My husband with dementia is now cannot maintain his balance. Very unsteady on his feet. Now has trouble going out even with a walker. What comes next. Home health is suppose to be helping with balance but seems not to help. Went from very aggressive and talkative to submissive. Staying in bed alot and stays very cold. Doctors just had to double his high blood pressure and add another to keep his blood pressure down. Appetite is not good at all. I know its getting worse, but want some advise. Thanks.
Now update to the first week of April and she is currently in the hospital after a choking incident while eating lunch. Tests reveal she now has a "delayed" swallow. The speech therapist who took part in the barium evaluation said it could hold at this stage or continue to deteriorate. She seems to progress pretty quickly so I suspect she will lose the ability to eat in the not too distant future.
Her hip break was a bad one. Her recovery has weakened her a great deal. She has developed deep vein thrombosis, colitis and a kidney infection since the hip break. Oh, and not to forget she currently has pneumonia.
She now needs to be in a totally upright position to eat or drink. No more straws because she doesn't use them correctly anymore. She had just gotten to the point in her recovery where she is allowed to put weight on the broken leg. She is much weaker- again -so her physical therapy will suffer a setback.
She was in so much pain in the hospital this week that she did recognize her son and myself for the first time in over a month.
One thing I found that was very important when balance is poor is to make sure the floor is cleared. One time my mother dropped her towel on the floor. As he was walking, he kicked to get it out of the way and lost his balance. That was a bad evening. Nothing was broken, but he spent the next few days in a wheelchair.
If your husband feels off balance, he may avoid walking. Encourage him to get up and keep the circulation moving if possible. Losing the sense of balance is terrible for the person going through it. He may go through it the rest of his life. Medicines help some. PT helps sometimes. Trying to stay active always helps as long as he is safe when he walks. Being active helps to keep the ears' balance centers in working condition.
I am sorry that your husband is going through this. I know how hard it is.