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I moved my mom from assisted living to memory care a couple months ago. She had her vaccines, but one month into memory care she got covid. She did not get very sick physically, but after it was over she suddenly barely recognizes me, has trouble finding the correct words and how to pronounce them when she does recall them, and responds to questions with "I don't know. What do you think"? She is also having trouble walking, even with her walker. It is sad to see her like this. Her doctor doesn't seem to know if covid caused it or if it is just the progression of Alzheimer's.

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ArtistsDaughter
My aunt with late stage Parkinson’s had Covid along with four other family members. They had varying degrees of illness, symptoms. She had the lightest case but did develop large blisters. That was her only known symptom. She was in a recovery mode from a fall that had set her back when she contacted Covid. She has never gotten back to that base. Her husband, my uncle, was hospitalized with it twice (cousin thinks he had it twice). He is now on hospice and while he looks good, his dementia really progressed. As with all things relating to dementia and now Covid, so very much a mystery. I’m sorry for her decline.
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Thanks. She was doing well with the adjustment to memory care before getting covid, so I don't think that's it, but it could be, and probably a bit of everything, like you say.
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Thank you. I'll see her tomorrow and try that, then ask the care givers to try it too. They are wonderful with her, but didn't know her well before, since she is new there, so don't see the enormous difference after covid. She was doing well with the adjustment to memory care until covid.
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My mom has bruises all over her legs.
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Yes, she was checked for UTI and it was negative. She gets them often, so I made sure her new care givers know about it. Thanks.
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It didn't do that to my 85-yr old MIL with mild/moderate dementia and short-term memory loss in LTC. Had a complete recovery after being deathly ill for 4 straight weeks, a "good bye" visit from her sons and then after a week on hospice had a rapid and complete rebound. So weird. So grateful. They will study it but the studies are only as good as the quality and accuracy of the data collected. It will take a while for this to happen, maybe years, and then if the virus keeps mutating, maybe post covid long term effects may never be known for certain.
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Covid is very hard on the vascular system. This means there can be changes due to this. Long haulers are also having problems learning to breath again. It is said that training them to stop shallow mouth breathing that has developed for them is getting many better. The exercises includes deep breathing in through the NOSE, and not the mouth to the count of 5, and out either nose or mouth to count of 6. People are experiencing a lot of long haul effects from covid, so they are still working on just what they are and who is worst effected. Wishing you good luck.
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My mother also had asymptomatic Covid, and her dementia (not Alzheimer's) is markedly worse. She no longer recognizes me. However, she was also in the hospital with another issue (where she ended up catching Covid), and every time she has a shock to her system of any kind -- health or emotional -- she takes a deep dive cognitively and never bounces back.

Her post-Covid issue seems to be unexplained bruising. She keeps breaking out in bruises and blood blisters for no reason, and her hospice nurse says Mom is the third patient she's had who developed that problem after Covid.
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My sister is a nurse and a doctor she works with told her recently that he’s notice that this covid virus makes dementia worse. He said he wishes someone would do a study on this.
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I had Covid last fall, the long term consequences are odd, my eye twitches. Yesterday, I was talking to a friend, he stated my speech pattern has changed pauses and not as fast as usual. I had an appt with the dr today who aslo stated that no one really knows long term consequenses for those of us with mild symptoms.

I am sorry, best wishes.
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Sometimes when the word "suddenly" is applied to her symptoms, it could mean a UTI, which would cause her the problems you are describing. Has she been checked for one recently? If not, have her checked asap. Antibiotics will clear up the infection, but left untreated could result in sepsis. Be aware that elderly women can get many UTIs, one after another so be on the look-out for the signs.
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It could be a bit of both and it could also be from the transition to Memory Care from Assisted Living.
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