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Old 16th September 2004, 04:24 PM
ppmoni ppmoni is offline
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Default Request Advice: dementia with depression

Hi!

I have a close friend, with the following problem, and not sure in what advice should I give her, it looks too much for my knowledge:

About 6 months ago she started to get serious spinning vertigo with either mental or physical exertion. The ETN specialist told her, it may be Meniere's syndrome, for what there is no treatment.
The spinning vertigo used to start in the morning or even while still in bed, awakening from sleeping, the next day when she overworked.
It was worse lying on side, but not too much better on back either, better sitting, and from pressure on her head (she put a heavy rice-filled bag on it) or keeping her head in a face-to-ground position. In this position she can dose off for short times, when the vertigo lasted through the night- and no other position worked to sleep.
Before the vertigo starts, she told me, that the objects look strange, can not tell exactly why, but feels if the deepness, wideness, etc. would have been changed.
She remembered, that even earlier than she fist had the vertigo, she started to have memory problems. In times of great stress she can not find everyday words, like potato or glass, etc. This got worse, and now she always have words- different ones every time-she just can not remember. She started to feel confused all the time, feeling she forgotted something - and most of the time it is true. But she just can not recall what it may be. She started to have troubles finding the name's of known peoples too.And when the vertigo is there, those memory problems became worse, and she can not even think clearly.
About 3-4 months ago she became very depressed. She felt life isn't worth living it, and told me, she just didn't killed herself because of her 4 children. It went away, and came back in a non-regular 2-6 weeks periods, with no association with her menstrual cicle. She said, now she can tell, when the depression is "before her door", cause she always start with thoughts coming one-after-the-other quickly, as what she could do right now, like "Oh, I should clean the windows, or better go gardening, oh, but I wanted to draw that cute things first, but maybe a salad would be good before...". She just feels overwhelmed with those thoughts and can not decide to do one of them. The next stage is, that she starts to feel weak, with no energy to do any of them, and the next stage is, that she is just indifferent to anything, didn't feel joy, can not enjoy talking with her loved ones,etc., and just sits there thinking "another damn day to live through..." At the times of depression, she have insomnia, awakens to the slightest noise, and have trouble to fall asleep.
Now, when she starts to feel those overwhelming - but first exciting - thoughts coming, she just force herself to do one, and it sometimes help her not to step forward to the next stage. And if she get to the depressed, indifferent stage, she just abandon every task she may have, and spend a day looking comics and laughing - this used to help.
When she was diagnosed with the Meniere's, she tried Conium C30, first 2 times a week, then one, and then only when she feels the vertigo coming. It seems to helped the vertigo, but the memory problem is progressing. She is very anxious now, and started to think she might have Alzheimer.
Oh, and almost forget her skin problem: around the groin and on her inner thigh she has an unbearably itching skin trouble: it is red, dry, and has a sharp border, like it would have been "made" with a ruler (so I think it maybe nerve related). She sometimes can not even sleep from it: awaken to tha scratching she is making.
And one more: she has osteoporosis in he lumbar spine, she is 35 years old, and her dorsal spine is sensitive, and cracks.
She has got Lachesis C200 years ago from a homeopath (mainly for her claustrophobia, what she still have) and Calc.Carb. C200 a year ago a few times. Her personality: she is VERY perfectionist, although trying to fight it at times, and VERY critical. She may not tell those critics, but you could be sure she SEE it - everything what is not the best it could be.Before these problems, she had perfect memory, and she is very clever - right now she is 4th year graduate in a college, at age 35...
Sorry for being so long, and would be thankfull to any advice - my bet would be Agar. Musc.?? but not sure at all...

Last edited by jonh; 16th September 2004 at 06:34 PM.
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