I am curious regarding my present mental status and the fact that I have been diagnosed by one doctor as having alzheimers and by another doctor as having frontal lobe dementia. My question would be this. I am functioning at a very high level as of today 4/24/08 as compared to my mental status from 3, 6, 9, 12 months ago and on. I recently had an appointment with my doctor of over 25 years who at this point questions my present diagnoses. He is the doctor that has diagnosed me as having frontal lobe dementia. I am on two alzheimer medication those being Exelon and Namenda. Should I be prepared for some decline in my mental status in the near and long term future. It is somewhat puzzling to have my doctor question my diagnosis considering the fact that in January of this year I had to come to terms with the fact that alzheimers is in the end a fatal illness. I spent much time coming to terms with that fact and as of today am operating under the premise that I still have an illness that at the end of the day is in fact fatal whether that occurs in next year of 5, 10 or 15 years down the road. I would welcome any insight that anyone could provide regarding their experiences and any thoughts based upon what I have shared.

Heavenshope

Heavenshope,
My wife was diagnosed in 2001 with Alzheimers and later by another neurologist with FTD. At that time she went through extensive cognitive tests and brain scans before they made the diagnosis. I assume you went through the same series of tests. With FTD you end up at the same end place but it's a longer slower journey. Its good you can still do so much. Each person is different in how much time they have. I applaud the fact you have come to grips with the disease, my wife had a very hard time. God Bless