Every person is different and there is not time frame. It is torture to watch a loved one like that. My ex husband's Mother had it and I used to visit her often and all she said was " What do I do now?" Over and over again. It broke my heart because she was such an independent, strong, decision making kind of woman and a caring, loving Grandmother to my sons. Say whatever it takes to comfort your grandmother, even if you have to lie. She is angry, and reassurance, if it works. GOOD LUCK

there are different types of the disease affecting different parts of the brain it can be very progressive or gradual. there are many do's and dont's like if their partner has passed on and they are looking for them tell them once do u remember ......... passed away cause each time u tell them it will like hearing it for the first time all over. it could be as much as 4 or 5 years by that stage they wont even remember how to feed themselves some dont remember how to walk and they stop talking too. i have worked with dementia clients for 3 years and sat exams run by the alzheimers society. consider joining if its available to u they are a great support

My mother was diagnosed in 2000 and has lived with us since then. She is no where near not knowing where and who she is. Her short term memory is completely gone, as well as all bladder control. Most of the time she does not remember people she has not known for over 20 years. And sometimes she calls me by my fathers name. Her father had it but back When no one knew what it was. From the time we noticed, it was almost 4 years until he got there, and he lived almost two more years. The medications, we think, have slowed down the process for Mom. She is 93.

Alzheimer's can be progressive is depends on each indiviual but theres a fact saying that keeping there mind active can slow it down. Remind her lost memories don't act like everything she forget relates to it. Don't confront her with this it can depress her and make it progress like blaming everything she does wrong on her Alzheimer's. My friend's grandmother got when she was 60 and was still just doing mild things like she couldn't find her remote to her TV and it was in her purse things like that live to be 86 yrs old never forgot relatives or events. So like I said it differs from person to person.

My Mother-in-Law had it and it was different from day to day with her. Sometimes she would remember things, but most of the time it was difficult for her. Sometimes they will regress back years maybe to when they were younger and start talking about things from their past that maybe their family members might not recognize. It's really different from person to person.

My father had it for about 5 years before it was really bad. After that time he would be fine for maybe 1/2 day and mixed up for 2 or 3 hours. He would still have 2 or 3 day periods that he was ok. This pattern went on for about 3 years before he passed away. I wish you well. This is a bad thing for any one to have to go through. DJ

Alzheimer's disease is a rough one, I am sorry for anyone who has to cope with people afflicted with this illness. Luckily in my family we have no known history of it, but I have taken care of people who had a bad cases of it. Like every one else said the effects are different for every one, but normally from the time it's found a person has up to 5 years before it's totally taken them over. The average life span from diagnosis to death for Alzheimer's disease is eight years, but many people last well over. There are things that can help slow the process or help to avoid triggering strong emotional responses. This is a good link on the illness it's self with some pointers for both the patent and the people coping with them. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/DS00161/DSECTION=1 Another trick is to watch to see what triggers strong reactions and try to avoid them from reoccurring. An example I can give you is about one elderly victim of the decease who would break out in hysterically about her son. Almost every day she would cry for her son, who lived in the house taking care of her with his family. After writing down where and when the outbreaks happened, they were able to figure out what was going on. You see, the woman saw the school bus pass by the window, and not knowing it's many years later, would then wait for her son to come in from school. When he did not, she would panic and had an crying fir figuring something happened to him. She could not comprehend that he was full grown now. The way these episodes were avoided was by simply distracting her, and not having her look out the window around school bus times of day. I hope that helps a bit, it's all I can offer.

There is no one time table for all. Alzheimer's has a strange and unique progression with every person. There is a lot of good information and support at this site: http://www.alz.org/ I have known people to have a quick progression and some to have a very long one. There are also new medications and natural treatments that can slow down deterioration of the brain. They are worth investigation. Also go to: http://www.alzfdn.org/

my mum was diagnosed 2 years ago when she was 66 but has probably had it since she was about 60, she was diagnosed as being moderate to severe. she started forgetting things,then there was a decline in her personal hygeine,and from being a very outgoing sociable person, she wouldn,t go out,now she,s a stranger in her own house, can,t make a cup of tea ,can,t manage money,she goes to day centre 3 times a week ,has to get everything done for her,is like a child again, its totally cruel,she,s also severely depressed,her medication hasn,t helped at all, I guess it can help some people but not all,she doesn,t know her age,day from night,what year it is please god let them find what causes this awful disease and find some positive treatment soon..........

