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Hallucinations, as well as Paranoia Type A and Type B are serious mental illnesses, not to be ignored nor taken lightly. A pychiatrist whom she likes is the best person to handle this problem. There are medications for this which should help her very much. Good Luck!
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Sorry for the misspelling. "Aricept"
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why does my 96 year old mom that is pretty sharp and does not have dimentia insists on pulling her diaper down when she is in bed therefore in the morning she is all wet and so is the bed. she insists that it is not her that does that. has anybody ever gone through this.
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I just need to say how this is such an amazing community that helps people so much, I love reading the advice and learning how to be a better caregiver from so many perspectives. Hugs and thanks to you all!
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All good answers.
Add: Sometimes, people are in a state of fear, and can imagine people following them related to the major life changes they are experiencing, the small amount of life they have left, etc.
ASK her: Do you know who it is? See if she can answer clarifying questions.
IF she has been listening to too much fear-inducing programs on TV, or other media, for instance, see about blocking those programs. Substitute programs that are uplifting, pleasant, fun, comedic, etc.
Sometimes that is all it takes.
IF her fear-related perceptions of people following her persist, some have tried making a game of spotting the color of car or the license plate, or trying to be the first one to see the store or destination one is going to---those types of games require paying acute attention, and distract from the other fear-focued followers.
Bottom line: one cannot reason logically with someone who's mind is affected with any kind of dementia.
We can distract them from things, or block things that trigger those delusions or hallucinations, and we can check for UTI's and get those treated;
OR we can give pills that have side effects to control them if they get too far out-of-hand [like running or trying to escape those followers..]
People with compromised minds can and do have some odd perceptions--sometimes, those perceptions can trigger them to doing things that might endanger themselves or others--THAT must be watched out for, to do what's needed to protect them and us.
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Be also aware: many classes of medications they may already taking, can cause delusions or hallucinations!
Sometimes, it takes some questioning to learn what might be triggering the assumed hallucinations.
One patient kept seeing a monkey in his room.
Staff kept charting "hallucinating", due to Morphine.
I questioned him more, and it turned out that the bolts holding the metal support plate for the TV wall-mount, actually looked like a monkey-face.
Once he knew what it really was, and that his mind was a bit loose due to morphine, he calmed down, relaxed; it was no longer a problem.
Evaluate the medications the elder is taking!
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It sounds like she may be delusional as opposed to having hallucinations. You didn't say whether or not she thought she saw a real person following her or just thought someone was following her. Sounds like a UTI to me. Mom gets delusional as the only symptom of a UTI - said the office at the nursing home sent her a notice not to drink the milk because the kitchen was trying to poison her, etc. - delusional but not hallucinating. Also, vision might be an issue. My mom's vision is bad but at this point, she could not even answer the questions to be fitted for new glasses so sometimes she sees things (shapes) and thinks they are something they are not, such as a large flower pot in the distance being an animal that's about to get her - things like that. A doctor will always prescribe one medication or the other for mental issues, however, on little old ladies, the side effects are much worse than any benefit. Good luck
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GayleinJaxFL is right!
==Hallucinations stem from unknown brain glitches--there's no external physical thing being mistaken.
==Delusions are triggered when someone sees something, and the brain perceives it as something else.
EITHER can be caused by drugs of many kinds, nutritional deficiencies, blood sugar issues, UTI's, elevated inflammatory issues in the body, chemical exposures, even pain or fear.
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Have your mom checked to make sure she doesn't have something medically going on with her that could be causing her hallucinations. Be very careful about the use of antipsychotic medication to treat her hallucinations, because if she has Lewy Body Dementia, the use such medication for her can be deadly. Lewy Body Dementia should be diagnosed and treated by a neurologist, not a psychiatrist. Other than this, I concur with the others here who have advised you to go with the flow regarding your mom's hallucinations. Just keep reassuring her that you have taken care of what she is seeing and that what she sees isn't going to hurt her.
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I like what DaveIFM said & get to a physician, ASAP...make an appointment with a Psychiatrist too....
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That is paranoia she is experiencing. Perhaps you could say something to get her attention on to something else, like "Oh Mom look at this dress isn't it beautiful dont you just love the color?" It can be hard to do all the time but you do what you have to.
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Do you wish to be happy or right? Simply pick one....
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Mom had visual hallucinations that were charming but when the auditory hallucinations started (repetitive music - same songs), that was another matter altogether. She was very upset by them. They woke her up and she couldn't fall asleep because of them. After being sleep deprived and totally not herself, her doctor found the right medicine, Exelon patch which turned out to the perfect meds. Now she doesn't hear them and finally looks more rested and herself. BTW, she never did test positive for UTI.
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Is your mother vision impaired? It is common for the visually impaired to see what are know as artifacts. It is the brain's way of keeping the mind entertained in the absence of visual stimulation. This was confirmed by Mother's ophthalmologist and by my psych instructor.
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With my dad - the Alzheimers meds and pain meds caused hallucinations, as soon as we took him off of them he was fine, well as fine as could be expected. Meds can do things to the elderly, especially those over 90, that would have never bothered them before.
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