Yesterday my Mom accused us of stealing her purse. She has been having memory issues, and it is getting worse.

Last night she was looking out of the window with a letter in her hand. She wanted to give it to a neighbor asking for help.

Today she has no memory of it.

What am I dealing with?

sounds pretty normal for dementia, including alz.

That is what I was afraid of...She finally found her purse, with no memory of all the accusations, or the letter.

Mom's doctor wants to put her on medication, I know she will be very resistant to take it.

Mom used to be in the medical field which makes it even harder....she says,"I would know if there was anything wrong with me,"

Hi, Sounds like what I went thru about 2 years ago with my mom. She would be ok one minute & then all of a sudden her facial expression would change & you KNEW you were in for it! She used to have me crying with confussion. I didn't know she had Alzhiemers/Dementia/Schizophrenia...She would just start yelling, accusing me of stealing her meds, money, all sorts of off the wall stuff! Then an hour later, NO memory of any of it. She would call ME Crazy.
She had some sort of episode 2 years ago where she went to sleep, & would not wake up. Called 911 & this whole thing started there. Now she is on 14 or more meds, it's crazy. I just joined this group myself a few days ago & I must say they are all AWESOME! If you can get the time to read, keep reading, keep asking...These people here help.
Also, one last note: we all made the mistake of listening to my mom when she told us to Mind our own business! We allowed her to make so many BAD decissions. We should have known she was "sick"....Go with your gut instinct and take control now before it gets complicated. Good luck & prayers are sent your way.

Thank you for the response. Things has gone from bad to worse...a few nights ago she ran out the house thinking we were planning to kill her.

Ohh, I am sooo sorry! Is she on meds? I took my mom off her Thiothixeme for Schizophrenia, to give her a break from all the OTHER meds to correct the side effects of that one. She was ok for 1 week.............Then YIKES all hell broke loose...Evil devil came out of her! It was like she was possesed by demons, even her voice went creepy...So she is back on them.
Feel free to talk anytime. I have you & your mom in my prayers

Also, even though many people keep guns locked up, I do need to say from experience that Taking moms gun away or bullets is a Smart thing to do. My mom always had a gun for personal protection. One day she shot a racoon that she swears was rabid & attacking her! She lives ON a Main road, with schools, & very busy street. She shot right across the street! Thank god she did not hurt anyone...she did get the racoon, which was quickly buried before police were involved!.....At this time we STILL didn't know she was ill, but that was definately the beginning of testing. lol

Hi, she is not on any meds. She has a low thyroid and takes medicine for it. I think she was out of them for a few days when all this happened.

We do not have any guns. She had a fit when she found a B.B. gun in my son's room. Do not even start me on that story.It was very painful.

Who is taking care of your Mom now?

Oh, it's good that won't be an issue for you. My mom FREAKED when we suggested we should take the bullets out. She was always a bit like this "Eccentric" but she just kept getting stranger everyday. We all feel like complete jerks now that we know it was this disease eating away at her brain. We just thought she was being stubborn as usual.


She lived with my younger sister for the past 12 years for no particular reason, just worked out that way. My sister would always call to complain what a pain in the butt she was being, I would talk to her about it & it seemed to make things better. Until one day my sis called crying, looking for a way to end her miserable life. I insisted that she just bring her down to me & I would handle her care. NEXT day she was here, 900 miles away.lol

So now it is just me & mom. My husband is military & is deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq most of the time. I never know if he will come back to me alive or in one piece. But I do know he is ok with mom being here, as it was his idea & insistence. He is Egyptian & from a culture that does not believe in Nursing homes. We take care of our family until the day they die.

The way I figure it is this> I'm pretty well recovered from my accident, I have a home, husband, secure & well adjusted marriage, plus plenty of room here with a huge back yard all fenced in. She is safe here. If she does get out the door, she can only go as far as the yard. She has no clue that she is locked in so it works good.
My sis on the other hand has had her for 12 years, spent every cent trying to make her happy, She is in bad health because she has been so busy taking care of mom. She isn't married (Who would even want to consider that package deal) & has no house, just rents. This is MY way of helping them both!
It's a lot harder that I thought! She's a mess. She turns from sweet & loving to EVIL, Scarry, Monster. I have hidden all the matches, knifes, guns, taken the knobs off the stove, removed all carpet runners through out the house, put up HUGE signs on Red construction paper with arrows to her room, bathroom ect...Red seems to get her attention better than other colors.

To be quite honest know one really knows what she has. After falling asleep for 2 days at my sisters, it was finally discovered she had not been up at all. She was snorin away though. called 911 & she remained "asleep"for 2 weeks. When she finally woke she had further brain damage but could never find a cause....not a stroke. I believe it was overdose but because she had wet the bed for those 2 days, it was gone from her system...In any case, after a year of in & out of hospitals & 7 nursing homes they came up with the DX of Schizophrenia,Alzheimers,& Dementia w/Parkinson like symptoms. She is on 14 diff. meds. now & just gets less coherent every day.

I will hang in as long as possible, but it's so hard! I hate it all. Especially with my medical problems, Brain injury, Nerve damage, & chronic pain from all the broken bones. This forum has been a lifesaver for me! I have found so many helpful people & info!

My appoligies for taking so much of your time...Perhaps there is something here that will be of help to you

Wow! you have had it tough. You had an accident? I am still recovering from mine.(a concussion)
So... you take her wherever you go? or do you put her in a day care?