Her sodium level is just a little bit low. Could it cause her confusion?

We alway hear about too much sodium and it's problems, but never low sodium! What is a "good" amount? I take pride in being on having a low salt intake, but actually have some of these symptoms myself. Maybe I've overdone it?

I stopped salting my mother's food for a few days due to her high blood pressure. I started giving her a tiny sprinkle of salt two days ago. I still give her gatorade every day. She is walking better and when I ask her how she is she says very good instead of tired. She hasn't fallen in over a week which is an improvement. Her confusion is getting worse though. We have another two and a half weeks to wait for her appointment with her neurologist. When she had the brain scans I didn't know we would have to wait six weeks for the results. I hoped we could have the results sooner so we could find out what's wrong and try to slow the progression if possible.

We do need SOME sodium.

If Mom's diet has been low in salt, she may be somewhat iodine deficient. I just googled iodine deficiency and found that it can cause confusion. Definitely check with the dr about that. We usually think of goiter with low iodine, but there are several other issues also.

By the way, never let medical personnel shame you about doing online research. Sometimes routine matters are overlooked, and a good dr will be glad to know you are involved and concerned.

I would like to look into the iodine deficiency. I think my mother needs a different doctor though. Each time I suggest things her doctor prescribes or up her medication starting with her aricept which led to her confusion in February. When I mentioned sodium deficiency he prescribed Zoloft. Thank you for the suggestion. I hope to find a way to look into iodine next.

If you aren't happy with your mother's doctor's approach, and especially if you are concerned that he is overprescribing instead of listening, then what you have is a communication problem.

But instead of researching alternative causes of dementia symptoms and trailing in there with them, one after another, first of all *ask* this doctor to explain his reasoning and see if it makes sense to you.

If you're still not satisfied that he is treating your mother holistically - which any good GP aims to do, even if they don't talk about it in those terms - then by all means find one who will.