It appears that my MIL is having bouts of deafness. It comes and goes. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks in advance. BTW, she is going to a skilled nursing facility near us (currently lives in our home). We are afraid she will seriously hurt herself with repeated falling. She is also losing weight and sleeping a lot. Tough on everyone.

This happened to my mother [who does not have Lewy] a few years ago. Her hearing in one ear would just come and go and finally just went. She still has adequate hearing in her other ear. The doctor said it was permanent.

My husband's hearing has become more acute since having Lewy. One neurologist attributed it to the Exelon but his current neuro said it could be due to Lewy. Strange disease.

I'm with Pat, my husband's has gotten more acute. Makes nights a little difficult as he seems to hear everything.

I saw something about this symptom signaling a stroke possibility. I was just wondering if this could be due to Lewy plaques. Will bring up at intake at SNF.

She got up this morning saying she couldn't hear. When I made a noise behind her ear she turned her head. Is it possible that she cannot understand what I am saying, rather than not hearing me? She has been unable to follow conversations for a while now.

Donna,
Could be you have hit on something, maybe she just can't process the words and really has very little to do with her actually hearing. I agree with the others my husband who was always a little hard of hearing seemed to hear so much better in the latter part of his life, Yes very strange disease for sure !!

My dad whose hearing had been getting very bad for years, experienced these odd times when his hearing became very acute in his last 2 years. It was truly mysterious and remarkable. Just like his voice would go from normal to the barest whisper, without intent. There are many odd things that happen with these neuro. diseases. Lynn

My mom "startled" very easily at small noises as the disease progressed, and her hearing appeared to be more acute. It made it very difficult for her to eat in a restaurant (especially if there were children there). But although she over-reacted to small noises, she often wouldn't respond to conversation. When asked, she would say that she hadn't heard the comment or question. We eventually did work out that when she could not process words or the conversation, she would say that she couldn't hear. She was just lacking the ability to tell us what was wrong. Much like her complaints about not seeing -- she could see, but her brain wasn't processing what she was seeing. Sometimes it's a lack of words to tell us what is going on, so they use the only words they have. Lewy is full of surprises for us.

Peace,
Suzee

The hearing loss has not improved. I think it is more cognitive than actual hearing loss. We have had to place her in a SNF because of frequent falling and more pronounced roller coaster rides. The staff was shocked at how different she is from day to day. I have been educating them about the disease. Luckily, the entire staff is open to learning as much as possible. They treat her like a queen and she seems to like it there. I miss her living with us (she was here for three years). It is what it is. Sigh.

We do what we have to do. I'm glad to hear she is adjusting well.

My husband's hearing has gotten so good during this disease that if I want to have a private conversation I go into my bedroom closet, which has no vents. This is a strange disease.

On the subject of falling, my dad used to fall a lot in the night but it was suddenly passing out making him fall. The neurologist changed his night time Sinemet to one that here is called Sinemet Plus Retard and he has never fainted since. He occasionally loses his balance but on longer faints.

My husband has not been "officially" diagnosed yet but we see the neurologist again on Wed. I am reading everything I can on this forum and am 99.9% sure that he has LBD from hearing from all of you about the symptoms. He has had memory issues for one year, Parkinson's symptoms for I don't know how long (neurologist found them in Nov. and now he says his feet feel like they are glued to the floor), incontinence for the last 4 mos. which has gotten very bad, a couple of hallucinations, disorganized speech,etc. I never thought about the hearing but for years, he as complained if the TV or radio is too loud. Says it hurts his ears.

I have read some of you talk about the roller coaster ride. He is in early stages and has days when he is completely clear. I am keeping a diary. On those good days, I have to go back and read my diary as I feel very stupid for thinking anything is wrong with him. But then he will do something weird or get where he is dragging and sleeps all day or doesn't take his bath, and I know this is not the man I married 50 years ago. Thanks for all the comments about symptoms and caregiving.

Keeping a journal is very wise, if this is LBD that your husband has one thing will run into another and that journal will come in handy, When my husband's feet were "stuck" he used to say it was like they were stuck in mud and he always was stuck in the door ways very classic LBD for many!

Good Luck, I hope it isn't Lewy but sure does sound like it but of course none of us are Doctors here even tho many of us could be LOL!

I was an information specialist before I retired. Had a degree in Library and Information Science from the University of SC. So, I tend to "google" everything. That's how I found this forum:) His young doctor that he has had for the past year told my daughter a few weeks ago that when he first met me, that he thought I needed to "slow down" on my diagnosing his illness. But now he thinks that I have "hit the nail on the head". I was just so frustrated with his memory issues. I am sure that the Five Categories of Lewy that I found on this website will help her in diagnosing. I was able to place at least one symptom that Robert has under each category. I read about the sleeping on here last night. He slept 9 hrs. last night, got up and ate a pancake, and has already gone back to bed at 10:30. He asked me if one gets bedridden with this disease. Said he felt like he might be bedridden soon. Very sluggish this morning. Walked into the dining room from the kitchen with coffee in one hand and pancakes in the other. He spilled both the coffee and the syrup all the way in a path. Thank you for listening. I just feel so anxious like I need to be doing something but I guess there is nothing to do but just take one day at a time.