Ninety-two year old Dad started rubbing a spot on his head. Took him to Dr and he had an infected ingrown hair on his scalp. Dr. prescribed medication and told Dad not to touch the spot. Now, he has a large spot on his scalp that is balding because he is constantly rubbing his head. When we tell him to stop, he’ll lie and say he isn’t rubbing his scalp. He tells us that his head is wet or feels sticky like honey because the "marbles or balls or grooves???” are “releasing.” Told me he has to open the grooves so they can crust over. He has also taken to rubbing his hands until they bleed. He had been on an antidepressant which the Dr. had us carefully cut back to see if his behavior changed. No change. He seems to be mentally ok except for this behavior and he is talking about WWIl a lot. He was in that war but rarely discussed it until lately and now tells anyone about the war. Anyone out there with a similar issue??
Aging and dementia can be so frustrating for him and for you.
My mother was on Sertraline which didn’t help until she was gradually brought up to the right dosage. Then she was happy, relaxed and pleasant, instead of agitated and delusional.
It’s wonderful that you care and are involved in helping your father find help and comfort.
God bless you and give perfect guidance.
Wishing for good outcomes for you and your father.
I believe that reverting to talking about the distant past a lot, especially something from sooo long ago that was never talked about, also shows a marked level of decline.
Has he been evaluated for dementia? At 92, it's wouldn't be a surprise. My personal opinion is that almost everyone who lives long enough is going to end up with some level of dementia, unfortunately.
Good luck.
My 84 y.o. mother has Alz and is in the process of transitioning from rehab to a permanent new residence shortly (wish me luck), but growing up, she always had odd quirks and compulsively kept lists of the most trivial, unimportant things. She continued to do this till she broke her hip at 82, which triggered the onset of the Alz; she never recovered from the anesthetic but even before that, I figured she had mild cognitive impairment. Anyway, these lists...I found them recently and told the facilitator of our caregiver support group. She said things like this are manifestations of anxiety. It may be your father has had a suppressed anxiety, which may be coming out in the form now of talking about the war years and this new fixation he has. Something to think about and ask your docs.
Good luck to you.
Keep an eye on anything that could be harmful with Dad who if Living alone, You don't want it to come down that you ever are accused of Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person. I would suggest maybe a caregiver to help him.
Who knows how that drug is affecting the brain with delusion or if it's just dementia or something. Everyone is so different.
Which one is it? My dad takes 10mg of Lexapro and it's taken the edge off. I had him on natural remedies until they stopped working, trying to avoid any bad side effects. So far so good.
All the best to you and dad!!!
I wish you and your father the very best!