When Dementia Makes Someone See Things That Aren't There

My husband is 75, about 15 mos ago he was driving ,doing grocery shopping and the finances.He had the odd moment that gave me concern but was fine. Feb. of 2011 he had a small stroke and a huge intelligence change. We moved into our daughter's converted 2 car garage in June in another city. By then he had considerable memory loss. At christmas he had another stroke so the strokes and Altzhiemers are making him talk to people. They make plans to meet at restuarants. Limos etc are coming. Any one else have this problem??

My wife frequently remembers a dream as something that actually happens--frequently involving relatives sho "steal" from her. She knows I don't believe this and sometimes becomes quite upset but other times seems to accept that we have different perceptions of reality.

Yes very helpful. My Mom experienced hallucinations frequently when she was alone. Supposedly it was a bearded lizard, running thru her livingroom.

The comment, "in more rapidly-progressing cases...it's not like the person you know with mild dementia is going to suddenly flip out." helps me understand the progression of this disease in the person I am caring for.

Hello Anonymous, Thank you for sharing your caregiving situation with us. If you'd like, you can post your questions in our Ask & Answer section here: ( http://www.caring.com/ask ). I hope that helps. Take care -- Emily | Community Manager

I see my cousin 2 afternoons a week. She is always taking of her parents and of her sister who all died 20 years ago. She sets the table for them, makes breakfast for them and really seems to see them and carry on conversations with them. She saves newspapers because her father loves to read them, and goes shopping with her mother (wanders the neighborhood). The other day when I got there she said her father was still sleeping. I said I'd be quiet, so she let me in. When I got in, the bedroom light was on and the bed was made. She went in there and said, "Dad, I tnink it's time for you to get up." That was unnerving! She complains often that all these people are always coming over and she wishes they'd just leave her alone. She says the neighbor asked her why I don't come over anymore and she told her I had a house and dogs to take care of. She has no concept of time and wouldn't even sign cards for her grandkids, even though I bought them and she just had to sign her name. Her granddaughter just got married in July, but it was almost as if a stranger was . She just didn't act like the grandmother of the bride and, again, wouldn't sign a card or a check as a gift. Any ideas what stage she might be in and what we can expect in the future? She eats breakfast, but doesn't do much other cooking that I know of. She's very strong-willed and stubborn, was very active and a "social butterfly" type, but now, she;s pretty much alone. Her sons sees her every day but she thinks her daughter-in-law is out to "do her in". I really don't think a live-in caregiver would be the answer because she wouldn't listen to her. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My heart and prayers go out to all of you who go through this 24/7.

Everyone say a prayer tonight for those who are the caregivers - for the Lord knows we sure need it. So for those of us who still remember - "Say goodnight David, goodnight Chet" - those were the good old days. Take care all.

Good article and very eye opening.

Learning that this symptom with alz. is related to a visual problem which my mother has.

When my husband began seeing bugs in his room at night, I sprayed, stomped, swept, etc and then scheduled a complete eye check-up. - no problems that would cause the bugs. We dropped a new medication and he didn't complain anymore. Recently he told me he still sees the bugs but the dr and I have convinced him they're not there.

One night my husband got up in the middle of the night to brush insects off the bed. Then he wondered why I had allowed the millions of insects crawling on the floor and furniture. He proceeded to clean the dresser top with bug spray and toilet tissue. When I took away the bug spray he went for the starch spray can, then for a bag of Miracle Grow granules. He proceeded to sweep the floors and mop with a dry mop. All this was going on around 3:00 am. He said he was leaving and packed a small bag containing a hanky, socks, the TV remote and one of the dog's toys. Finally got him to go back to bed. I stayed up the rest of the night making sure he wasn't going to try to leave.

The line between the humor and seriousness of dementia is so delicate. Often times we are told to remain in good spirits during difficult situations and sometimes laughter can be the best medicine. Very nice article.

There is so very little about dementia that is humorous, especially for those who are dealing with hallucinations and paranoia experienced by a loved one. I hope no one will be offended if I offer a short story about a rather humorous hallucination experienced by a very prim and proper elderly widow. This lovely lady called a neighbor early one morning to ask him to come over and physically remove a couple who had spent the night in her guest room. She complained that this couple were there uninvited and that they had carried on loud and vigorous sexual activity all night long. She had been unable to get them to leave. Of course, the neighbor knew that no guests were there, but he had to come over to go through the motions of evicting them nonetheless.

My mom has early dementia, following some open-heart surgery. Until she got diagnosed with it, we had to almost constantly reassure her that the things that she was hallucinating were not going to hurt her. (Mostly, she'd look at a pile of clothing or blankets on the couch and think it was somone sitting there!) I had to tell her, "Mom, it's your blanket, pillow, and coat." That seemed to comfort her a lot. She's now on Aricept, and doesn't have them anymore, except when she's REALLY tired. We laugh about it, but it was something that was TOTALLY disconcerting to both of us when it started happening!!!