How to know if symptoms are due to change in meds or progression of Alzheimer's disease?
In the past month and a half, I have seen some really big changes in Mom who has moderate/severe Alzheimer's. During the holidays she started having lots of rage, that finally simmered down and we also adjusted her medications. Also around that time, her best friend who lived across the hall in Memory Care passed away. What I have noticed is more confusion, more lethargy, shuffling and pitching forward when standing still. She hasn't actually fallen. She continues to go to the gym to work with her trainer 3 times a week, but the trainer says she's much weaker and tired out more quickly. Her gait and balance are so awkward right now, I would actually be worried about taking her for a walk in the park, which is something we used to do all the time. The head nurse at her Memory Care said we might consider reducing a dosage of one of her anxiety medicine's to see if that helps, so I guess for the most part that's all we can do. In three weeks we have a follow up with the neurologist, so I suppose we might get more info there too. It just seems like such a dramatic physical change to me... Anyone else notice this type of progression, and anyone else find out that it was actually medicine related vs. disease progression? Thanks!
Ask the nurse to run an Urinary Tract Infection test. Sometimes a UTI can cause all kinds of different symptoms.
How is Mom's eyesight? If she hadn't been to an eye doctor in quite some time, eyesight issues can cause balance issues in some cases. My Dad was complaining about double vision which caused him to be unsteady.... once a prism was added to his prescription glasses, it was a big help.
It took many attempts and my final post to the portal account was successful. I told her I am NOT a fan of medications and would NOT want this to be a regular medication, just to have in case of situations like this. I summed it up with how it is not fair to mom, the staff or me (didn't post it, but the other residents as well) to have to deal with something like this because it generally happens after hours and/or weekends when we would have no access!! This is one kind of medication that does not take days or weeks to kick in.
That said, she indicated she is prescribing a very low dosage due to fall risk, so yes, it may be that your mother needs a lower dosage or a different medication (if any at all.) However, it is best to have her thoroughly checked out to ensure it is not some other medical issue. If nothing is found medically, then definitely have them work on the medication change, either dosage, change or elimination.
She's on two memory medicines, one for rage & moods, two for anxiety & depression, and a low dose of throid medicine. She's been on 4 of these for the past 5 years or more, and the additional ones she's been on for a couple years with the recent changing of the form. I think we went from citalprolam to escitalprolam or visa versa.
So now that the dosage of that medicine has been reduced slightly and finally her body has adapted, I have seen a slight improvement in her gait and shuffling, although it is still there. I have noticed a tremor, but when the neurologist office did their assessment two weeks ago, they didn't bring it up. We discussed the gait and shuffling and medicine, and they decided to add physical therapy.
A new resident has moved into her "neighborhood" in memory care, and all this lady talks about is leaving. NONE of the others do this like she does, but she's constantly complaining about being there and talking about moving out, and she's latched on to my Mom. So, now Mom is bringing it back up every day.
She wants to move in with me, she says, and she'll pitch in with the house work or do all the cooking and cleaning she says, as she tries to sweeten the deal. She has NO IDEA how miserable we both were during the 6 weeks she lived with me. Makes me sad.
Next on the medical agenda: eye check up and watch that tremor....oh, and she's negative for UTI, and was having regular eye check ups until this year (my bad.)
The confusion ramped up this evening, and she's calling me every 5-10 minutes. (I quit answering after a while because it was obvious that me reassuring her over the phone didn't even last the length of the phone call.) She also had an incontinence accident today, so once again, we will test for UTI. She's been tested several times, but hasn't been positive for one yet.
I also found her suitcase pulled out today, all packed up with some odds and ends. So I emptied the suitcase and "took it to storage" for safe keeping. Now that she's calling me repeatedly, I'm wondering if I should have left the suitcase with her so she could have something to do with all the agitation and extra worrying.
The floor caregiver who knows her the best had a talk with me today and said she's noticed a lot of changes recently. It all sounds like progression of the disease...but what other things could it possibly be? I don't want to be neglectful, but how do I know if it's the disease or something else? These are the types of things that happen with the progression of dementia, so it's not like I'm out in left field, but what if I'm just making an assumption. UGH. I'll be curious to know the results of the UTI test.
Even without the suitcase you mom can find ways to "pack up". The suitcase might just make the thought easier to pop up... As for the negative UTI - is it possible to request a urine culture? Sometimes there is a UTI, but so mild the usual tests miss it.
Having someone else who might inadvertently be "encouraging" mom in this moving business does not help!
Do they/she do this any time during the day, or later afternoon into the evening? Mom gets agitated in the evening when it happens. In the morning, she is fine. Is there any way for the staff to separate them somehow, at the times this usually happens?