I think that my 54 year-old husband is displaying some of the presigns to Stage 1 Alzheimer's. I have see some of these signs in the discussion boards, but cannot find anything in the medical community and other web sites. I would really like to hear from someone who has a husband with early-onset Alzheimer's who's spouse displayed these per-signs for several years before the Stage 1 symptoms became obvious. I have seen things like asking a question and getting an answer, then asking the same question, and getting quite irritated when told that he had already asked the question. wide mood swings. Anger over almost nothing. Very tired and physically exausted in early evening like around 6:30 p.m. Wants to go to bed early and then wakes up early or can't sleep. trouble concentrating on simple ideas including changing from the Dish to the TV on remote, running calculator, talking about bills. thanks for your help.

The only way that you are going to know for sure is to get him to a doctor. Each person who has this terrible disease is different. None of us are experts. It sounds like the stuff that you are discribing is simler to me....but then I am no doctor. Get him to a doctor...let them run the tests. One point...don't expect immediate anserws...this disease is not one that they immediately say...yea that fits.

Welcome Mary, you have found a great community. I do agree with what Bob has told you, you do need to get him to a doctor. The reason you may not find much in books, etc is because Early Onset is still being learned and documented even by doctors.

My husband saw many things with me, the first being forgetting recent conversations and personlity changes. Then being late for appt. disorganization, difficulty with paying bills, lost in familiar places and the list goes on and on.

Please keep us informed. To get an appropriate diagnosis you need to get him to a neurologist that is expericenced in treating and diagnosing Early Onset.

He had a great day yesterday and was so much his old self. Today he is tired and adgitated. Our children are 28 and 26 and I have told them for several years that their dad is not himself sometimes. So many people think that when a person acts the way he does that they can help it. I'm not so sure anymore that he can help it. I am supportive and try to pay more attention esecially when he is rambling about something. I am really a hyper person and this is hard for me. I am trying to practice patience. Even if this is something else and not what I think it is, a little patience won't hurt. Grayeagle, do or did you experience tired and painful joints? How about the extreme fatigue in the evening? I think the hardest part for him right now is when he gets so angry with me over really small things. Then he feels bad and tries to make up for it by being over loving. I have reached the point where I don't trust the mood or reaction so I am withdrawing and being protective of myself. In case you were wondering, I have not mentioned my concerns to him. He would not understand my concern and wouldn't believe me anyway and it would cause a big fight. I will wait and watch for a while. I know this isn't a good thing to do but I really don't think I have a choice. I'm going to try to document some of my concerns and may be find some things that I hadn't noticed before. I'm glad I found this site so that I can read about this.

I don't know what you mean by 'presigns' of stage 1, but all the things you describe are common with AD. Close family or colleagues will often notice things well before a doctor is involved and mostly think it's either aging, stress, depression or whatever. So yes, a neurologist who specializes in brain disorders is a good place to start. You can go to the web site below & read 'What you need to know' to help you better understand what he is going thru & how to respond w/less frustration for both of you. Also 'Stages of Alz' will help you monitor the progression of the disease, but remember they can overlap and not everyone goes thru them the same way. When you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. Take care.

Presigns is what I call the little things that are not quite right. Like searching for eye glasses more times than in the past, or the mood changes, or the anger for no apparent reason, or telling me that I don't make sense, or the ranting about the same little thing that has been on his mind for a while, the most is the indifference/acting and telling me that he doesn't care. Then later or the next day, being so sorry and so nice. Then when I read the State 1 symptoms, nothing talks about these other things. This is what I am referring to presigns. I read many of them on this site. It seems to me like others encountered these things, some for years, well before they actually considered it could be something like alz. thanks for your site and comments.

Well, yes, it is very common for someone to have odd behaviors for many years before someone realizes that it could be AD. By then, the patient may well be in, let's say, the 3rd stage. Stage 1 is usually 'no symptoms of AD.' Mood changes, anger for no apparent reason, other behaviors you mention are already past stage 1. We know it is confusing, that's the nature of the disease, it is very vague, hard to define and diagnose. What you describe are not 'pre' signs, they are definite signs. It may be AD or something else, a visit to a neurologist who specializes in brain disorders is in order. Good luck. I repeat, it is confusing, but what you describe is really past stage 1. You need a doc, you can't figure this out on your own or rely on those of us in cyber space who have scant medical knowledge and have never seen your husband.

