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Dad is 66 with dementia, non-specific, and is in a nursing home. He did break his hip and have a rod put in in January. He also currently has a catheter. These things may have some relevance?


He was fine Wednesday the 22nd of June. I visited him Monday the 27th and for the entire 4 hour visit he was rocking back and forth in his wheelchair. He said he didn't know why he was doing it. I talked to his nurses and they had him lay down and assured me that he stopped doing it when he was laying down. They said they would monitor the situation. This was Monday. Unfortunately, I did not talk to him until Friday as they are short staffed and they don't always answer the phone in his area. We are supposed to have scheduled calls 3 times a week but rarely do they happen.


Anyway, he tells me he is still rocking back and forth and has been even when laying down. I talk to a nurse there and she goes "yeah it looks like he's hip thrusting." What? I thought they were supposed to be monitoring this.


Anyway. Apparently, as of Friday, they were going to have a nurse practitioner and the assistant director of nursing check him out and I still havent heard anything. I talked to the operator and she is relaying my messages. But, I don't know if he's been seen or what.


Basically these symptoms have been happening for a week now.


He is thrusting his hips uncontrollably and when he sits up it makes him rock back and forth but he does it in bed laying down as well. He's not on any new meds to my knowledge. He doesn't have parkinson's, so he's not on any parkinson's meds and to my knowledge that's why people with parkinson's rock, right?


Can it be that he's so stressed that this is his body's way of coping? He really wants to come home :( Or maybe there's an issue with the rod in his hip?


Any ideas at all?


I sit here and wait.


Thank you

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You probably better be boots on the ground. Seeing for yourself what this looks like. It sounds counterproductive to be moving so much with a 'fresh' rod in his hip.

Is he able to voice the pain level he's in?

Without seeing him firsthand, I wouldn't have a clue as to why he's doing this.

Yes, people with Parkinson's rock--but so do people with dementia.

Also, if he had general anesthesia, he may be 'throwing off' the remnants of that.

66 is young. I will turn 66 on Saturday. Life is so unfair--I'm sorry for your dad.
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Bryant2016 Jul 2022
I was there June 27 and saw him rock for hours.

He says he's not in any pain.

Thank you and happy birthday
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Look up Tardive Dyskenesia. Get a lost of the meds he's on and see if any of them list TD as a possible side effect.
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Bryant2016 Jul 2022
Oh my God.

Cariprazine 3mg - Common symptom with severe expression - Extrapyramidal Disease, A Type Of Movement Disorder

I sent a screen shot to a girl I know at the nursing home and told her to show someone
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Your dad needs a doctor. How about a trip to the ER?
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Bryant2016 Jul 2022
I don't drive unfortunately. I think I'm going to call and say I want answers or him to go to the ER.
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I think this is for an MD to TRY to diagnose. I say TRY because with a patient with dementia this can be very difficult. Involuntary swaying, jerking, rocking, et al is not unusual in dementias and other brain conditions, and can be caused by many things. Often, without any certainty of source, anti-seizure medications can help some of this. The internet if absolutely stuffed with "causes", so you can "go there" but to what effect? I would have your Dad see the MD. You may end up with "best guess" but you will at least have the best guess of a doctor familiar with your father and his history.
I sure wish you good luck and hope you will update us.
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Yes, I agree you must be the one to insist on some action here. My mom is currently in rehab/nursing home after breaking her femur in a fall 6/16. She was complaining about pain in her butt for 2 weeks, something pressing. It got to the point of her screaming one night to the extent she burst a blood vessel in her eye. I asked about her bowel movements — several times —was reassured she was going and stool was soft. They changed bowel meds when I again asked if they could look at her after screaming night. (My point here being I asked repeatedly about her pain. And I am physically there nearly every day.) It was not until I said “somethjng’s got to give now or she’s going to the ER,” that they took action. They gave her an enema. 10 pounds — nurse’s report; not my guess— came out.
If I had not insisted action happen by taking her to ER that day, nothing would have been done.
You know him, what’s normal for him and what’s not. Don’t let them blow you off.
Sending ❤️ to you and your dad. I am so sorry you are both going thru this. These places don’t know our loved ones. Staff is overworked and our person isn’t their priority. They have a facility full of vulnerable people. You are right to question this and keep questioning it until it’s properly addressed. I felt bad I had not pushed my mom’s situation earlier but I accepted their answers bc they are the medical people. I was wrong to do that.
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