Opinions on this please ?

[Scally]

He started to come up to bed with me rather than his usual late turn in, started sitting opposite me for every meal instead of his usual one eye on the tv/comp.He started to sleep- loads more.Then , things in the house that he would normally take pride over , he just left completely.( no replacing light bulbs, watering plants, his OCD disappeared and he wasn't bathing ) Mysteriously, the washer,dishwasher,computer,router,front gate - all broke.He would normally have fixed them, not a problem.Now he stood in front of each thing shrugging ,saying he had no idea how you fixed them.....Question is- I am starting to suspect this is not depression.Thoughts welcome,
thanks
B.

Sounds to me like this isnt depression, this is a total cure ... Hallelujia!

[barrowgirl]

sorry Scally, that's gone over my head .
Thanks Malc ,I will try the memory test to see if he recalls any/all of it.Not knowing how to flick the router on and off though is a pretty grim all time low for him.He was a semi trained electrician once and knew how to rewire a house.Now he doesn't know how to replace a fuse and doesn't even notice if half the lights have gone off around him.
He has had blood work done recently and his thyroid is fine.Alzheimers / dementia , like the stroke suggestion is possible I agree.I have started to make notes now of how he is doing,
thanks
B.x

[malc]

go everywhere armed with lists of events and examples in your pocket,if your nhs trust is as good as ours you will be very surprised ,they will believe you and you will get the help,we found a doctor at our surgery we liked and have stuck with him all the way through this,even though we joke that he will end up asking security to escort me out of the building,be ready for the lack of communication between specialists if multiple conditions are there but they do get there in the end,good luck,hope it's not az,i wouldn't wish it on anybody,malc

[Scally]

sorry Scally, that's gone over my head .thanks
B.x

I really dont know why , at least half the changes you report sound very positive to me. Yes, something has changed, and that is interesting, but it isnt all bad, is it? I mean more than half the women I know dont even know how to replace a fuse, let alone which night the bins go out, but that doesnt make them a hopeless cause, does it?

[barrowgirl]

I think you've missed the point Scally.He was very clean (O.C.D.) now he doesn't bathe to the point that he smells.He sits around in stained clothes in a daze.From being competant in fixing and building things, he just presses buttons haphazardly and has forgotten how to do basic things .He gets up at 9.30 a/m and is asleep by 10.30 a/m for up to 5 hours .The whole point being his habits have changed and he is barely communicating.None of his changed behaviours imply reason for improvement, they suggest regression and losing awareness of things around him.Coming up to bed and eating by me suggest neediness .The things that mysteriously broke were broken by him and he has no memory if it.That's why other members are suggesting possible stroke or dementia.

Women you know who can't change fuses or don't know when the bins go out aren't even remotely related to my husbands poor mental health.
B.x

[charles47]

Barrowgirl, what you're describing is a loss of skills, a loss of interest in things that he understood and that helped him to focus (albeit too much), and a loss of interest in personal hygiene - a complete change from the way he was before.

Yes, depression might account for this. So might a TIA, at least up to a point, or a fairly aggressive form of dementia.

There would be some clues to this if there was a rapid progression over a fairly short time (most dementias affecting younger people are quite rapid in onset and very aggressive) or if this has been going on for some time and has been fairly gradual. You need to try to work this out and jot down some notes about it. Might help to sort this out a bit, or at least rule out some issues.

[malc]

charles,i believe my wife's alzheimers was caused by lesions on the brain from the lichen planus,i have no proof of this but it would make sense,her hair broke off and her skin was covered in them at one point,so it might be a progression in barrow girls situation (asperges/ocd),the brain is a fantastic organ and complex

[no1mum]

Scally, I'm not sure that your flippancy of the situation is appropriate for someone who is genuinely worried about the decline in health of their loved one.

[barrowgirl]

Hi all, G.P. just rang to see if we'd heard from mental health - we haven't. She says if we don't hear soon to call her and she'll gee them up.At least that's something.

will post again when we get some news.Thanks to no 1 mum for the support shown here and via p.m.'s.

B.x

[no1mum]

B, hoping you hear something very soon. x x