Mary in Montana,
GET HIM TO THE DOCTOR ASAP!!!!!
Please, let us know what happens.
Lisa

I have been reading about the muscle spasms, twitching. I haden't really thought about it much until I read about it. My Husband started about 6 months ago shaking his right leg very fast. almost like when you tap your foot fast yet softly. He always sits with his legs up on the recliner. It involves his entire leg. It might happen once or twice a week and almost always in the evening. I ask him if his leg is ok or if he is nervious and he says he just does it. It seems to happen when he is tired.

Hello, everyone, I'm glad to meet you. My name is Rich Hausler, I live near East Lansing, MI. I was diagnosed with some sort of mental dysfunction based on a neuro-psych test I took in December of 2006 from a man called Dr. Pelon. Frankly, he's not the man for the job, given the fact that he's doing testing a giving bad news all the time and does with no compassion and frankly, with all the picture of bird hunting and his bushy mustouche, he remind too much of the numb/cold rednecks I group up with in the Thumb of Michigan...

Either way, a month later, the chump told me that my verbal quotient was fine, but that I had a cognitive quotient of 90%....Having taken an Welschler(sp?) IQ test in 99, my scores then were 128 verbal, 100 cognitive...Frankly, my cognitive scores on tests such the ACT, SAT AND GMAT WERE ALWAYS IN THE 50TH PERCENTILE....My verbal and other types of scores were in the 90's......

Anyways, my good doctor then sent me to a neuro-psychiatrist named Dr. Roy Meland, a nice guy and smart man...He did a two interview with me with the aid of an asst. psychiatrist from MSU. After that, he ordered me out to MSU for a PET scan. I had already had an MRI, which showed a slightly expanded blood vessel (I do have high blood pressure) but my good primary doctor and the neurosurgeon were not concerned about those MRI findings.

However, as I found in March of last year, the PET SCAN was another thing. I took my brother with me (my wife has been virtually of no help whatsoever, despite having had a mother with Alzheimer's). FYI...my Dad's younger sister and my sweet Aunt Marie, also had early onset dementia...However, because her verbal side stayed for some time and she lived alone in Detroit we did catch until she was in the later part of stage 2 (according to the neuro-psych who tested her). So, golly gee whiz, it obviously runs in the family on my Dad's side, not mention all the mental health disorders on both sides of the family that can be traced back 5 generations or more....(in other words, I come from a family of "whack jobs, addicts and general folks who love "denial.")

Anyways, the Pet Scan showed some damaged in medial parietal lobe (I think that what he said, I have the cd with everthing, but haven't had the guts to look at the gory details myself). He told me,especially based on my family history (i.e. my aunt) that I likely had early onset Alzheimer's. Unlike the asshole who delivered my neuro-pysch test results (excuse my language, but ever since I was 8, I loved to use coarse language, but please let me know if any of you are offended and I cannot promise I will stop use of such language completely, but I'll do my best to be professional).

Anyways, he told me that based on tests and scans, as well as the fact that I've been blessed with having "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" and Fibromyalgia since I was 18, that I was no longer fit for work and that he was positive that getting a medical retirement and SSDI would be a "slam dunk." He wanted me to quit right then and there....

However, I said, I needed to work a few more months in order that my LTD checks would actually pay a decent wage (I was put on permanent-intermittent status for almost the last 7 years of my career, because of my fatigue problems).

Who knows when I really started to develop this disease....the neuro-psych for my aunt, said based on the test results (she was 67 at the time) he figured she had had this disease since her late 40's.....

With CFS/FIBRO, early symptoms of AD mimic these diseases. In fact, new research indicates that those with CFS/FIBRO (which are not rhuematic or auto-immune diseases,but brain diseases as well) have brains that functions as if they were 20 years older????? Ah, the mysteries of life....

However, I can tell you, the the 2nd neuro-psychologist I worked with at MSU during my prescribed "rehab" therapy, was not sure of what I really have....as he discussed my test scores and saw my scans, but based on the fact that my memory abilities on the n-p test showed memory recall in the 90's and the fact that I improved vastly during occupational therapy, indicated that I did not have dementia, but possibily a series of mini-strokes, that damaged that basal ganglia and part of the prefontal cortext as the tests showed (I could have told them that without the test) that my motivational ability was poor.....as he put, the the fuel system/engine in my brain for getting going was definitely damanged.....

