Hi I don't know if I'm being hopeful or just grasping at straws.

My loved one (age 72) had a stroke 5 years ago. The doctors said it looked like he'd been having a lot of small strokes that had gone un-noticed and compared his brain to swiss cheese - they said if they hadn't seen him in real life and only had the MRI to go by, they'd assume he was in a nursing home unable to feed himself. He's independent though. He pays his own bills, does his own shopping and cooking, takes care of his large property (mowing, weed eating, building/fixing fences etc). The stroke was caused by carotid artery occlusion. He had that taken care of, quit smoking, started keeping his diabetes under control etc.

He definitely had a decline in cognitive function after his stroke. I guess that would be considered vascular dementia. He has some word finding difficulty and it takes him a while to figure things out, but he eventually gets them figured out. He just put in the wiring for a new outlet for his new electric car.

Right after the stroke I noticed he would have little panic attacks going anywhere new - like to a new fast food restaurant (especially one where you have to order yourself using those kiosks). He was reluctant to learn how to use self checkouts, gets frustrated with his cell phone etc.

I don't think his cognition or problem solving has got any worse since the stroke but lately he's been having panic attacks a lot more often, and they usually happen when he can't remember something. He's been angry more often, throws things sometimes (which he never did before). I'm hopeful this is just anxiety and not the progression of any dementia.

I'm taking him to see his neurologist soon but often we can learn so much more about these things from people who have experienced them, than from a short appointment with a doctor.

Does anybody have any experience with this? Thanks in advance!