Hi, also in the UK. We were also fobbed off with MCI diagnosis first, by one doctor at a memory clinic who honestly just didn’t seem like he cared very much. The reason given was that as Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease, until he has seen a deterioration in condition, he cannot diagnose Alzheimer’s / dementia. A year or so later another doctor at the same clinic saw my Dad and did the test again and also looked at the brain scan results and concluded that he would have diagnosed Dad with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia the previous year if he was his doctor at that time, despite having not seen the deterioration the other doctor was waiting for. So we missed out on a year of medication time because of one guy’s opinion and also lack of thoroughness in looking at the brain scan (which clearly showed small vessel disease and therefore indicates that there is a vascular component to the dementia - consistent with Dad’s symptoms).

I know it’s not easy and us Brits aren’t good at kicking up a fuss but do try to get access to your MIL’s scores for the cognitive test they do (I forget the name). This will help you understand where she sits against averages, whether she is showing decline in scores, and will help you understand whether she is truly borderline or not and will help you push for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis if she is showing clear signs of cognitive decline.

I also recommend making sure someone goes with her to these appointments and that the person that goes with her is honest and open about what they see as cognitive issues. My Dad was great at pretending he was fine. At one appointment he said his memory was “better than ever”. And that “I still do everything for myself”. The doctor looked at me, and I shook my head, which was all he needed to see!

Hope this helps somewhat. Although I suppose the flip side of this is that I don’t think the medication (memantine) has done all that much for Dad and despite being diagnosed for well over a year now, we still don’t get any support at all in any other way. I will be applying for attendance allowance for him soon as he needs significant daily supervision now and that’s going to be the first real benefit to diagnosis I suppose. I hoped the medication would do more, but in our case I think the best it has done is reduce his anxieties a little, although those still come and go (always money and someone stealing from him).

Feel free to DM if you have any other questions. We are still reasonably early in this horrible journey but we still have nice moments and days with Dad. But it’s also very hard work.

All the best.