Anyways, Dr. Meland, is positive this is early onset dementia and is progessive, but he did give me or my brother any length of time as to how long I had before this brain rot would impair my ability to even function in the world.....I get another PET scan in June. I let all of you know (if you care) what I find out...I supposed to get another psych test as well, but I'LL wait until after I apply for SSDI.

IT'S Funny....I married a woman who has not interest in learning about disabilities or anything but her own kid (he goes to school in Cincy, OH). In fact, she was glad that I was diagnosed as having early-onset Alzheimer's, as it meant that I would have a much higher likelihood of receiving SSDI, rather than a meager 20K/yr medical retirement pension.....

I married an older woman (she's 59 1/2 and I'm 46). At the time, it seemed like the right the thing to do...I waited a long time, I was almost 37 when tied the knot and it seemed like I had found my soulmate....

Now, she's depressed, angry and constantly snipes and whines about the cleanliness of the house and the odor of the cat litter (we have 3 cats, all of which she got)....I've told her many time, I was raised in "white trash" environment and had learn the basic hygiene rules of this society by myself.....Furthermore, I am a man,who even when I was healthy, was a slob, just like father and mother, and I don't care about being judged negatively by others for how I keep my place....Moreover, I told her, that I get an immediate sense of depression and fatigue just thinking about doing laundry and chores, with the exception of keeping the kitchen clean....

She won't accept it...I have offered many times that we should hire a cleaning lady and take the laundry to the Village Laundromat. It wouldn't cost us that much....and would make her and I a lot happier and cut way down and the daily sniping and fighting (note: she retire last October, contrary to what she told me...she was going to work till 62, until she got a new boss, and decided the woman was a "whack job" and she retired with zero notice.

Oh well, here I ramble on....On better notes, I am returning to my musical roots and have just bought a beautiful, expensive, and luxurious sound Martin 6 string guitar. I plan to take lessons in acoustic string jazz guitar as well buy a friend of mine's acoustic bass (I used to play one in high school, but living in the dead of the Thumb, I had no one to play and gave it up) and learn how to play jazz bass as well...if there are any musicians out there, you know, bass players are always in demand and in short supply....especially ones that aren't drunks or drug addicts.....what can I say, most musicians I have known, are morally bankrupt and emotionally chaotic people......

Well, that's enough blather from me, this has been good therapy and look forward to talking with all of you early onseter's.....I feel like the gay men who find themselves diagnosed with HIV....While I'm healthy enough and retired/out to pasture....it's time to become an AD activist and raise holy hell......I have noticed my temper is getting hotter (I used to be known as emotionally repressed person, according to my family). However, I'm tired of taking for having disabilities and have seen how doctors are more interested in their paychecks, than serving their patients....We all need an advocate...I found this out with my wife, she has just been diagnosed with Asthma that expresses through deep, scrathing, awful coughs.....her former doctors just listened, said nothing was wrong and basically blew her concerns off....

Finally, I went with her, and politely "kicked some doctor ass" insisting on a pulmonary function test and proper medications that I knew would be of help in this process of getting her correctly diagnosed and treated...

Again, at my insistence, I had her make an appt. with my doctor, who actually cares for patients and spent a whole hour with her and me and correctly diagnosed her with asthma and he the first to listen to her lungs and say "they don't sound right, they sound waffling."

This guy is caring, very intellingent, very dedicated and good. Hell, he even wrote up on his computer (everything is digital in his office) a treatment plan for her to follow until he sees her in 2 weeks....

