My Grandmother has been staying at my parent's house for about a week now after recently being in the hospital. A quick background she has Dementia and lives alone, but has 2 groups of nurses aids to help her out from the morning until night time. She had fallen one afternoon so they called an ambulance and brought her to the hospital. Tests seemed to be fine, nothing was broken and they did pretty much every test you could think of on her (CT, bloodwork, etc). Now since she has been staying at my parent's, every morning she claims to be incredibly sick (usually says just nausea) and can't get up on her own. Since she has dementia she forgets where she is and believes she is in her own home. When no one is visible to her she has no problem getting up and walking around on her own. She has a walker that she uses to get around most of the time with my family, but sometimes when she's alone (or thinks she is) she doesn't even need it to get up and walk around. At night time she's more mobile and active as she mostly sleeps all throughout the daytime, waking up to eat or use the bathroom. This is when she claims she can't get up and calls for someone to help her. My mom has recently been encouraging her to at least try and get up on her own when she asks, and it seems every time she tries she is able to. It is just strange because every morning it seems to be the same repeating process. She claims to be incredibly sick and helpless, but by the night time seems fine. Forgot to also mention that since she sleeps all day she can be heard getting up late hours of the night walking around. Is this sickness just all in her head and is the dementia just making her believe she has these symptoms? She could possibly be faking her sickness but I just don't believe she has the brain capability to do that.
I administer Tylanol in AM and miraculously she recovers. I would think it is her confabulating phycosymantic symptoms
Her feeling nauseous could be an actual ailment or part of the dementia. They sometimes have delusions.
I would take it all seriously and have it evaluated by her doctor. A geriatric doctor would be beneficial. It sounds like that was done and that she has undergone a lot of tests. Just to be sure, I'd have more done to rule out something else that may be physically wrong with her. Is her medication making her sick? What about anxiety or depression? They can make you feel sick too. I'd check on some medication that might make her feel better.
What about her diet? That could be making her sick. I'd check all things, like allergies, meds, indigestion, stress, etc. and work with a doctor to treat it.
It's not uncommon for a dementia patient to be able to walk at times, but not others. Their memory may be better on some days than others. I think I would lean away from seeing her as being manipulative, as most dementia patients don't have that capacity.
They often forget to use their walker and the only real way to fix that is to supervise them at all times. I know that is difficult to do.
Some dementia patients call out for help a lot. It's often part of that particular type of dementia. I would consult with her doctor to see how to address it.
I've recently started doing my mother's laundry for my own peace of mind. She was having such trouble going up and down the steps that I worried. I didn't want to take it over, but knew it was time. We have to use our own judgment on what they can and can't do. If they can do something, I think it is good to make them do it for their own good.
My cousin had a number of ailments before she got dementia. But, since she got dementia, she doesn't have them. She no longer has allergies, heartburn, sinus infections, etc. It's amazing.
I would keep a log of her complaints and revisit it if she keeps complaining. Doctors can't always be sure that there is not a cause for the sickness, although, her feeling sick could be psychological. And if that's the case, it's still real to her and should be treated as a real ailment. I might ask the doctors if a little Malox or even a placebo would be appropriate.
Because of her dementia she doesn't have a good sense of time. In her mind she only quit going on walks last summer and she's been going outside up until the last month or so. She doesn't realize that the only time she's gotten out of the house in the last few years is pretty much when I take her to church, the doctor, or out to eat.
It can be frightening to think that we may be the same in the future. I wish there was a way to get our parents more interested in living again, but I try not to nag at my mother. I figure at 89 it can be better just to let her be comfortable.
My mom didn't have feeling sick as a part of her repetition but she did have loops about different topics and would repeat herself word-for-word. It was kind of amazing sometimes because I could repeat back exactly what she would say because I'd heard her responses so many times.