My 70 year old mum, been on antipsychotic medication for almost 30 years, became very withdrawn and vacant.
Treated in hospital for a UTI - however she remains distant, very flat mood and has no memory.
Doctor diagnosed Dementia - then took her off her antipsychotic meds ‘cold turkey’ - causing terrible withdrawals.
Weaning her back onto her medication now.
She says her mind is blank and can’t remember anything. She is very withdrawn, and SO confused, wakes up every morning not even knowing where she is.
Still in hospital and going straight into Aged Care - can’t come home as now needs 24/7 care/supervision.
What on earth is going on? Can dementia really come on this quickly?
I’m having trouble excepting this diagnosis... am I in denial?
Please tell me there’s hope for my mum :(
I went over and over with my sister about this but she would not listen
Ourge daughter is an RN. I've talked with Mom's Doctors and have our daughter go over the tests.
Per our daughter who would check on her Grandma until our daughter moved here to Texas; UTIs especially people with diabetes, will never ever get grid of them....EVER!
Tge toxins created with kidney failure stays in the blood system. Because of the diabetes, the brain is the final organ for the toxins to attack.
I know when things are starting up with the UTI because Mom will accuse people of things that have never happened and becomes very aggressive as well as her memory goes haywire.
If Mom starts to complain of pains in her side or hurts when she urinates....signs that the UTI is attacking. Get her to the doctor or hospital!!
My 97 yr old mother has been prone to UTIs for years. She takes antipsychotic medication. Two things make her goofy, a UTI and morphine. Now a third issue has popped up. A month ago she begin hallucinating after being admitted to the hospital for heart failure due to excess fluid around her heart and lungs. I was assured she was not given morphine while in the hospital, and that she did not have a UTI. Turns out the hallucinations, weakness, and dementia was from kidney failure brought on by the new medication for the heart failure that she received in the hospital (I had no idea hallucinations can be a symptom of kidney disease). She's been off the new meds for a week now and the hallucinations are gone. However, her short term memory and the ability to read and play games have deminished considerably. Medication was lisinopril, furosemide, potassium.
In the past twenty years the morphine and UTIs (also Abilify) have caused severe dementia to the point where we considered placing her in a memory care facility only to have her rebound to nearly normal. Each event seems to be the final slide into obivion, and yet she bounces back.
Lizzy
mom a few weeks after dad came down with the same systems. she also did well with the medications after a month or so.
from hospital to rehab and than to my home to care for them.
they were never the same.
their dementia, alztimers began to grow rapidly. after a short period of time they were living in their own little worlds.
dad died a few months ago and mom passed away three weeks after dad.
I also was in denial but I had to come to terms that my parents bodies and mind were preparing to leave this life and go to the next journey of their life.
I love and miss them both so much
She also had temporary loss of hearing after taking antibiotics for another lung infection.
Shop around until the right doctor can give a correct diagnosis or give it some more time.
Some doctor's advise you persevere!
There is only so long you can do so. Present the written facts - there's a myriad of information available. This is an excellent site in itself.
And present your loved ones habits/behaviour to a Dr who is tuned into 'what is actually delirium, dementia, or something else - yes, so often a UTI. Then observe the effects of the antibiotics - mostly the person will be ok after correctly treated. Unfortunately, in Aged Care nowdays, it can take days from the time you, (their loved one), notices a UTI and reports same to staff, and the time they actually collect a sample.. Also, note please - when they do eventually collect a sample of urine, they have often only scooped some urine from a pan and done a simple 'ward' test. This is not sufficient! An MSU is required. Insist upon it.
All the best.
As you note - it does also take some time (variable) for the person to return full function after the antibiotics are finished their course.
Not even the nurses in supposedly good aged care facilities are aware of this. Nor will they listen. So the stated percentage of dementia people actually is not correct.
I do have first hand professional and personal experience. Sadly!
God bless all who care enough and are observant in this critical area.
And remember for every RX drug taken you’ll need at least three more to offset the side effects. My advice stay away from docs and RX drugs, your live a much happier, quality life.
This is happening with my mom. Some doctor told her Ultram isn’t addictive (it most certainly is) so she has it in her mind that she’s sticking with the Ultram. She says it helps her pain and I can’t argue with her.
So once a month, she gets her UTI and goes on a rampage. It’s very tiresome for everyone involved.
Another point I’d like to bring up is doctors who leave patients on strong drugs and twenty years go by and doc hasn’t taken ten minutes to make an informed decision and discontinue the drug(s) PROPERLY. I wonder if they even think ‘Does this patient still need this drug at this time?