Well, that's enough...my god...I started just taking a survey (that was 6, and now it's 9:10)

good luck and be well
and God Bless ALL OF YOU

Rich Hausler

This is my first posting to this website after reading and reviewing a lot of the information for several months. I am a 59 year old male who has been having various AD symptoms for several years. I had some medical evaluations with my doctor and a neuroligist, physical, MRI, blood work, sleep studies, etc. which were all inconclusive. I made the choice to end the evaluations because I knew it was headed for EOAD since I have two older siblings who came down with it at the same age. They are in the upper stages of AD at this point; one of them has been in this situation for 17 years 11 years of which has been in nursing care and at this point unresponsive. So I have not had the official diagnosis and I have no plans at this point to pursue it. I still have younger children at home and keep a very technical job which I have worked at for most of my life. My wife is fearful of the future but supportive and a good partner in this challenge since she has seen how my siblings have progressed.
I have had all of the symptoms of stage 3 except for not being lost yet. My work is more and more challenging for me to cope with but I must hold on to this position as long as possible in order to be able to support our family. I have had all of the limb pains, twitches, extreme fatigue, depression, mood swings, sleep problems, etc. like many of the postings here. I have always been rather unsocial but now I really don't care to socialize with anyone outside of my own family. I have lately been experiencing many vivid memories from way back in my life, some events in detail that I haven't remembered for years. However more recent things are not remembered and some events are completely blacked out.
I am thankful that there is a board like this to share and want all of you to know that there are others experiencing the same symptoms and challenges. I take supplements everyday but no medications; this seems to help. I can tell because if I lay off the supplements, the difference is significant. I try to reduce stress wherever I can by limiting commitments so that I can concentrate on the most essential tasks. I have gotten very task oriented and can only concentrate on one thing at a time and am not much at planning ahead. Instead of worrying about the condition lately I try to embrace it fully accepting what will come.
My faith will get me through when all else fails.
Good to join you all.

Thank you for what you said Steve59. My husband also has the joint pain, restless sleep, but the thing of most concern are the angry outbursts. I agree that limiting multi-tasking is very helpful. If I need to discuss something, I try to shut the TV off first, etc. In addition to the fatigue and other things that you mentioned, he has pitulity gland tumor (prolactin) that he has been dealing with for 8-10 years. He has been checked many times for Thyroid, fibromyalga (sorry for the bad spelling), lyme and the list goes on. The doctors can't find a thing wrong that would be causing all the symptoms. All tend to have similiar symptoms. It took me a while to identify this as something not related to the other problems. For about 3 years, he has been increasingly withdrawing from his family (sibs and parents). He just can't handle conflict anymore. If I push him into family dinners, he has a couple a bad days afterwards, worrying about if things went well. I know that I need to talk with him and get him to a doctor but, even if he did believe me, he would not want to pursue treatment anyway. He has been stay-at-home since our last child graduated high school in 2000. He wanted to stay home and I had a good job and like to work. He also does some self-contractor work.

To Rich, Steve & Mary,
Wow! All of you have very interesting stories! We're so glad you found us! I still think you should attempt to get a diagnosis! From what I know and understand, medications and certain supplements can really help you stay highly functional for a much longer time!
Good Luck to all!
Please keep us posted on your progress!
Peace and Hope,
Lisa

Mary, Your first request was regarding initial signs of Alz. In my wife's case it was dealing with money. She lost the ability to take change or various moneys and count them to a total. I found that she would buy some cometics even though she had some. Sometimes Alz patients write things down as a memory jogger. There is a simple seven minute cognitive test that your neurologist can administer to see if there is some cognitive decline. Your husbands anger , frustrations are his way of dealing with this terrible desease.He's probrably afraid of what it may be. If the cognitive tests indicate a potential problem there are more intense tests that can be taken and evaluated. Before you get into the MRI's Spect scans etc.The way they determine it's Alz. is to rule out all the other possibilities. I agree with others that going to a good neurogist is a good first step. Good luck and just remember your all not alone.

How on earth do you convinence someone that there might be a problem? I approached the subject this past Sunday following an angry outburst. I waited for him to calm down and then asked if he recalled what happened to cause the outburst. He said that I said something that didn't make sense and that I have been doing this all the time just to upset him. I asked him if he thought there might be a chance that there is something else going on. Something other than the way I say things that might be bringing on these angry feelings in him. I suggested that it might be his current medicines or it might be something that we don't know about yet. He didn't get mad at me for mentioning it but told me that he goes to the doctor enough and why did I think he needed to go more. He said that if he was dying from something that he didn't want to know about it anyway. His latest conversations over the last three days center around the local police having a shoot out with a neighbor several years ago. He tells me that if the police ever come to his house that he will have a shoot out with them also. He even mentioned that he needed to buy more ammo for the event. I still can't believe what I am hearing half the time and think that he is doing it on purpose. I intend to keep making subtle suggestions in the hope that he might pick up on it. I have also been walking away from the out bursts. Not in a rude way but excusing myself so as not to make it worse. I read that this works somewhere and it really does work.

