My heart goes out to all of you. I know what you are going thru with the AD and the Sundown Syndrome. I just got a phone call from the nursing home yesterday saying that my mom is exhibiting symptoms of Sundowner’s. She has AD, for the last 14 years. They don’t seem to have any idea what causes it, nor does there seem to be an adequate treatment for it. Valerian or St. John’s wort are the two herbs suggested, light boxes (also used to treat seasonal affectedness disorder), closing the drapes, redirecting…all were suggested via information gathered on the internet. Factoids all and nothing in depth. I will need to do more research.
For those of you who “promised” a dying parent to “take care” of the remaining parent. Your dying parent would never have wanted you to die as a result of taking care of your remaining parent. Sometimes, you need to be realistic and many times, the caregiver DIES first. You will still be “taking care” of your parent, just in a different way. And yes, it is a lot of work having a parent in a nursing home because face it…you will NEVER find a facility who will give your parent the individual and KNOWING care that you can. That is why you NEED to go to the nursing home frequently, you need to call, you need to monitor their meds, you need to check for bumps, cuts, and bruises and if you find any, you need to ask how they occurred. You will need to advocate for your parent. Trust me, you will still be taking care of your parent. In more ways than you can imagine.
I am starting to think that the upsurge of AD has to be environmental. There are 8 people in my husband’s family who have AD, his mother and father included. So while it is on both sides of the family and COULD be genetic, for two of the siblings, their spouses also have AD. Now here’s the major thing…. They ALL grew up within 3 miles of each other, went to the same schools, went to the same church AND all ate vegetables from gardens planted in the same area. So is it consumption of produce grown in soil that maybe was tainted?? Was it some “thing” that was used during WWII?? Since it is generally more female than male, was it lead in the red lipstick they used?? And WHY is my mom the only one of her siblings with AD?? We don’t know yet. But I don’t think it is some conspiracy.
God help us all and pray for a cure. Volunteer for your local Alzheimer’s Association, find support groups, do your research, be informed and ADVOCATE ADVOCATE ADVOCATE!!
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