cleanup of our house then we can do the things that we LOVE to do. What do you dream of doing ‘one day’? It will be hard at first because your inner voice will growl at you, frighten you laugh and scoff at you, and you will need to face that voice and tell it to go away. Go back and find out why you have the belief of work being so important and air it and examine it and that will make it lose its grip on you xx

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@shirleynz

Yes we have to guard against our egos leading us through a lifetime that revolves around it’s mischief and beliefs and false pride. Otherwise we will one day be in our death bed thinking ‘wow, it’s over and I didn’t live the life that my soul craved and I was in a constant state of overwhelm, darn it, too late now’
Keep checking in with your life. Sit down and ask yourself if you are living the life you want. Reinvent yourself - that’ll surprise the people who lean on you to do stuff they don’t want to do. Make the people around you stand proud fir themselves - you don’t have to prop them up - you’ll be doing them a favour.

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Thanks ....good advice...I try to follow my bliss...but am sometimes weak..Thanks for the boost...

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There’s a support group called Aging Well

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@skdl1721

There’s a support group called Aging Well

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Good tip, @skdl1721

Here's the link to the Aging Well support group that @skdl1721 refers to https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/aging-well/

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A lot of good information there

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I also am starting to forget words at 72. If my husband says the word I am thinking of, I recognize it as the word i was trying to remember. My Dad died from dementia at 87. My Mom did not have this problem. I am very frightened. I pass the Medicare test every year (clock, 3 words) but still have to say the words over & over in my head. I just feel "spacey" and like I am floating in a cloud. Menopause or Alzheimer's?

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@livedinrochester

I also am starting to forget words at 72. If my husband says the word I am thinking of, I recognize it as the word i was trying to remember. My Dad died from dementia at 87. My Mom did not have this problem. I am very frightened. I pass the Medicare test every year (clock, 3 words) but still have to say the words over & over in my head. I just feel "spacey" and like I am floating in a cloud. Menopause or Alzheimer's?

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Two years ago I told my doctor that I just didn’t feel like myself mentally. He told me to go to my neurologist.
I had MRI, EEG, and a 4 hour neuropsychologist administered test.
I was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Over the last two years I’ve noticed other things happening. I’m in the middle of testing again.
They said my brain has shrunk more, and now I have Ataxia.

If I were you, I would get tested so you can get treatment ASAP.

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