my mother's suspicious behavior is alzheimers?

Hillary1991 · 02-04-2005, 03:48 PM

My mother is 71 and believed that my brother was stealing from her. I know that he did not and she probably misplaced things as per normal. Then she said my sister stole something and most recently she thinks my father is forging checks in her name. None of this is happening. She takes minimal drugs that I have checked out and that's not it. I'm thinking it's alzheimers. I"m pretty clear on what I need to do but wondering if anyone else has gone through this with an elderly family member. If so, I would be interested to hear the story and stages that it went through. While she does forget things, she is really sharp on retaining anything she reads or sees on news. Just this strange paranoia. Also, she has not always been this suspicious - it is new within the past few years.....

**lady00** · 02-04-2005, 04:10 PM

The only way to be sure is to ask a doctor. I know it must be hard for your mom going through that and suspecting her own family members of misleading her...and if this all started recently it sounds like it could be alzheimers. She should probably see an MD ASAP.

sweetpea4670 · 02-04-2005, 06:04 PM

It's possible that she has any one of a number of mental illnesses...her symptoms seems like that of paranoid schizophrenia. She should definitely go to a mental health doctor

**annie24** · 02-04-2005, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpea4670

It's possible that she has any one of a number of mental illnesses...her symptoms seems like that of paranoid schizophrenia. She should definitely go to a mental health doctor

I don't think this is paranoid schizophernia. She seems a bit too old for this to be developing now. But, I'm not really the person to talk. I'm not a psychiatrist, I'm a biochemist.

It may be dementia or Alzheimer's. But, Alzheimer's cannot be conclusively confirmed until an autopsy after death, when they will look for "plaques and tangles" in the brain.

Take her to the doctor, and he can give her a test to diagnose dementia. The questions will be like, what year is it? who is the president? where do you live? Subtract 7 from 100, then subtract 7 from the answer, then do it again and again. She may be asked to draw some figures or correctly repeat back some sentences.

On the other hand, my grandma lived to be 97. She was constantly accusing the plumber of stealing her hand cream, or my mom of stealing her heart medicine. Or even better, she'd accuse the neighborhood kids of breaking into the house, going into her dryer and stealing her underwear!!!!!

That was hilarious. Then, we'd find her underwear. She'd say, "Oh, they must have brought it back." She was fine and lucid, but she was a paranoid person her whole life

Oh, I miss my sweet, goofy grandma.

Good luck! I really hope your mom is fine. See what the doctor says.

Jetta · 02-05-2005, 03:20 PM

If you believe that is what she has get her to nuerologist for some testing asap. They have medications that slow the progression of the disease, it works best in the earlier stages. My Grandma had this and my parents took care of her until her death (from bone cancer).

02-04-2005, 03:48 PM	#1
Hillary1991 Offline Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 36 Posts: 10	my mother's suspicious behavior is alzheimers? My mother is 71 and believed that my brother was stealing from her. I know that he did not and she probably misplaced things as per normal. Then she said my sister stole something and most recently she thinks my father is forging checks in her name. None of this is happening. She takes minimal drugs that I have checked out and that's not it. I'm thinking it's alzheimers. I"m pretty clear on what I need to do but wondering if anyone else has gone through this with an elderly family member. If so, I would be interested to hear the story and stages that it went through. While she does forget things, she is really sharp on retaining anything she reads or sees on news. Just this strange paranoia. Also, she has not always been this suspicious - it is new within the past few years.....

02-04-2005, 06:04 PM	#3
sweetpea4670 Offline Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 21 Posts: 111	It's possible that she has any one of a number of mental illnesses...her symptoms seems like that of paranoid schizophrenia. She should definitely go to a mental health doctor __________________ "You think I'd leave your side, baby? You know me better than that..." "They will see us waving from such great heights, 'come down now' they'll say. But everything looks perfect from far away, 'come down now', but we'll stay".

02-04-2005, 04:10 PM	#2
lady00 Offline Super Moderator Join Date: May 2004 Gender: Female Age: 25 Posts: 7,867	The only way to be sure is to ask a doctor. I know it must be hard for your mom going through that and suspecting her own family members of misleading her...and if this all started recently it sounds like it could be alzheimers. She should probably see an MD ASAP.

02-05-2005, 03:20 PM	#5
Jetta Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Minnesota Gender: Female Age: 35 Posts: 2,354	If you believe that is what she has get her to nuerologist for some testing asap. They have medications that slow the progression of the disease, it works best in the earlier stages. My Grandma had this and my parents took care of her until her death (from bone cancer).