Jocelyne Asked December 2014
What are some general psychological changes that happens from having a UTI?
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I've already read the physical symptoms.
Mom is acting more depressed and complaining about more things than usual. I did take her off her dementia and depression medicines. Since I did that, she has come more "alive" than ever. Showing interest in other things, walking more with her walker, peeing less often in bed, not wearing a diaper anymore, making better conversation. I'm guessing you can't have everything.... if she's not to have depression, then I better keep her on the meds. However, she's less lucid/alive when I do that. But a UTI can also cause trouble emotionally, and this is what I want to know before I put her back on depression meds - if I even will.
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That being said, a UTI - an actual infection - is different. This can become a kidney infection that could end her life. If you think a UTI is the problem, she should be checked.
The answer to the question above about do older people "feel" the infections like younger people is something I've wondered about, too, but it seems that some don't. People with dementia wouldn't likely be able to communicate what's wrong anyway, but even without dementia, symptoms of a low-grade UTI may not result in pain but could cause mental issues and dizziness, etc.
Great advice from the community, as usual.
Carol
My mom has not formally been diagnosed with dementia (hardening of the arteries, years ago) and refuses any medical treatment. She takes no meds because of no docs.
She is being mean to caregivers at her AL that previously liked her as a person. I am getting complaints about her behavior and I am there every other day. This is new and is hard to deal with.
My mom will NOT go to a doctor. It stinks.
Do seniors "feel" UTI's like younger people do symptom-wise? I've had two bouts in my life and it was painfully unmistakeable as an infection with extreme pain in the abdomen, bloody urine, vomiting, etc.
Does a UTI affect seniors differently in that it is more silent so to speak in the symptoms?
I ask because my mom is acting very out of sorts lately but has no complaints that I would usually associate with a UTI.
Also, I will have her checked for a UTI. She claims the physical symptoms that I've found listed elsewhere on the internet. I'm guessing just going to her family doctor for that is good enough.
1) Much greater confusion
2) Increased loss of short-term memory
3) Fear and anxiety, expressed sometimes as belligerence
My aunt's symptoms of UTI included
4) Hallucinating people in the house
My mother had dementia; my aunt did not.
You are certainly not neglecting your mother. You are attempting to do what is best for her. Whether you are correct or not is another matter, but certainly not one about neglect.
Dementia medications, in my mind, are awesome and worthwhile IF THEY ARE HELPING. If not, why continue to give them? Sometimes the only way to know is to try a period without them.
Depression,as I know from first-hand experience, is a debilitating disease that can rob life of all pleasure. Anyone suffering from depression deserves any help available to them, including the way they are treated personally and also drug therapy.
The problem with what you did (in my view) is that you stopped more than one medication at a time. Mother seems better in some ways. But how can you tell which med was unnecessary and/or causing a problem?
My husband's neurologist insisted on trying ONE drug at a time, starting at a low dose, increasing it until it was obviously therapeutic or we could conclude it wasn't helping. Only then trying an additional drug. Because of this cautious approach it took nearly a year to get my husband on an effective combination of drugs for his dementia. But we were pretty sure that each drug was worth continuing.
I would think that taking a person off of drugs should work the same way. One at a time. Wait until it is out of the system for a while, and evaluate whether things are better or worse without the drug.
In our household for the 10 years we lived with my husband's dementia, my motto was "better living through chemistry." I simply could not have kept him at home without solving some of the symptom issues, and his specialist was able to accomplish this with drugs. (We used other approaches as well as drugs.)
But I also respect the position of not using drugs needlessly and looking for more holistic solutions.
Ideally you could find a doctor willing to work with you to ensure that Mom was on the least amount of drugs to meet her needs.
If she does have a UTI, treating it promptly will be very important. When the infection is out of her system you can work on holistic ways to prevent a recurrence.
Best of luck and success to you. It will be good to hear how this all works out for your mother.
The thing about medications is this; in the "good old days", we didn't have effective medications. Doctors had bedside manners because that was all they had. Our grandparents died in their 60 and 70s. Large numbers of children never reached adulthood because of diptheria, typhus, cholera, dysentery and influenza
Thanks to improved public health measures and vaccines, those diseases are not the killers they once were. People with epilepsy and schizophrenia were institutionalized for life.
My mother developed crippling anxiety and depression as the result of cognitive decline brought on by TIAs. It wasn't a matter of being unhappy or put of sorts, she lived in dread and fear of everything. She couldn't live that way and antidepressants have helped. But she's being seen on a regular basis by a geriatric psychiatrist who monitors her mood and adjusts accordingly. Perhaps you'd be more comfortable if your mom was being seen by someone who specializes in elderly folks with mood disregulation.
It seems to me that if she's that much better without the depression and AD medications that you need to have a talk with the doctor and see just exactly she needs to make her better but not give her side effects.
In my view, a trip to the doctor for a physical exam including for a UTI is in order, plus a visit to the psychiatrist or neurologist who has been medicating her for dementia and depression. If she's not seeing a specialist for these issues, I'd highly recommend one.
Please keep in touch so we know how you're doing!
Carol