My mom called me last night sounded concerned. She said she watched a new movie in tv as well as a brand new episode of a tv show she watches. She was aware that she hadn’t seen either of these before. But she said when she was watching them it was like she had seen them before. She said she knew what was going to happen and how it was going to end just as if she had seen these before. she asked me if this could be part of her White Matter Disease.
I have no idea. But what she doesn’t know is her last MRI showed something that said these findings are some thing about what they see in Alzheimer’s. I asked her neurologist if it meant she has Alzheimer’s. He said they would have to do further testing. i’m just wondering if anyone has heard of this TV thing. She’s aware enough to know she’s never seen the shows but she was pretty spooked by this.
Another thing could be, these TV shows are running out of story lines. I have heard they take old scripts and revamp them for today. At 73 I can tell you I see a lot of story lines that are very familiar. Just the characters, times and places have changed.
In reality, your mom has MRI findings that are in line with Alzheimer's Disease, meaning this 'deja-vu' event is likely due to THAT situation. MRIs don't lie, but we tend to lie to ourselves about the why's and wherefore's of a situation.
Mention this event to your mom's Neurologist but don't be surprised if s/he has no idea why it happened or what it means. The human brain is THE most misunderstood organ in the body. On the other hand, however, it may provide a link to what's going on with her, you just don't know.
Like MJ said, she had this very thing happen to her after a head injury, which is comforting to know that it DOES happen to others.
Wishing you the best of luck finding a conclusive diagnosis for your mom and having everything work out as well as can be expected.
When I was about six years old, I got conked in the head really hard when a metal pipe fell on me. I didn't think anything of it other than it was really memorable. Fast forward 10 years, and I started getting weird deja vu experiences like I've been somewhere before, or I knew what someone was about to say before they said it.
My dear mother, bless her heart, assured me that "it's just your ovaries." Okie dokie -- I had lots of female issues, so why not add this to the lot. It happened occasionally for the next six year until I was 22 and I had one of my "spells" right in the middle of one of my college finals. I didn't come out of it until 45 minutes later, and after that I went home and told my mother that it was time to go to a doctor.
Again, bless Mom's heart, but she took me to an OB/gyn who looked at her like she was nuts and told her to take me to the neurologist down the hall. After an EEG, I was diagnosed with partial/complex seizures -- a form of epilepsy. The doctor asked if I'd ever been hit in the head really hard, and come to think of it...yes. My mother was horrified, because I'd never even told her about getting hit -- I'd just kind of staggered home from my friend's house where it happened and never said anything.
So, bottom line -- I have what my doctor called an electrical short-circuit in the right temple area of my brain. She described it like a little lightning bolt that goes off randomly. It's not a terribly big deal and it's been controlled with medication since I was diagnosed. I haven't had a seizure since 1997 right after my last child was born.
The deja vu thing is the "aura" I get just before a seizure starts. Some people will smell something that isn't there, or see flashes of light -- there are all sorts of things that happen. I'd get your mom in to a neurologist for testing to see if she's having mild seizures. The medication's no big deal, but it does take a while to get the right dose because it suppresses those electrical impulses, and the meds make you REALLY sleepy. (NO DRIVING!) Once they found the right dose for me, I was completely fine and have no issues whatsoever. I take a pill about 2-3 times a week, and that keeps everything at bay.
Get her to a neurologist.
As to this new diagnosis you now will have to face this with Mom and her MD should be so honest as to meet with her and the family to explain it. This is the time to do last minute things that can still be done re wills and POA and to make things safe for Mom, as soon she won't be able to make these decisions. I am sorry to hear of her diagnosis.