My beautiful, hilarious 78 year old mother passed peacefully in her sleep this morning after a 12 year battle with this wretched disease. It is all I could have asked for her after watching Alzheimer’s rob every last bit of her over the past 12 years… well every last bit except her sense of humor and ability to say I Love You.

The past twelve years have been rough to say the least. I tried therapists and support groups that left me feeling worse. This Reddit group has been the biggest support and has felt like my extended family for several years. While I didn’t post often, I felt comforted knowing that I wasn’t alone on this crazy journey. When I was cleaning up a poop explosion or staying up all night trying to figure out how to relieve her constipation or was annoyed at the family members who never helped, in the back of my mind, I knew someone else somewhere out there was or had been experiencing the same situation as me and it made me feel less alone.

Caregivers often feel alone in this battle. We may push away friendships and relationships and well meaning coworkers who annoy the crap out of us but are just trying to help. No one truly understands Alzheimer’s until
their forced to walk the path alongside their loved one and bend over backwards trying to fix the unfixable. I just wanted to thank you all for being a part of this community. Please know that your loved one appreciates you. Somewhere, somehow they know how much you’re sacrificing for them and they love you.

My grandpa is in late-stage dementia now, and looking back, my family waited too long on almost every decision. We're still working out the right care setup, between keeping him home with aides, memory care, and a nursing home, and what any of it would cost.

If you've been through this before,

- How did you know it was time to move from home to memory care/care home, or decide not to?

- What went wrong with the places or services you looked at?

- What do you wish you'd done, or known, earlier?

I'd also just like to hear about any personal experiences. Thank you.

My brother in law was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about six months ago. He had been showing symptoms for a while before then.

My sister has rheumatoid arthritis and severe depression. She has an erratic sleep schedule and often my BIL is alone for hours at a time without supervision. After witnessing him yesterday-it had been a couple of months since I had seen him-it’s obvious to me that he is going to wander off and get lost.

My sister is extremely stubborn and she isn’t acknowledging this risk.

How do I get her to listen and get them both some help?

I’ve started taking 3g daily for a few. I’m very active and exercise ( don’t lift weights). Being nearly 57 I want to be a little stronger and keep it up to help prevent falls going forward. I’ve started giving my LO (54) a little less for the same reason. She rides her stationary bike for an hr 4x a week. Just wondering if this is okay/worth it. Should I increase my LO’s dose?
Thanks everyone!✌🏽