most healthcare pros will be able a to tell a UTI by the smell alone.

My mother is in a nursing home and is prone to UTI's - The last one has affected her speech - I thought she had a another stroke but was informed at the hospital that as an older person with dementia that UTI's have an affect on the speech - How can you tell the difference between the symtoms of UTI's and stroke - It can be very scarry for both the family and the elderly especially when they have had a stroke within the past three months - I had never heard of the losing the ability to speak in UTI's so it was great to know that and can be monitored in the future

They are people who do the test and yes they can make a mistake just like anyone.

Does a urine test always show an infection? Can the infection be missed?

My mom has stage 4 lung cancer that can not be treated. She has had something else going in inherent stomach for some time now that causes her excruciating pain in her belly around to her back. The doctors can find no reason. Last Thursday we brought her home to our house but after three days she began to have hallucinations, and became violent. She wa sedated and brought to Hospice House. Her delusions and hallucinations are getting worse and after reading these posts last night. Asked the doctor to test for a UTI. I know my mom has not had hardly anything to eat or drink in weeks. I am actually praying that is what it is so we can get help for her.

im sure alot them have but mostly its alz...but a UTI can put them on a unsteady boat but its mostly women..women get them alot.to me i have taken care of so many clients and most of them are women that has contacted a UTI or was just getting off on..

Thanks for opening our eyes. My best friends Mom has been "off the wall" and we couldn't figure out why. She was saying her daughter's were trying to kill her, and to cut up her body and sell the parts. She was focused on money and the fact that the house was sold from under her, all of which was totally untrue--in fact, the house was being readied for her return to make it more safe.
Finding out about UTI's in the elderly has been an eye opener. Medications should help get her back on track. My only sadness is, how many seniors were wrongly place in facilities, when it wasn't their mind, but a UTI.
Betty

Estelle, 92 years old, honey I think she was ready. Older people keep things to themself. Did you ever stop to think you were suppose to forget. Nothing happens to us if it isn't in God plan. I know I blamed myself too but came to know that It was his time. I would think oh I didn't do this or didn't do that, He had AD for 5-6 years. He couldn't even talk to us and when he tried it was like a baby talking..
Your mom is in a better place and she has no pain and very happy. Let go of the guilt and start living your life again. Nothing was your fault. Death is part of life.

Reba - Thank you for responding. My Mom was all I had and was my best friend. We had always lived together. I had just gotten to work when I found out she had the urge to go and my gut feeling was to turn around and come home. I didn't expect to be so long and ended up beging distracted and forgot the urgency of coming. To me this is unforgiveable and I have lost all respect for myself and my decisions. Mom was 93 and vibrant to the end. She wanted to come home from the hospital so badly. I knew UTIs could be dangerous - she had been treated for a couple of bladder infections over the last couple of years, so somehow I should have been aware but somehow I missed the signs that were right in front of me.

Estelle, also wanted to say her organ could have been shuting down and that you can't stop, give yourself some credit you did what you knew how to do.

Estelle, Don't suffer anymore, We are not doctors and we don't have the mind of God. I believe it was her time to go. Look at it like that ended her suffering which it did. Your mother would never blame you. I think sometimes we are blinded by God so he can do his job. Forgive yourself it wasn't your fault.

I am suffering from the guilt of missing my Mom's UTI. She had the urgent feel to go and was wearing briefs which I thought would allow her to go. It was four hours before I got home to get her to the bathroom but she was basically dry. The UTI manifested into sepsis. She was in hospital for six days and passed. Besides the grief of losing her, I feel extreme guilt for not seeing the signs and getting here to allow her to void in the bathroom.

dangelo, I took care of my husband 4 years. He always had a infection going on. It the end of life problem. You can keep them on antibiotics for 14 days and then when the infection build up again they put him back on meds. This went on for 4 years. But every case is different. He always come home from Hospice with one. I would put him there to give me a rest. They didn't give him enough liquids. Why I don't know. I hated putting him there because then test had to be done and fight to get him back to were he was before he went. I gave him Gatorade and lots of it. If the herbal supplements are not doing the job try it,. Water seemed to hard for him and he would cough. Not trying to tell you what to do but just trying to help. Everyone is different. But they need liquids and plenty of it,.

Reba, sorry for your loss. No easy solutions for sure! Meds work great for acute things, but you can't be on antibiotics all the time.
I'm not a professional but using a fungus could be a problem when there is an over growth of Candida yeast present already in the body, and costing $

dangelo, I took care of my husband for over three years. Lots of liquids but sometimes that isn't enough, you need medication. He was on Vit C and that didn't help. Herbal supplements are not always the way to go. Can do more harm if you don't know how much to give and how long. Then they maynot work at all. I spent $1000.00 for a fungus. It got so bad I had to take him to our MD.was gone in a month, I took him to Dr.Tent in michigan. He said he didn't have AD, but he did. Can't trust them completely.

We are having great success with Cranberry tablets 4200 mg two times /day.

A constant battle with my mother and UTI. I do try to keep it under control with herbal supplements but isn't always easy either. I use Goldenseal and Uva Ursi in tincture form. I put a few drops in a sweet juice because they are on the bitter side. You can research these for more info. CAUTION! both are not to be used for extended periods of time. See a Naturopth Doctor or a qualified herbalist in a good health food store.