Mary, Acceptance is very hard for anyone and even after my wife was diagnosed she didn't want to talk about it. When I did try she would get upset and breakdown and cry, so we stopped talking about it. It's really scarey to them. They don't feel physically sick but deep down inside they do know things are different. The talk of guns and ammo is reason for concern. Try and find a local Alzheimer Chapter. They have Help hot lines and they may come up with suggestions. Wish I could help more.

Mary: I just made a long post and lost it.

Please check my appeal to Dr. Marilyn Albert at: http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/3038870/

Very important to check for electric and phone equipment near beds and recliners!!!

My own husband's tremors are now completely gone!!!!

Lately many persons are keeping cell phones close to beds and even under pillows. This is an extremely dangerous practice and many children are being affected -- perhaps they are amongst the rapid increases in autism-spectrum disorders. Autism as well as Alzheimers are linked to low levels of melatonin. EMF/EMR lowers melatonin levels.....

Call or email w/questions. Make sure email has a subject I will recognize such as Alzh forum post, EMFs, etc.

Best wishes and take care - Joanne

Mary: I don't know if your DH is hallucinating or if you do have guns in the house, but if you do--GET RID OF THEM NOW. Don't ask him about them, arrange w/some close male friends or family to see that it gets done when he is not around. Then if he looks for the, you can say they were 'stolen.'

Of course your DH is terrified and angry. And it's perfectly natural to be in denial. It's a way to get thru things sometimes. However, this will not go away and his attitudes will change, maybe better, maybe worse. Walking away is a good method, usually works, w/out any comments. Anything you say will only escalate things.

He is not doing any of this on purpose. He'd behave in his normal way if he could. I know it seems that way at times because he can be perfectly lucid from time to time, but he is not doing it on purpose to annoy you.

If you go to the web site below you can read 'What you need to know.' It will help you to understand what he is going thru and how to respond w/less frustration on both your parts. You are doing the best you can.

Bettyhere I went to the website and read "What you need to Know" very helpful.

Hi Mary, I think you make a MD appointment for him and you and you do not discuss it with your husband ahead of time. When you get to the appointment the appointment is for whatever, or if you need to be more specific" its for nerves, or why I keep aggrevating you when I dont mean to". I would fax the doctor a letter with all of your concerns and detailed descriptions of what is going on so that the doctor knows ahead of time what the problems are, and your husband saves face. Medication helps many people in the early stage to think more clearly, and there are other medications for anger and aggitation later on.

Well, we had three really good normal days. This week, we are having bill and money conversations again. When he begins thinking about the bills, the anger moods begin. We have also had two situations this week where he has a really hard counting paper money. Both times involved large and small bills. Yesterday, he received money for snow plowing from two neighbors. One paid with a $20 the other paid with three $5 and five $1. He just could not figure out how to add it all up to $40. He knew there was $40 because they both paid him $20 but he could not count it to reach $40. He had the money laid out on the bed and whenever he got to the $1 bills, things would get confusing. How scary it must be for him. I hope this money phase doesn't last too long. things go pretty good for him (and me), if he doesn't want to talk about or handle the bills and money.

Dear Mary - I just found this site today. I, too, am worried about my husband, who is 53. For the last two years things have been happening. He is very angry, short-tempered, verbally abusive, has trouble sleeping, forgets conversations, and that he has been somewhere before. This doesn't happen every day, but he forgot which toothbrush was his. Says I bought the colors too close together, (One was red, one yellow). Forgot which dog was the female. Has trouble recording programs with DVR, Asked the same question twice within a few minutes, for the first time. Everything I say to him is a criticism. He forgot when his office manager's birthday is, and she's worked for him for 27 years. Siad it was one date, when I said it wasn't, he said "yes it is, then when is it?) I've started writing things down, just in case. I'm more worried than ever after reading these messages. I'm afraid to raise the subject with him, he'll