I just found this site a week ago and I have been addicted to it ever since. We lost my sister-in-law 8 months ago and my mom was devastated. They were extremely close for 21 years. My sister-in-law and brother have three children, 17, 8 and 6, the 8 year old having autism.
My mother was her normal self while my sister-in-law was sick. She did everything to help my brother while he was taking care of his wife. After my sister in law's death, she again jumped in to help my brother care for the children. She seems fine for the first few weeks, then depression set in, she was crying daily, she stopped taking her medication for diabetes, and couldn't remember what I said to her 2 minutes before.
I was shocked at her sudden lack of memory retention! She'd ask me the same question five times in a 10 minute conversation!
I would talk to her multiple times a day and she was always bawling her eyes out. I would visit her and her house was a mess. All her clothes were dirty. No food in the house. And she was wearing dirty clothes. Her hair was matted. She lost 30 lb and her neighbors were calling me telling me she couldn't walk and she was bouncing off the walls. Obviously from her diabetes not being treated. She developed painful neuropathy, and bad sores on her feet.
I said, "that's it, you're coming home with me, if you don't you are going to die here alone."
I spoke with my brother and we agreed to talk to her about coming to live with me. We continue to speak to her about it over the next month. It was rough because....She forgot what we said the moment after we said it.
Oy Vey where is my mom!??? She was not like this 8 months ago!
So she's been with me two weeks and has had multiple breakdowns, freaking out, up all night cause she wanted to go home. After the third day of her being here, I took her to the ER and they gave her Xanax thank God. Next I took her to my doctor, and she put her on 10 mg of Lexapro. We got a new prescription for her diabetes medication which is Levemir 60 units once-daily. We had labs done today. We have a therapy (grief counseling) appointment set up for May 24th. And it's back to the PCP in 2 weeks. I read on here that an untreated UTI can cause dementia like symptoms. God I'm praying for that. I feel like .... "Mommy, where are you?"
Has anyone experienced an untreated UTI causing dementia like symptoms? If you have please share your experience with me. Thank you all for being here.
You said "Mom fell yesterday what a horrible experience! She bent down to pick something up in the yard and fell backwards against the brick wall."
While this can happen to anyone, especially older people as balance becomes difficult, do beware that the anti-anxiety meds CAN cause balance problems in older adults. One of the reasons our doc gave for not filling an Rx was this. However, the need overrode the concerns in our case (I *really* had to push back, multiple times - even saying we're not planning on dosing her all the time, just as needed!!!)
So watch for balance issues. If possible, as her overall condition improves, as doc if any of the anti-anxiety or anti-depression meds can either be scaled back (lower dose - doc only prescribed a very low dose for our mother) or change dosage to "as needed."
We call Xanax "the stupid pill" because people we know on prescribed Xanax are air heads. LOL So we definitely don't want Mom taking it long term. We wouldn't know what's causing memory problems.
Her Dr. Didn't prescribed it for her, the ER did on her third or fourth day here, when she was totally freaking out. She only gets a small dose .25 when she has a panic attack. And that's been only once a day 2-3 times a week. Thank God. However she gets 2 at night .5 to sleep. And her fall was first thing in the morning. That's why I think you hit the nail on the head.
Tonight we are starting Trazadone for sleep....fingers crossed.....her Dr. Is not a fan of Xanax for her.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your valuable experience!
To get to the point ;) She has kept a UTI since dad died. She too recently has lost 10 pounds. Every other month, she will mention that her pee looks different and it smells. I told her she has another UTI.... she then denies it. GEEZ,,, she has been on antibiotics for months.. Not working. She gets more confused than usual. That's when I know something is totally wrong. She is 85 and I don't know if left with antibiotics that don't work, that it could turn into something worse.
I'm calling the doctor tomorrow and fight mom for another pee test, but I'm going to have her order a test called cystology test of the urine, and make sure it isn't cancer also.
Hope this helps!
Stay True to yourself!!