My grandma has just been diagnosed with alzhimers, my mum looks dresdful doesn't know what to do for the best.

Yes, I have a 82 year old mother who had alzhimers for about 4 years maybe a 4 1/2 years. The doctor says that there is 8 stages. Every stage gets a lot worse. The person forgets who any family member is . Do you know how hard it is when your mother don't know who her only daghter is any longer. It's not everyday that she forgets who I am but it is getting alot more anymore. She is now in her probably 6th stage i would think. It is very hard to think about it without getting so emotional about it. The scariest part of it all is when she has seizures, that is when they go into another stage. I wish they would find a cure for other people with alzhimers they really need to. It's a little to late for my mother as she progressed to another stage, but they really need to find a cure. If you would like to chat you can reply at my e-mail riverratwoody@yahoo.com if you like. It is good to talk to other people who has the same situation as I do. Got to go now!! Please respond to my e-mail.

Yes, I have a 82 year old mother who had alzhimers for about 4 years maybe a 4 1/2 years. The doctor says that there is 8 stages. Every stage gets a lot worse. The person forgets who any family member is . Do you know how hard it is when your mother don't know who her only daghter is any longer. It's not everyday that she forgets who I am but it is getting alot more anymore. She is now in her probably 6th stage i would think. It is very hard to think about it without getting so emotional about it. The scariest part of it all is when she has seizures, that is when they go into another stage. I wish they would find a cure for other people with alzhimers they really need to. It's a little to late for my mother as she progressed to another stage, but they really need to find a cure. If you would like to chat you can reply at my e-mail riverratwoody@yahoo.com if you like. It is good to talk to other people who has the same situation as I do. Got to go now!! Please respond to my e-mail.

yes my mother-in-law has alzhimers and im just looking for the stages but i guess its different in everybody. iv learned to agree and reply the best i can without upsetting her. i feel bad for my father-in-law cause he takes care of her day after day. i go there ofter to give him a break but he still has to come back to it God Bless him he handles it very well. i am very thankful i found this web site. thanks to all comments

I have a soon to be 88 year old grandmother (If she make it to her birthday next month), who has had the illness for the last 13+ years (Probably more like about 16 years). Initially, it was only minor forgetfulness, which she constantly took notes (Stage 2) (didn't think about the illness during this time period as I was in college during this time, which if it wasn't for her help, I would had been living in the streets or dropped out of college much sooner). It wasn't really noticeable until about 1995 when it started to impair her daily activities (Stage 3). However, she still did everything and was still helping out her brother-in-law until he had passed away due to heart problems, though she blamed it on the taxi cab driver, but won't go into that as it was just one of the symptoms of the illness, which that took place in Summer of 1999. I ended up bringing her to where I lived in late summer of 1999, and then into a nursing home for the sake of the kids due to her illness and if she had it her way due to extreme safety fear, the kids wouldn't have any toys of any sort. By this time, I had effectively taken her driving privileges away as she was too disoriented to know where to go not to mention how confused she was with the new surroundings (Stage 4). By this time, she would not stop talking about the Great Depression and would say there's no one going through anything like what people went through back then. While it's true to the extent on an overall basis (though I wasn't even close to being around during that time period, but from what I learned in history courses, it sounded very rough for nearly everyone), my wife and I both didn't agree on an individual basis as there are still individuals this day still going through such hardship, just not nearly so noticeable like the Great Depression was. Anyhow, as we noticed, this didn't work at all due to her short-term memory has been essentially gone by then. This was also the time when I really started to track how far back in time her memory goes in terms of what she remembers as this illness progresses in her. As for communication, this was also when she had used foul language, but what was really taking place, she was acting out of emotions, and I didn't realize this until I had read up more on the illness outside of what I had learned in school (both grade school and college). This only brought on tension between us initially. Therefore, if you have a loved one with such illness and using such language, look at their emotions and go from there. Anyhow, it was to the point that we had no choice but to put her into a nursing home, which was also court ordered with me being her guardian. This took place in February 2000. She was initially place in the assisted living part of the home with some assistance with daily activities, but could still do a lot of things. She did need some help with daily living activities such as where to go and she wasn't aware of time of day or what date anymore by this point of time (Stage 5) About 1.5 years later, she was then moved to the moderate part of the area as she had lost control of her bowel and she would no longer remember my name, but would still recognize me (Stage 6). About another 9 months later, she was then moved to the late stage part of the nursing home as her mobility was no longer there other than by wheelchair. Not only that, but speech was fully impaired with just babbling, though expression for the most part could still be given, but yet, still in a confused manner. She was being fed by the nurses and needed full help with personal care by this point of time (Stage 7). She has basically been in this stage for about 5 years and a month. She now appears to be either in the last stage or about to be in the last stage, which is what's known as the terminal stage (Stage 8), which can go quick once in it. One of the main symptoms of it, literally forgetting how to eat. She is currently eating and drinking significantly much less and has lost a lot of weight to the point it's unhealthy for a normal person. However, with an illness like this, it can't really be helped as can't force food down their throat other than via recovery means, which given her level of quality of life, not really worth it. As I had stated earlier about me tracking her memory, which basically using that to estimate her mental age, she has gradually progressed backwards in time as I have expected, which she now appears to be at a mental age of an infant. However, when estimating their mental ages, don't expect them to be doing the same things as other people at the physical age matching to their mental age due to the combination of their age and experiences along with the effects of the illness on them. The average time according to what I have read is about 7 years from the time of having it until death, which if that is the case, my grandmother has far exceeded that with having it what I would estimate about 15 years.