I have a client right now that has a UTI and i knew it from the way he was acting two days ago the family told me he has been wanting to go to the restroom every 15 to 20 mins and i told them it was possible that he has a U.T.I. and they didnt know what that was basically and thats sad too cause the on call nurse came and change the cath and didnt even mentioned anything which they dnt usually they cant make that diagnoised whithout a test done but i knew right off cause the the way he was and acting he even got combative with the morning aide from what i read in the report but they have started him on medication and seems to be doing ok he"s even sleeping because last night he didnt even sleep...........

I assume immune supressants after transplant is the major cause of frequent UTI. Never had them prior to kidney transplant. Are home tests reliable? Thank you for this article.

My Mom (92) has asymptomatic UTI and they have determined that her bladder has been "colonized" by an superbug called Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. The recommendation is not to treat it since it is not likely to attack and cause a true infection. I can't hospitalize her because she gets so confused and disoriented, will pull out IV pic lines, get out of bed with a catheter and is generally terrified. We have just brought in hospice, so now we just watch and wait. I have been told that vitamin C and cranberry tabs should help clear the urine, so we are doing that now.

Wow this article is really helpful. My grandma is constantly getting UTIs and it is aggravating her already belligerent behavior. We were thinking she was annoying with the constant changing of the diapers, but here it says that it is necessary to avoid complication of the infection.

My father was lucky in that when my father became confused his home nurse had him tested for a UTI. The first time got away from us and he sufferred a heart attack. Right now he's in the nursing home for rehab. He had one day of slight confusion and They tested him immediately. He was positive for an UTI. He improved the second day after antibiotics was started. The evening of the second day he took a bad turn and started hallucinating and even became violent. When I arrived he was very agitated and was making claims the staff was trying to kill him. When I tried to comfort him he accused me of being "in" with them. It is very hard to see your parent get bad like this. My father does have an enlarged prostrate and incontience as a result. The facility is very good at keeping him dry. Unfortunately he can't take cranberry juice because he's on blood thinner. This information needs to get out. I will be posting this in e-mails and other avenues to get the info out.

A health care provider told me that they do not always test because they need to have a sterile specimen and that it is too intrusive to do all the time.....I said really????? Sudden onset dementia is "intrusive" also!!

I don't know why geriatric professionals neglect to require sinple urine test on a more regular basis given the statistics and documented studies. Twice so far I have requested ther doctor to give an RX for urine test and twice I was right to suspect one despite the fact that Mom was not complaining of any discomfort. I don't even know why I felt the need for the test, except for what I have read on the topic.

mfs45, I agree, we need to get this information out. How do we accomplish stirring up the geriatric community to protect our loved ones, but also ourselves. I don't know about you, but I'm in my 60's - I could easily fall into this category, too.

Yes you are right about people getting paid to take care of their own family members. Check with your local Senior Services and People with Disabilities office, thats who I work thru as a home care provider.

I am a home care provider for a 75 year old lady. My lady has some first stage dementia, also she is incontient at times. 2 days ago she suddenly had severe behavioral changes and extreme weakness. These changes mimicked a TIA. She did not have a fever and all her vital signs were normal. We took her to the hospital and as it turns out she has a UTI. The doctor has her on IV antibiotics and we are expecting to bring her home in a couple more days.

lme, that is a good idea, my husband has a catheter, and I can never tell if he has an infection only by the color. If it doesn't stay a clear yellow then I know something is going on. But they don't seem to care much if he does. We are the ones to keep on them until they check. I know he is dying but he still should be made as comfortable as possible.

The elderly are so prone to UTI's, that when my relative's temp went to 99+ and she mentioned burning, (I always get a temp when I get them), I went to the drugstore and bought a urine cup. She is not able to stand properly to go in a cup, so before she could go in the cup, I went to Walmart and bought a $1 plastic bowl (which I washed with anti-bacterial soap) which fit perfectly inside her toilet. So she went into the bowl, which I then poured into the cup. I then discarded the bowl. I then took the urine cup directly to the doctor's office, for them to look at under the microscope. We have the same doctor, so I could do that. I was right. The doctor wrote a script for an antibiotic, which took care of the situation. For future us, I also bought a supply of urine test pills for home use, more urine cups and more some bowls. I have not been able to find any of those "hats" they use in hospitals and doctor's offices. But then I have not looked for them at medical supply stores either. The $1 bowl was cheaper. It's been a year now, no more UTI's, but her caregivers and I check her temp periodically.

Just a special THANK YOU to EVERYONE for your kindness, condolences, sharing and much more! This is a wonderful place to come together and help each other. I will still check in now and then to see what is new because we are all growing older and there is a lot of information. Blessings to All. RSuzyJ

Thanks for the hugs and comments, folks. I truly appreciate it. I am on top of Mom's meds and I researched every one of them. I had her meds reduced significantly last year. Once she entered AL, a blood pressure medication was added (she has high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease as well as macular degeneration in one eye). Keeping her meds balanced is challenging. But her first psychotic break came when she was still living with me and her meds were down to a minimum. Alzheimer's runs in the family; her sister died from it. And while the onset of high anxiety, agitation and acting out were sudden, the hallucinations and memory issues had been gathering momentum for years (which is why I had her living with me). She was already vulnerable and the UTI pushed her over the edge. I just wish the delusions were as easy to cure as the UTI was.