Cognitive or Dementia?

Hi all,

My hubby has PPMS and diagnosed 2003. He is more or less housebound and his memory is almost non existent.

~If you gave him food he couldn’t tell you what he just ate for example.

His speech is clear but slow but word finding is an issue. His father died a few years back but he doesnt always remember that.

Do you know anyone like this or maybe its you?

Caz

Hi Caz.

I have memory issues and can’t remember things like if I’ve had my meds just after taking them and struggling at times remembering if I had breakfast but you should maybe ask your GP if your husband could have a mini mental test that is designed to detect signs of dementia as we are all different. This is often done either by a GP, Nurse or Health Visitor.

Cath

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Hi Caz

I’ve got a thing that keeps happening lately, I go to the bathroom, have a wee (using a catheter), then can’t remember whether I’ve wiped after. The kind of stupid thing you do every time, everyday for many years.

Or cant remember whether I’ve rinsed conditioner out of my hair.

This is besides the normal, word finding issues, forgetting what people have said, the plot of anything on TV, the story in a book I read last week, etc, etc.

But I scored as ‘normal’ in the last (terrible) neuro psychological exam.

So whatever.

Physiological issues are weird and strange. And of course individual as is everything MS related. Don’t hurry to have your husband defined as having dementia.

Sue.

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My wife who was diagnosed with PPMS 32years ago has now been

diagnosed with brain atrophy.Has anyone experience of caring

for someone in the same situation.I have been to ask our GP if

she could have an ongoing healthcare assessment.The Doctor

replied “whweat’s that”?has anyone got any suggestions.

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My wife who was diagnosed with PPMS 32years ago has now been

diagnosed with brain atrophy.Has anyone experience of caring

for someone in the same situation.I have been to ask our GP if

she could have an ongoing healthcare assessment.The Doctor

replied “what’s that”?has anyone got any suggestions.

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Hi I would ring adult social services and ask them for an assessment. Hope they can offer some help. Pam x

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After being diagnosed with PPMS fourteen years ago, this is my first time ever on ANY forum! The reality is, despite the NHS being invaluable, there is no help out there… Tired of battling musculoskeletal, neuropathic pain & spasms. I used to have a life I’d become so complacent about. Now I have no life @ all

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I’m sorry to hear that you’re feeling like that. I spent years suffering with pain both before and after surgery and diagnosis. It’s true that there’s no cure but there are treatment options for pain control. I’m on a cocktail of drugs that would probably kill a donkey but as my pain is now mainly under control (I still suffer at times and end up knocking myself out) but as I now manage to sleep and spend time with my hobbies, I feel my life is worth living.

It’s worth speaking to your Neuro and GP and if necessary getting referred to a good pain specialist. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. It took probably two years to get my drug combination right but perseverance paid off. I’ll need to stay on this regime for the rest of my life but the alternative isn’t worth consideration. I don’t even think about my ms, I just carry on with my life and I hope one day you can do that too.

Cath x

Hi there,

Yes my hubby also has lesions in his brain and atrophy and as they don’t like to call it dementia but cognitive dysfunction.

I have been told not much can be done just to be patient and reassure them when they try to communicate things to us.

Caz

Has your wife got an adult social worker, when I got really ill my husband range adult social services and I was assessed for support. At first I received something called re-enable and after having them for 6 weeks I was given direct payments. Direct payments is a fund given to you to pay for your own care. It’s worked really well for me and my family . It’s totally different from pips which I get as well as direct payments. Michelle and Frazer xx