7 Stages of ALZHEIMER'S Stage 1 - NO SYMPTOMS OF ALZHEIMER'S ARE SEEN. Stage 2 - FORGETFULNESS: Very mild cognitive decline. For example, problems such as: vagueness of where familiar objects are, complaints about not remembering well, forgetting names once well known. There is however, no loss of abilities in social interactions or in employment situations. Stage 3 - CONFUSION EARLY STAGE: Mild cognitive decline. For example, problems such as: getting lost when traveling to a familiar location; noticeably lowered performance level at work; trouble finding words and names; little retention from reading; little or no ability to remember names of new people; loss of valued objects and trouble concentrating. Stage 4 - CONFUSION LATE STAGE: Moderate cognitive decline. For example, problems such as: decreased knowledge of current and recent events; loss in memory of personal history; decreased ability to handle travel or finances; and inability to perform complex tasks. Appropriate responsiveness to outside stimulation decreases sharply. Denial of any problem, and withdrawal from challenging situations are common. Stage 5 - DEMENTIA EARLY STAGE: Moderate severe decline. For example: the person can no longer survive without some assistance. Patients can't remember names of people or places in their lives. They may be disoriented about time and dates. However, they will require no assistance when using the bathroom or eating, but may need help getting dressed. Stage 6 - DEMENTIA MIDDLE STAGE: Severe cognitive decline. For example: the person may forget the name of the spouse and be unaware of events in his or her life. They are entirely dependent on others for survival. They may have trouble sleeping in a regular pattern. Stage 7 - DEMENTIA LATE STAGE: Very severe cognitive decline. For example: all verbal abilities are lost and he or she needs help eating and using the bathroom. Eventually they lose ability to walk, the brain appears to no longer be able to tell the body what to do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level 1 – NO COGNATIVE DECLINE: No subjective complaints of memory deficit. No memory deficit evident on clinical interview. Level 2 – VERY MILD COGNATIVE DECLINE (Age Associated Memory Impairment): Subjective complaints of memory deficit, most frequently in following areas: (a) forgetting where one has placed familiar objects; (b) forgetting names one formerly knew well. No objective evidence of memory deficit on clinical interview. No objective deficits in employment or social situations. Appropriate concern with respect to symptomatology. Level 3 – MILD COGNATIVE DECLINE (Mild Cognitive Impairment): Earliest clear-cut deficits. Manifestations in more than one of the following areas: (a) patient may have gotten lost when traveling to an unfamiliar location; (b) co-workers become aware of patient's relatively poor performance; (c) word and name finding deficit becomes evident to intimates; (d) patient may read a passage or a book and retain relatively little material; (e) patient may demonstrate decreased facility in remembering names upon introduction to new people; (f) patient may have lost or misplaced an object of value; (g) concentration deficit may be evident on clinical testing. Objective evidence of memory deficit obtained only with an intensive interview. Decreased performance in demanding employment and social settings. Denial begins to become manifest in patient. Mild to moderate anxiety accompanies symptoms. Level 4 – MODERATE COGNITIVE DECLINE (Mild Dementia): Clear-cut deficit on careful clinical interview. Deficit manifest in following areas: (a) decreased knowledge of current and recent events; (b) may exhibit some deficit in memory of ones personal history; (c) concentration deficit elicited on serial subtractions; (d) decreased ability to travel, handle finances, etc. Frequently no deficit in following areas: (a) orientation to time and place; (b) recognition of familiar persons and faces; (c) ability to travel