by sanmom3 » Sun Dec 08, 2019 11:48 pm
This fixation with imaginary fleas, or similar, is happening with my mom, too.
Her delusional disorder began 10 years ago, at age 68, and at first she though her then-husband was having multiple affairs, and that he was sanding her furniture.
A couple years later, with her poor husband enduring weekly accusations, she thought he was going to kill her and she left, and thankfully her doctor convinced her to admit herself to a geriatric psychiatric unit, where she stayed for 2 weeks. The doctors there referred to her delusions as 'fixed' and tried anti-psychotics, but the medication didn't change her delusions at all.
My mom and her husband divorced, which was strongly encouraged by the psychiatric hospital experts, and which my sister and I were relieved about because we could see the stress on her husband, a dear man who was then in his 70s.
She moved to an apartment on her own, and became convinced he was still entering all the time, to damage her furniture or move things around, or take things, to then return them later. There are so many other things she was suspicious of, too many to list here. She spent money on cameras and door alarm monitoring.
Anyway, a few years ago, she said her apartment has fleas, but get this, her dog did not! She still spent hundreds of dollars on flea treatments. She even took what she thought were flea carcasses to a dermatologist, and was told she has delusions. (She's received that diagnosis from various doctors, to no avail)
She started to say her ex-husband is blowing dust and fleas on her through holes in the ceiling, and that he lives in the apartment above her. A few months later, she said she had the fleas under control, but then earlier this year, she started saying she now has mites all over her body. She puts various tree oils and who knows what else all over herself, and does a lot of laundry. She caused a rash on her face, probably from putting various 'treatments' on. And now she also picks at her imaginary mites.
A month ago, she suddenly signed a new lease with a new apartment, saying she has to get away from her ex-husband (who, in actuality, is in his 80s now, can't walk well, and lives hours away from her). We worked very hard to help her move, though she didn't consult with me about whether it was convenient, and yet we knew with 100% certainty that moving would not stop her delusions.
Sure enough, it's been just 2 weeks since the move and a few days ago she told me her ex-husband lives in the apartment above her.
She still thinks she has mites, and she's also developed olfactory and auditory hallucinations. She thinks she hears her ex-husband whistling, and gets angry with us when we say we can't hear anything. And she thinks she smells vapors or fumes that he's blowing on her somehow.
We're hopeful that the new place she moved to, which has independent apartments, but also has assisted living services, will place barriers on her behavior, or somehow enforce mental health treatment. We'll see.
I'm also 100% certain that even if her ex-husband passes away before she does, she will still think he's tormenting her, or that he's hired people to do it after his death.