October 23, 2021

We had an appointment with John's psychiatrist this week and decided to double his seroquel prescription. It seems to be helping a little, just a little, so we're increasing it to see if we see more improvement. The doctor mentioned that a psychotic person would take 600 mgs of seroquel, while John is increasing from 25 mg to 50mgs. So he'll still be on a very low dose. Hopefully the increase won't make him too tired. Drowsiness is the side effect they mention most. A post I read on facebook reminded me about the sensory impact that Alzheimer's has on people, so I thought I'd talk about it here. While Alzheimer's is best known for memory loss, there are also plenty of other hallmarks of the disease. There are sensory changes as well. I often say that John is like a 200lb toddler, but he can act like he has autism as well. He's often overloaded by sensory input. Especially by noise. Anyway, here are some of the common sensory changes that occur with Alzheimer's. Vision - The field of vision narrows, and they lose their peripheral vision. They also have monocular vision, so a circle on the ground can look like a hole. Hearing - Hyper sensitivity to loud noises. John often covers his ears when he hears the blender, the hair dryer, etc. Another thing is filtering sounds in a room full of noises. It can be hard for John to follow a conversation if there's a lot of other conversations going on around him. I also notice that when I answer a question that he asks me, I have to repeat the answer. I've had his hearing checked and it's fine, but he constantly says 'What?' Smell - The smell of burning toast or burning rubber is common. John hasn't experienced this one so far. I do remember my mom lost her sense of smell way before we were aware she had dementia. I remember her talking about it and worrying about how much salt she used while cooking. Losing the sense of smell can be an early indicator of dementia, and I know she talked about it with doctors because it bothered her. I wonder if those doctors knew she might have the beginnings of dementia but chose not to mention it to her. That seems chicken shit to me. Taste - Taste can change, meaning they may no longer like their favorite foods. I know John's favorite things to eat now are hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza. I think he struggles to eat some foods because he doesn't really know how. He always like burritos, but I don't think he knows how to eat them now. He tries to eat them with a fork. Touch - Alzheimer's patients can have a high or low sensitivity to touch. It's typically high in their feet and hands, but low in their arms. It can be possible to not really feel an injury. I know John is very sensitive to the water temperature in the shower, and he often says his foot hurts when he's in the shower. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it's painful to him when he steps on the drain. The only other thing of note that happened this week was that John was exposed to Covid at Easter Seals. We all tested negative tho, so all is well.