Hi everyone, I know I don't post too often, but I am here often, learning...praying.....and today I am struggling. Mom is 80, has been in assisted living now for 3 1/2 years. Up until this year was relatively independent--she only needed to have her meals served and her housekeeping done....I set up her meds and she took them on schedule....but she started losing ground in January, when she was hospitalized after being prescribed Benadryl (FYI DON'T EVER ALLOW AN ELDERLY PERSON TO TAKE THIS MORE THAN ONE OR TWO DAYS IN A ROW--THEY BUILD UP IN THE SYSTEM!). After that discharge, it was clear that she'd lost some ground, and it was at that point that the ALF started administering her medications. At this time also, she lost the ability to dial her telephone, so we got her a voice-activated phone dialer, so all she has to do is say the name of the person she wants to call.

In June, she was hospitalized again with very low sodium. This hospitalization was particularly bad, she became combative in the hospital and had to get Ativan to calm her down...then she was transferred to the NH for "rehab", where, for the first week and a half, she continued to be combative and agitated, until they figured out that it was an anxiety issue and Xanax helped tremendously. Then she was back to using complete sentences and all, but nowhere near where she had been before (cognitively). She lost a lot that time, too, and it was questionable as to whether the ALF could meet her needs....but she really wanted to go back there, and the nurses were pretty confident, so that is where she is living.

Now the latest saga: She started to be very down, very depressed, not interested in her normal favorite activites--shopping, going to McDonalds or going to the casino. So we went to the Dr., and he put her on Celexa. Three days later she told several different aides that "if I had a gun, I'd shoot myself". So we stopped the Celexa. Right around this time she started to have a lot more anxiety, she always thought she was wet (she wasn't), she thought she had "BM" all over her (she didn't), she was convinced that she smelled bad and was dirty, and nothing anyone could say would convince her otherwise. So the doctor started her on Paxil about 3 weeks ago and has been tapering off the Xanax, because he says that long-term use in the elderly can cause more anxiety than it helps....and he also started her on Seroquel at bedtime, because she wasn't sleeping well....anyhow....I think we were seeing some positive changes--she is/was smiling more...and then she wasn't. And suddenly she wasn't making sense. You know how it goes....really bad UTI. She was not hospitalized, as I pleaded with the Dr. to treat her at home--she loses so much every time she's in the hospital.....So she was on CIPRO for a week. She was really improving over the weekend. She went to my nephew's 3rd birthday party and was very appropriate and seemed like she was coming back to her "old self". A little confusion (a little bit is 'normal'), but she knew what was going on, made conversation, etc...

Yesterday and today it seems like she's really gone backwards....she can't find the couch in her living room, she can't remember where her bathroom is.....and she wet the bed last night, too. And except for the UTI, she's never had any toilet issues. So we were SURE the UTI wasn't quite gone....spent the entire day in the clinic, getting everything tested that they could think of....bloodwork, chest Xray, EKG, UA....and ALL WERE NEGATIVE.

The Dr. suggested that maybe she just needs more time for her system to recover from the UTI?

I'm so scared that that's not the case. I'm terrified. I cried all the way to work. I'm hoping that someone here has been through something similar and can tell me their story, even if it doesn't have the good outcome that I'm hoping for....mostly, I guess, I just want to know what to expect....what has happened with someone else....sigh...it's been such a rough month....

Glad that you have posted. This is a very hard time for you.

I also am caregiver to my 80 year old Mother. I moved into her home in Dec. 08 and she was doing ok other than no more driving and no money handling and could not cook. She has not been taking appropriate medication for ALZ. That would be she would not take anything...lol
I took her to neurologist and he put her on antidepressant and xanax. We went along ok for 5 months. She cried most morning and evenings as she just "did not want to go on" Very hard to hear. She developed a UTI in July and went off the deep end. Fell twice within 2 weeks and I put her in hospital for medication adjustment. She came out more calm but is not same. She will no longer walk, she says she falls. I have come to realize that she is very off balance. She leans hard to left if sitting. The doctor does not seem to feel this is a fixable situation. She is just so off balance. Even getting to bedside commode is issue.

I had heard that sometimes they would get better when UTI was well but that has not been situation with my mother.

Please read more as I know others will post also and they will have really good suggestions for you.

We are on this road together and as such I come here for support often.

Sheryl

I found that the antiobiotics for UTI (or anything) wreck havoc on an elderly person's digestive system...
Antiobiotics kill good bacteria as well as bad so that often they lead to severe constipation (which can be a disorienting for an elderly person as a UTI...)

So-- if she's constipated from antibiotics, try Miralax (start with two tsp/day in large glass of juice) maybe boosted by Senna at first.

And get her some probiotics (available in liquid form in Whole Foods) or just kefir/yoghurt to rebalance her digestive system.
I always "throw in" some electrolyte water as well... (oh,I remember why-- the constipation sometimes makes my mother vomit so I try to replenish fluids...)

Don't know if this will help, but I found it was needed with every antiobiotic round....

I have found major illness knocked my mom down a step and she never fully regained the lost ground. nevertheless, and even if the cultures are negative you might beg the MD to try one more round of antibiotic as there could still be a lingering infection that they can not culture.