Rose, in addition to my comments I wanted to add that I went to the Doctor
with SPECIFIC instances to relate, of her behavior before Risperdol was
given.

For instance, she was getting quite aggressive and "in my face" about going
outside to look for cows and barnyard animals that she imagined were
starving in some shed somewhere.   We live in a thick forest, and naturally
we were terrified she might get out and get lost seeking these imaginary
cows and animals.

This was apparently a flashback of some kind from her childhood, when she
was a young girl living on a farm and had to care for the cows, feeding them
etc.    Nothing could pursuade her that her imaginings were not real, and
she was actually getting like she was going to hit me when we told her there
were no cows outside.   Taking her outside personally and SHOWING her meant
absolutely nothing, because three seconds later she was caught in the same
delusion again.

She also imagined she had a baby and that people were keeping that baby from
her and it was hungry and needed to be fed.   She would wake in the night
looking for her baby.

So as you can see, these were delusions that made her very difficult to live
with and keep calm, as well as making her suffer and be very emotionally
uncomfortable.

For us the Risperdol made her calmer and it stopped the aggressive
attitudes, and the delusions were easily dispelled when they did arise.

I live with her.  I guess you could say I take care of her alone but my brother
helps sometimes and I am looking into daycare and home care.

My mother is in the early-moderate stage (not real early, but still able to
dress herself and feed herself, not wandering, etc.)  She isn't having
delusions except very mild ones like thinking maybe the reason she can't find
her glasses or hat is that someone is coming into the apartment and taking
things.  

She doesn't get dangerously aggressive but when she is agitated and then I try
to get her to do something she doesn't want to do, or if I hurt her feelings by
being impatient or critical when she, say, puts dirty dishes in the cupboard
(which I know I shouldn't do), she gets very angry and sometimes is mildly
physical like light slapping.  Also, sometimes when angry she throws her cane
on the ground. (It kinda makes me chuckle later when I think about it -- gotta
keep a sense of humor.) When I've tried to get her into day care she has become
extremely agitated and we had to get her out because she can't be held against
her will.

I very much want to get her into day care or have a home care person come but I
am afraid that she might need to take something to keep her calm enough to
accept the care.

Thanks for you guys' help, everyone in this thread who has answered.

___
"How do they know the dog food is any good?  Who tastes it?" -- Elaine,
"Seinfeld"