After my recent prolonged illness I had begun thinking about that. I realized I was taking three drugs with a big dose of steroids in each. I stopped taking them. At my OV with my internist I told him I’d stopped taking those. He took me off my BP med because my pressure was 110/70! Also I had a very fast pulse over the last few years that has dropped to normal range, so steroids can cause racing pulse...
This is the third time I’ve had to overhaul my meds. Because basically I’m sent to a specialist who prescribes another Rx or 2. Then before you realize it, the drug wars are going on in your body!
The worst drug I ever withdrew from was Paxil. It took two months to get off Paxil completely. I had to use a razor blade and remove a tiny slice daily, to very slowly taper down. I still felt like I was losing my mind.
Never again will I take an antidepressant! It was awful!
So, the untreated UTI's bacteria increases exponentially and quickly and a person can become septicemic ... in which other body systems are affected and if continued to be untreated can shut organs down. But as the bacteria multiple, usually (often because of the burning/painful urination), the person also drinks much less and also becomes dehydrated, so they have a lack of all the minerals necessary. One of those is sodium. Hyponatremia (low sodium) can definitely cause altered mental status and confusion.
Having dementia, can worsen the recognition that there is a UTI in process.
I just checked and there is actually a kit you can by online for urine testing strips for infection, very inexpensive. Maybe a good idea to have on hand for those caring for LO's at home.
Betsey
Uti, dehydration and poor diet can contribute to a lot of problems.
Talk to the care team at the monthly care plan meeting. They might let you conference call in, if you can't get there. I Don't know they do that, but you can ask.
I worry that she had psychotic symptoms so they put her on med/s for that. What is the long term effects of that med alone? Interactions with other meds?
She might come around after her body re-adjusts to being off the med. It might take awhile. I'd let care team know she went off med cold turkey too. I think that seems cruel. But maybe the med is short acting and has no residual effects? You can find that out on the drug sheet. They have them online too. Good luck.
If I don’t do that, she will wet everything.
I'm sure 99.9% of these posts are affirmative which is very true.
UTIs also effect men!
Once the onset of either dementia or Alzheimer's kicks in, the issues then become hygiene and eating habits. If one is not getting the hydration needed, then they don't urinate, toxins effect the kidneys, the blood which effects the brain.
The longer the infection goes without treatment the more recurrent it becomes. There will never be a complete recovery from this as antibiotics will no longer help due to their system no longer reacting to treatment.
This will cause extreme mood changes, more toward anger, agitation to physical combativeness.
I learned this very quickly this past month with my Mother. I had to learn and experience via on the job training. I live out of State and things being what they were for the past few years; I was never informed about the situation until it was all dropped into my lap.
I went home the 1st week of April thinking Mom had dementia only to find out she has Diabetes 3 Alzheimer's....a new and improved catagory!
The first week of May, me and my husband went back to deal with issues only to have an episode I truly had not expected or experienced with Mom.
I knew about the UTIs, but I didn't know the signs to look for when the onset of the infection would be noticeable. Had to call 911, get Mom to the hospital where they had to treat her for no less than 2 infections because the panels were not revealing the exact cause. Mom did physically attack me while I was helping the EMTs, but rather me than them and just part of the course.
Come to find out from my sister these UTIs were happening very frequently and I was experiencing what she had with Mom.
EeeBee, there are so many things that affect dementia/Alzheimer's that it's like reading a menu at a Chinese restaurant. Choose from column(s) A, B, C.
Talk with the doctor. Set an appointment for just you to have a lengthy discussion about everything that can possibly cause issues...it can be good too.
When we were with Mom last month, she played her last hand her doctor gave her and I had to place Mom/stepfather in an assisted group home...stepfather has progressive dementia.
Science doesn't know 100% what causes these conditions. What they do know is that they are not caused by metallic exposure as was claimed about 4-5 decades ago.
A UTI generally can't cause dementia but easily can cause delirium, and delirium can take a very long time to resolve, especially in people who have dementia or whose brains are otherwise vulnerable. We do see a certain number of people who are not diagnosed with dementia prior to hospitalization (although if we dig into the history and prior symptoms, we almost always find evidence that the person was not entirely normal before hospitalization) but then the dementia gets "unmasked" during or after hospitalization. People with all forms of cognitive impairment are at higher risk for developing delirium, and it's associated with acceleration of cognitive decline too.
Being inattentive or spaced out is a cardinal feature of delirium.
Many of us in geriatrics would say it's not really appropriate to definitively diagnose someone with dementia during hospitalization...technically one should wait until delirium has had a chance to resolve.
Now is the UTI the only thing going on, that's a good question to consider. Sounds like there is a comprehensive evaluation going on.
I must say I'm surprised they would stop antipsychotics cold-turkey like that...someone who has been taking them for 30 years presumably has a significant mental health condition that would predate any dementia.
Eeebee, hope your mom gets better soon.