My mom was active, then she was feeling bad and went to the hospital. She had A fib & high blood pressure. How can this happen so suddenly?

Do you think it could be depression related? I work in a hospital and a lot of time the elderly can get depressed after being hospitalized. It can be scary to suddenly have health issues when they have been going along just fine and very independent. It's like suddenly they realize they are human and they will become more dependent as they get older.

Andreamtoepfer, how old is your mom? Do you live locally to her so that you were seeing her on a regular basis? I'm just asking because if you weren't with her that often you might not have realized she was having decline before this medical incident. Just something to consider if other explanations and pursuits don't seem to answer or solve her lingering issues.

Andreamtoepfer, when I was first placed on pills for high blood pressure, it really zoned me out. It took a lot of juggling the dose to get the amount where I wouldn't fall asleep in front of the computer. That could be the reason your Mom is now very passive and sleeps a lot.

I don’t have the medical knowledge to help, but experience says that strokes are usually sudden, and often have major effects a bit like you are describing. People may have high blood pressure before that, and not know it. Do get the doctors to explain, whether or not there is something seriously wrong.

Ok here is my 2 cents.

How many MGs is she on for blood pressure? Your b/p will rise when your in AFib. My DH has an AFIb problem every so many years. 4x in 40 yrs we have been married. They have no idea why. My DH is not on B/P meds normally. After the last hospital stay they sent him home with them. I questioned why, I was told he came in with high BP and I said he was also in AFib. He takes the meds and 2 weeks later we see his PCP for permission to get back to work. Dr asked him if he was feeling OK because he shouldn't even be able to stand because....his BP was VERY low. When I told her the story, she took him off.

Same with my Mom. She always took 80 mgs a day. She had a back fracture which she was in a lot of pain. When she was discharged her BP meds were 160mg. Again, she had pain. Yes, before the procedure but that corrected the problem. Three days later the in home Nurse came. Asked why Mom was on the couch when she was suppose to be sitting up in a chair until she healed. I told the nurse she just wanted to sleep. Nurse checked her B/P, VERY low. Called the PCP and she put her back down to 80mg. Back to normal Mom.

So, you may want to question her BP meds. If she wasn't on them before, if AFib under control, may not need them now, or a much lower dose.

She may have had a cardiac or cerebral event - that is to say, in plain English, some sort of heart attack or stroke. These may not be obvious to the outside observer, but show up on tests.

If so, and her doctors should be able to explain to you what they think has happened, she will need time to recover (months). The best thing to do is to reassure her, encourage her step by step to do as much as she can for herself, and be patient. Is she having any sort of ongoing treatment or therapy?

You need to go to your doctor. Something here is terribly wrong. Your Mom went into Atrial Fib which is not unusual at all at a certain age. I have it. My partner has it. She had some treatment for it to "cardiovert it". Was she "normal" after this treatment? Was she normal on discharge? Do you think she has depression? In any case, back to the doctor right away with this. It is not a normal reaction. Cardioversion is normally without any side effects; it is simply doing a minor "shock" to the heart to get the rhythm going normally. This is something reportable to the doctor. Now! Tomorrow! This is not normal. I hope you will update us.