Woman's dementia misdiagnosed as menopause

A pistillate who was diagnosed arsenic being menopausal erstwhile she really had aboriginal onset dementia is urging others not to disregard the signs that thing is wrong.

Tracey Lane, from Clevedon, successful North Somerset, said it took 2 years for doctors to correctly diagnose her with the information astatine which constituent she was 51.

"For a agelong time, I conscionable couldn't recognize what was going on. I kept feeling truly low, but I had nary crushed to," Ms Lane said.

Lorna Robertson, from the Alzheimer’s Society, added: "It's truly important to get a diagnosis truthful you tin get the attraction and enactment you request to beryllium capable to unrecorded the champion beingness you tin with dementia."

Ms Lane utilized to enactment successful a schoolhouse and is 1 of a increasing fig of radical surviving with the condition.

She said she went to the doctors erstwhile she started to hide however to bash regular things.

At 49-years-old, they initially thought she was going done the menopause, but a scan aboriginal showed harm to the beforehand of her brain.

Ms Lane is present urging radical to get diagnosed.

"If you consciousness you person a problem, get it checked," she said.

Ms Lane's husband, Mike, said the 2 years waiting for a diagnosis was precise "worrying" adding: "The not knowing is worse than the diagnosis."

Memory loss, trouble concentrating, uncovering it hard to transportation retired acquainted regular tasks, struggling to travel a speech and temper changes are each symptoms of dementia, according to the NHS.

Ms Robertson said that people, particularly women, request to beryllium alert of however akin these symptoms tin beryllium to the menopause, but added it is precise antithetic to beryllium diagnosed with dementia successful your 40's oregon 50's.

"This is wherefore it is incredibly important to question assistance if thing doesn't consciousness close and to sojourn your GP and get that diagnosis and question the assistance that is needed," she said.

More than 101,000 radical are surviving with dementia successful the South West, and numbers are acceptable to emergence to implicit 147,000 by 2040, according to Alzheimer's UK.

Ms Robertson said this was owed to an ageing population.

"One of 3 of america calved contiguous volition spell connected to make dementia," she said.

For Ms Lane, she mostly struggles with facial designation and eating.

"We spell to the section java store erstwhile a time and there'll beryllium radical determination I've seen each time for 15 years and not recognise," she said.

"I've been eating the aforesaid happening for a long, agelong time. Recently, I've been brave and I'm precise arrogant of myself due to the fact that I started to person a banana and I've had an apple."

She said she present tries to beryllium arsenic affirmative arsenic she can.

"When you bash really find out, arsenic unusual arsenic it sounds, to find retired you've got dementia, it is astir amended due to the fact that you cognize what is going on, you tin marque consciousness of it."