to familiar locations. Inability to perform complex tasks. Denial is dominant defense mechanism. Flattening of affect and withdrawal from challenging situations frequently occur. Level 5 – MODERATELY SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE (Moderate Dementia): Patient can no longer survive without some assistance. Patient is unable during interview to recall a major relevant aspect of their current lives, e.g., an address or telephone number of many years, the names of close family members (such as grandchildren), the name of the high school or college from which they graduated. Frequently some disorientation to time (date, day of week, season, etc.) or to place. An educated person may have difficulty counting back from 40 by 4s or from 20 by 2s. Persons at this stage retain knowledge of many major facts regarding themselves and others. They invariably know their own names and generally know their spouses' and children's names. They require no assistance with toileting and eating, but may have some difficulty choosing the proper clothing to wear. Level 6 - SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE (Moderately Severe Dementia): May occasionally forget the name of the spouse upon whom they are entirely dependent for survival. Will be largely unaware of all recent events and experiences in their lives. Retain some knowledge of their past lives but this is very sketchy. Generally unaware of their surroundings, the year, the season, etc. May have difficulty counting from 10, both backward and, sometimes, forward. Will require some assistance with activities of daily living, e.g., may become incontinent, will require travel assistance but occasionally will be able to travel to familiar locations. Diurnal rhythm frequently disturbed. Almost always recall their own name. Frequently continue to be able to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar persons in their environment. Personality and emotional changes occur. These are quite variable and include: (a) delusional behavior, e.g., patients may accuse their spouse of being an impostor, may talk to imaginary figures in the environment, or to their own reflection in the mirror; (b) obsessive symptoms, e.g., person may continually repeat simple cleaning activities; (c) anxiety symptoms, agitation, and even previously nonexistent violent behavior may occur; (d) cognitive abulla, i.e., loss of willpower because an individual cannot carry a thought long enough to determine a purposeful course of action. Level 7 - VERY SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE (Severe Dementia): All verbal abilities are lost over the course of this stage. Frequently there is no speech at all -only unintelligible utterances and rare emergence of seemingly forgotten words and phrases. Incontinent of urine, requires assistance toileting and feeding. Basic psychomotor skills, e.g., ability to walk, are lost with the progression of this stage. The brain appears to no longer be able to tell the body what to do. Generalized rigidity and developmental neurologic reflexes are frequently present. You can search this information about Alzhimers at this site. Hopes that it will helps you http://the-alzhimers.blogspot.com/

I have noticed a relationship between alcohol and alzhimers. My mother-in-law is 79 and in the best of health, she has never had high blood pressure, diabetese, any pains & aches. But is very fond of her drink. I do not know what stage she is in, but she carries the newspaper with her all day to refer to the date/month/year and yet she doen not remember. She does remember when it is wednesday for her hair washing day and knows day from night, is very fond of sweets but always insists that she never eats sweets. Easily gets into arguments with anyone and is aggressive, repeats herself,feels every one has always given her a hard time since she was a child. Is constantly talking about old times good and bad.She is usually depressed and feels everyone will leave her soon.