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So my 87 yr old nana went into a nursing home for rehab bc she fell. Within a month she is now delusional and having a psychotic break. Up until last week she was talking normal. She was acting paranoid. This week she refuses to eat.


She is throwing her food and hitting people. She was taken to the hospital last night bc she hasn't eaten anything for a few days. She is severely dehydrated but is on an iv. However seeing her at the hospital she is not herself. She is violent yelling continuously talking about random stuff. Can't hold a conversation with her. The hospital said she is having a psychotic break. Plus have her chart noted as vascular dementia. Can this really happen this bad within a few days ?

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Yes, I'm afraid it can. The vascular dementia will have been building up probably over years; but what's causing the violent behaviour is more likely to be directly related to the fall and its after-effects - either what caused the fall itself, or treatment that your grandmother has needed since.

Try not to be freaked about terms such as psychotic - with care and God willing, many of the symptoms your grandmother is experiencing should be brought under control quite quickly. Who is your grandmother's health proxy or medical POA, do you know?
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Wonder if anyone bothered to check for UTI
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Some antibiotics or prescribed medications can create problems in seniors. Whoever has medical POA for her needs to probe her medical team for answers and solutions until there is some progress. It could be a UTI, and/or the beginning of dementia that no one saw until she was removed from her familiar environment. May you have peace in your heart and success in your efforts as you attempt to help your Nana!
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Yes, unfortunately, symptoms can become evident with not much warning, and at 87, may not be reversible.
Will she be returning to the NH?
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I have also lived this with my mom. Have they adjusted her medications? That may help. Also if you simply agree with her delusions it may calm her down.
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Yes - at least that's what I've observed with my own Mother.  She has days when she's an absolute joy to be with.  Although her speech is broken and she has trouble expressing herself, there are days when I can talk to her and ask questions and she responds very well.  Then, for no obvious reason, she will have days when she's "out of her mind."  She'll fight with me without provocation, she paces the floor and does things that make absolutely no sense and on an on.  A couple of days ago, she decided that she no longer wanted to sit on the toilet and backed herself up to the wall - and proceeded to do her "business" all over the wall.  Unfortunately, this is just part of her advanced dementia.  And no, she doesn't have a UTI.  Falls, changes in surroundings, injury and just about anything out of the usual can trigger this behavior.  I am so sorry you have to see your nana going through this. This disease is devastating.
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My LO stopped taking her medication, and for two months was literally out of her mind then broke her hip as well, ended up in hospital whereby hospital psychologist, as well as social worker saw she was in major psychosis. Placed her on anti-psychotic Zyprexa, sent her to nursing home, and it took about a week but she finally calmed down. She too has vascular dementia.
Your grandmother is 20 years older then my LO but hopefully they can give her something like a mood stabilizer to help with her current condition.
My LO will never go back to when she could carry on a semi-normal convo, at this point her short term memory is really bad. But she’s not spitting on the floor anymore or yelling and making crazy accusations.
It’s scary when you first encounter this but once you realize it happens to others this alone can just be helpful to know. We all wish there was a miracle pill to bring them back to normalcy but there really isn’t that I’ve found.
Good Luck
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Hi my name is Cynthia, my dad is 84 he has chased me, threaten me but, at the end of the day he didn't remember,believe that's call sundowning, especially in a strange place she really can't understand why she's there!, one day l took him to the doctor around 12 pm he wouldn't get out the car until 11 pm that night once we got back home, he was saying it was his car but now he moved on to l believe stage 5or 6 where he fell and fraction a small amount of his hip he had surgery then got aspiration this is where he has problems eating and speaking clearly, his food needs to be puree, and hopefully he'll survive another stage it all depends on the special care you give her, probably hard for being in a nursing facility, they don't give the care like family, most family members work and don't really don't have plenty time understand the disease, it's ' no joke? understanding the conditions that your grandmother will endure ,itwill help you if you learn more about her condition, even though it is mental when it comes to the brain, there are doctor's terms that sounds much better than the lame terms,try to if you find time to read more on your grandmother's condition , l can let you know somethings l experience in my 5years of caring for my dad lol...
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A relative had dementia and fell, hitting her head. At the ER, she was off the chain crazy. Dr. gave her a drug called geodon. It snapped her into reality for a while.
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