A father who was once diagnosed with early-onset dementia has recently shared a surprising update about his health.
Fraser, who is 41, received life-altering news last year that would be unexpected for someone of his age.
His diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease prompted him to start documenting his experiences and symptoms on his YouTube channel, Younger Onset Dementia.
Fraser, who resides in Australia, shared: “So I got diagnosed eight months ago, and I think my symptoms probably started about two/two-and-a-half years before that.
“It’s funny because I don’t remember what my symptoms really were initially, all I remember was having some pretty big memory flaws, like I remember I was sitting down to watch a movie once and my partner’s gone, ‘yeah, we watched that like a month ago’.
“Anyway, I watched the whole movie, and the ending was still a complete surprise. I had no memory of watching it whatsoever, and I didn’t watch many movies either at the time. So it was, it was a bit concerning that was.”
Discussing his symptoms, Fraser recounted an incident where he anxiously searched for his teenage daughter, forgetting she had already informed him of her whereabouts.
This led to numerous consultations with specialists, culminating in his original diagnosis.
However, Fraser has now revealed a startling development… he does not have Alzheimer’s disease.
Returning to his channel, he shared that after undergoing recent scans and tests intended to track the progression of his Alzheimer’s, doctors concluded that there was ‘no way’ he had dementia.
Fraser excelled in his cognitive tests, which left doctors puzzled about his lack of deterioration typically seen in patients with the disease.
This prompted further testing.
Fraser recounted: “I had a bit of a decline in my cognition in some areas uh but not as much as what -you know- not to the extent that you would expect for somebody with Alzheimer’s over the past 12 months.”
As doctors reevaluated his diagnosis and conducted more tests, a clearer picture emerged.
When all results came back clear, the explanation for his initial misdiagnosis became evident.
His condition stemmed from mental health issues.
In his video, he shared: “I know all along I have said I don’t want this to be mental health. Yeah. But it’s mental health.”
Doctors explained that his symptoms were due to anxiety and a perfectionist personality, which mimicked dementia since an ‘anxious brain has problems filing memories essentially like in a filing cabinet.’
He noted that these memories weren’t organized in a ‘logical way,’ resulting in difficulty retrieving them.
This disorganization meant he struggled with remembering small details and had trouble communicating as his mind was constantly overwhelmed.
Fraser admitted to crying for hours upon realizing he had a longer life expectancy, and in response to this revelation, he renamed his YouTube channel to ‘I (don’t) have dementia’.