Dementia and co-morbidity problems

Like everyone else with any form of dementia we tend to struggle on learning to live with this illness, but never really take on board the extra problems that come with the illness.



Memory causes so many problems in this illness, yet when we look at the other problems life becomes a bit of a nightmare.



Co morbidity in dementia is not something to be taken lightly or ignored, let until, I was at a meeting the other day, I had not really put everything together. I was looking at certain problems on their own, and only when I had to.



But like many other people my eyes are playing up and changing rapidly sometimes, so its very difficult to read, or see words or item for what they are.



I guess its a form of word blindness, I see the word but these days don't always understand what it means, or is trying to say, and that is very hard to cope with, and can be distressing.



I know that it does not happen all of the time, but when it does it causes a lot of upset, trying to think how to spell a word, or say it, even breaking it down does not help, and trying spell checker does not work, if you cannot get the gist of how a word should be said let alone written.



This also causes problems with the blog, because I get comments about spelling, yet some days everything looks good, its only later when you go back and see words which don't make sense

I sometimes look at words and think they are foreign, yet they are English, its just my brain playing up and not registering what it says or means



If I am copying numbers these days I have to say them out loud, otherwise I say them back to front and that is really embarrassing.



I have had this for years, yet when I had eye tests I have been told that my eyes are fine, nothing wrong? now it seems that some people have noticed that we really do have problems.



For some time I have had problems crossing the roads when busy, as I simply cannot judge just how far the next vehicle is away from me.



This can be serious, and on two occasions, I have been too close to buses coming along the road, and have been saved only by the fact that there was a traffic island which slowed the vehicles down.
This all came to a head in London this week, when I was shouted at by my wife, and ended up being guided across the road, something I really did not want. But when you are nearly run over by two buses, you start to think about just what is going on in your head.



I had this early on in my illness and it came as quite a shock, but it seemed to clear, so I never thought about it again. Or was it that I crossed these same roads when my  brain was having a good day, I simply don't know.



But spacial problems is one of the major things we have to cope with on a daily basis these days and that's not where it ends.



I have walked into many door frames because I missed the door opening completely, and when it comes to escalators or elevators and revolving doors, I simply freeze at times, because judging the right time to step forward is a nightmare. This also causes upset, because those following simply think you are messing around, and are holding them up, they simply do not understand your predicament and possible fear at the time.



Staying upright in shopping malls is another thing which causes problems, as other people these days live in their own world, and try to walk through you or across your path leaving you feeling unstable

Many find their hearing goes, or can go between very acute and very bad depending on the situation.

I have hearing aids to help in noisy situations, but also need to use them turned up when listening to the television or radio.



But on the bad days, a noisy voice or even a bag of crisps being opened, can make life unbearable.

I know that I am certainly not alone with this, and on these days I long for a quiet sunny island with no radio or television or indeed people to upset things.



Many think that this is a part of depression, but its a major part of some dementia's and its difficult to get used to.



We can then look at other co morbidity's life, depression, diabetes, heart, stroke and many other problems and the list goes on all making life with dementia a mine field to live with.



I guess as someone said the other day, when dementia strikes, other bits start to follow in rapid succession..



This subject is something that is fascinating to learn about, because you really learn so much about your life, things that you either ignored at your peril or simply took for granted
 
I suppose that is all bad enough, but when you get a chest infection etc these things get even worse, and no matter what you do life is miserable.