My mother is 89, and in another posting I discussing her chronic UTI's. Thanks to everyone for their support and guidance to date.
Now I have another situation which has been going on and off for the last year.
I am not talking about myoclonic jerks which my mother exhibits frequently when she is asleep.
It seems that on occasion she exhibits a behavior where her body suddenly "jumps" forward like she is startled for no apparent reason. The precursor appears like she freezes for a moment with a blank stare.I have seen this behavior manifest itself primarily after she has been in a deep sleep or mostly toward the evening, and is sitting on the comode in the bathroom. Even after she stands up, and starts to walk, suddenly this behavior will appear for a few seconds, and sometimes these episodes usually while sitting last for a minute. However, they are infrequent.
A few months ago when my mother was in the hospital for a uti, the doctor ordered an MRI and EEG of the brain and in consult with a Neurologist, they found nothing but shrinkage of the brain typical of her age, no strokes, tumors, etc.
Have any of you with a loved one with Dementia/Alzheimers noticed similar behavior?
My husband experienced prolonged hiccups (for weeks!!) after a head injury, and they often reoccurred when he was getting sick. It was a kind of early-warning sign for us to look for other symptoms soon!
This doesn't sound urgent to me, but I would definitely bring it up at her next doctor appointment.
Something I wondered when you talked about her behavior (blank stare) before jerking, could her brain waves have switched to a resting state for a brief time. You would have to have the EEG attached to her when it happened to catch it. This isn't likely, but it may explain what you are seeing.
I don't know if it is influenced by the damage that is creating the dementia. It is always a possibility, especially if it did not happen before she had dementia. If you are interested in some of the newer work being done, read up on the reticular formation of the brain. This is the part of the brain that, among other things, helps to wake us up on schedule -- our internal alarm clock. Ever jerk awake like an alarm clock went off in your head? It's one of the things the reticular formation does for us. It is very interesting and may (or may not) be relevant to what is going on with your mother.