For the past couple of weeks, my Mom has shown what seems to be signs of improvement. After her last doctor visit he adjusted her medications. We made one adjustment immediately and then the other we started a week later. It seemed as if things were better quickly. My mothers mood swings seemed to be lessened. This was the first time that we had seen a noticeable improvement with medications.
As the days turned into weeks, her anger seemed to be replaced by giddiness. She was to the point of euphoria at times. Then it hit me, this is not normal. Something is not right. It has been as if she has had a couple of drinks each day. Even though she was happy, she is struggling for words more and thoughts are not free-flowing. So I called the doctor to report her almost bizarre behavior. He suggested pulling back on medications and seeing how that goes. His true thought is that she has moved onto the next stage.
The next stage. The next stage. This is a time in life that the next stage is not a positive thing. How those words have sat like a brick in my stomach. Now that Moms medications are adjusted (once again). it seems clear she is in the net stage. The up side is that Mom is happier. She still has her angry moments and we can feel her bubbling up, but it doesn’t always reach that intense level as it did 4-6 weeks ago. It is wonderful to see my Mom happy. I will enjoy each moment that it lasts. I now understand that FTD is transient. Tomorrow can be a totally different day and we will cherish each of the good days. Sometimes signs of improvement and not quite what they seem.
Mom's Gonna Snap 