Hi,
My husband is 82 years old and I am 57 years old. I work full-time and fortunately my husband qualified for Medicaid for home care and we have a wonderful caregiver for him while I am at work. He was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago and his driver's license was taken away by DMV from a doctor's orders. He was given risperdal but reacted very confused and couldn't walk. He is now taking Xanax which makes him calm and not anxious or agitated and Morphine for his back pain. He has fallen a lot due too much medications but now he is able to use a walker once in a while and sleeps a lot during the day. He gets confused with days and nights and when I read about runny noses, I really saw a pattern of this particular lewy body dementia. The doctor thinks he is having mini-strokes because once every two months he can't sit up and falls over easily. We thought he had a UTI but the doctors tested him for that and he didn't have an infection. It is hard because everyone is so different. I just want my husband to get quality of life in his own home as long as possible and appreciate all you caregivers out there. I have had two bouts of cancer but I am so glad I am able to care for my husband.

Welcome to the forum! My husband is 80 and he has had LBD for probably about seven years now. I am 64 and am his full time caregiver. He also had a very bad reaction to Risperdal. Also to Seroquel. I have been tempted to give him some Xanax in the evening [I have a prescription for myself that I use for emergencies] but am always afraid of his reactions to medications. Last night he was just impossible to deal with--angry, agitated, fixated on certain delusions and hallucinations [strangers in the house] that nothing would distract him from. Bedtime was such a blessing!

Anyway, this is a great forum. There is also a spouse-caregiver LBD forum on Yahoo. It's amazing to me how many of us are quite a bit younger than our husbands! Could it be a risk factor? --Pat

Welcome Renko. There are lots of understanding people here. You have come to the right place! I wish you well and hope you'll get involved in the discussions on forum and chat. Lynn

Hi,
Just be careful with medications like Xanax because when I gave my husband two pills he started to fall. His legs give out on him and it made it worse with two pills so he takes one and every so often he will not be able to use his legs. His connection to his brain gets disconnected and I have to learn to use the Hoyer Lift because I tried twice on Sunday to help him get up and it was quite a challenge. Yes, there is a great difference in our age but I'm so thankful for him and all he has taught me when I was younger. He makes me laugh and is the love of my life. He taught me how to ballroom dance and loved to dance. So many women were interested in him so I had to learn. LOL. It has been a challenge but I'm glad I am young enough to help him. I couldn't do it if I were the same age. Best wishes to you and calming him really helps with some medications. You have to experiment because everyone reacts differently to medications. Take care.

You're right it definitely is a blessing to be young and strong enough to take care of our husbands! Good thing I've worked out with weights over the years! Even so, I did have to call the paramedics one night to get him up off the floor where he had slid trying to get up from the bed. I strained my back trying for over an hour to help him up and won't make that mistake again!

Renko,
Welcome to the LBDA forums, sorry for your need to join us but glad you found us, Please visit often and please try to post in the areas that best fits your question or comment, that way there will be more people to help.