Lynn, pseudodementia is not dementia at all. It is a depressive condition with symptoms similar to dementia. For example, someone with bipolar disorder may exhibit pseudomentia. (At least that is what I learned when I googled it. )

thanks a mllion Dorothea, much appreciate it Ger x

Ah - thanks for the clarification. Lynn

I wish at the time they had diagnosed Ken with pseudodementia they would have offered an anti-depressant. He showed none of the typical depression signs, but later, what I assumed was part of his dementia symptoms (sitting and staring, apathy, personality change) was diagnosed as depression. Unfortunately for us it took Ken falling off of a 6 foot retaining wall onto concrete below to bring attention to the problem. As he laid there while we waited for the paramedics he just kept saying "Let me die, let me die, I don't want to live like this." LONG story short, those injuries were the beginning of a fast spiral downward, deep into Lewy land. He was put on Zoloft during that hospital stay and it's working well for him, I think. Sher

According to the doc and a number of articles I've read, the Parkinsonism sort of signs came first for Mom more than thirty years ago. She had tremors in her hands and, eventually, her chin. They became much more pronounced over time, but gradually. (This is something that worries me because I have very noticable tremors in both hands.) My understanding is that this is an early sign, but neurologists tell me not necessarily.

Then, the next sign is something my sis and I disagreed over at the time. Mom became very confused in shopping malls she'd visited for years - since they were built. Though my sister was comfortable leaving Mom to fend for herself, I worried and stayed close to Mom. That was between 10 and 15 years ago, getting bad enough for Sis to take seriously about 7 years ago.

Thanks for asking the question! I'm very curious.

Kate

What the Dr said to me: "He's faking it but does not know he's faking it."

I've never heard anything so ridiculous in my life!

Debra,
I took great delight in sending a copy of my father's neuropathology report to the MD who said my father suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and that's why he fell.
Robin

Jeanne,
Did someone say that exclusivity to LBD was a requirement for core features? I don't think this is the case for two of the three core features. Fluctuating cognition is a core feature that seems exclusive to LBD.
Robin

Robin, I thought that was what you were implying in this statement Dorthea quoted above.
Jeanne

My husband, a teacher, couldn't remember how to use Word, even though I'd show him time and time again. He began having trouble following TV shows, and then one day he fell and couldn't remember how to get up. That started two years of tests.

Hi everyone,

It has been so interesting reading people's posts here. For many years my sister and I have been critical of my father's poor financial and personal decisions. We were not living in the same State as him (since his diagnosis and significant deterioration I have moved back), but when we would visit him we would question him about his decisions. He would get angry at us but also never give us rational responses. His use of language was poor and he would mis-interpret our statements and go off on a response without understanding what we were saying. Given his anger (he has always suffered from anger problems) we would never push the issue. We would just leave frustrated and talk among ourselves about what bad decisions he was making. Now in hindsight we realize his executive functioning was deteriorating as a result of the dementia. LBD is very different in this regard from AD I now realize.

The good news is that he has accepted my sister and I taking power of attorney and managing his affairs for him now, though he is still in denial of his diagnosis and does not want to talk about it.

The lesson here may be that for those who do not see their loved one frequently, poor decision-making and loss of logic/rational thinking may be one of the first symptoms you notice. The only other thing we noticed was the mild tremors in his hands. We found out recently he had been having nightmares and flailing around in his sleep all this time too, but we never knew that before.

Has there ever been a public service campaign about LBD to help people understand early symptoms? Especially here in Florida a TV commercial or something might be very helpful. If we knew about LBD 3 or 4 years ago we could have prevented a lot of the financial problems my father now faces.

Anyway, I am thankful for finding this forum. Thank you for all your posts.

Emanuel

The financial problems might very well be among the first signs that something was very, very wrong. We lost our house and had to file bankruptcy. My dh just could not figure out what to do and would basically do anything...at one point he was just writing checks without knowing if the money was there. He too had anger issues and would have no logical answers to just basic questions, like "Why?" He standard response "I don't know." or "I'm doing the best I can."

Problem with first symptoms...hard to tell what is a symptom and what is personality.

Debra, that sounds so familiar! I would ask my husband something like, "Are you hungry?", or "Are you tired?" and he would answer, "I don't know".