Mom's hallucinating, Nursing home suspects UTI?

My mother got UTIs a couple times while in a home for 11 months. She 'saw' her deceased older sister. She told me on the phone how tired she was because the two of them had been out all night partying and just gotten home! Then she asked if I would like to talk to my aunt. Well.......I said...Ummmmm no Mom that's ok. She said Oh I don't see her, she must be in the bathroom. My brother had fortunately filled me in so I would know what to expect when I called her!! But the point was, once the infection started to clear up, she remembered nothing of the incident. And she did not have dementia. Perhaps your mom will be ok once the meds kick in.

ferris1, it is simply not true that none of those drugs help the patient. Some help some patients. Some help but the side effects out weigh the benefit. Some seem to do nothing. Aricept is very effective for most patient's with Lewy Body Dementia, for example -- more effective than in Alzheimer's even though that is what it was developed for.

According to the UK Alzheimer's Society's web page, "UTIs can cause a significant and distressing change in someone's behaviour which is commonly referred to as 'acute confusional state' or 'delirium'. Delirium is described as a change in someone's mental state or consciousness and usually develops over one or two days. There are different types of delirium and symptoms may include agitation or restlessness, increased difficulty with concentrating, hallucinations or delusions, or becoming unusually sleepy or withdrawn." http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/528

A uti definitely caused my aunt (who did NOT have any form of dementia and was on no drugs) to hallucinate. The uti cleared up -- no more little people that only she could see.

I'm and RN. With 28 years experience, I can tell you that UTIs absolutely DO cause hallucinations, confusion and agitation in elderly patients whether or not they have any dementia.

I just spent the weekend in the hospital with my mother who had an undiagnosed UTI- those things are sneaky and difficult especially with dementia. Next time I will definitely check into it before checking her in.

It is not the Dementia, My Mom has Dementia but has her personality was out of the ordinary. By the way in that time period with the UTI, she looked for my Dad who had passed and never has done anything like that again. When you get older, the Doctor's in Clearwater, Fl who know a lot about elder care, our skin thins out even in our bladder. Toxins get into the blood stream and also make our memory worst.....That would be anybody elder. Google it I think it explains at Web MD. My Mom is currently in assisted living. Not too happy with them. We are back in Vermont, the health care is awful here compared to FLorida....

This is not uncommon. I would say their assessment is right on. Either could be the cause. As a former nurse in a nursing home.... I sympathize with the nurse. Nursing home staff (at least where I worked... I did MANY years at one, but also did temp nursing at LOTS of other facilities!) They all had one thing in common. Too much work load for the staff on hand. It could be that the nurse was playing catch up already... Or it could be that by the time the CNA got the message to her at report, she didn't have time to act yet?? I don't know. I wasn't there. I just know that sometimes I would be running ragged all night, punch out at 10:30 pm per orders... then stay until 2 am catching up on my charting (and often the charting orders, etc from the nurse on the previous shift, as she couldn't get it all done either.) Unless a nurse cuts corners, I don't see how else to get it all done. It was crazy. I went into nursing to help people and take care of people. Sadly that isn't what it is, at all. :(

This is true a uti urinary tract infection cause seeing people and weird behavior. When my mom was alive she started seeing people in the house. We took her to ER they said she had a uti and started dementia. She was wild wouldnt be still said cuss words which wasnt my mom. They treated her antibiotics she stopped seeing people and calmed down. She came home but soon kept getting uti becsuse she was on diapers she was 89 and it caused her to keep relapsing. But she still never seen people again . Hope this helps.

First, Exelon will not prevent dementia nor will it help hallucinations. If it were my mother (and I did this for my husband), I took him off Aricept, Namenda and Exelon because all they do is cause side effects which are not going to help the patient. I can't understand (as a nurse) why your mom's nurse called you and not the doctor. That is the first thing I would do, alert him/her about the added side effects of increasing the Exelon, then when you visited I would mention it to you. It is not uncommon for dementia patients to "see" or talk to their deceased loved ones. A UTI rarely causes hallucinations in my experience, and I am pretty sure it is the Exelon. Read the side effects from the enclosed information from a box of Exelon which a pharmacist will just give you. Your mom is probably very sensitive to that drug. Best wishes to your mom!

Thank you all for educating me on the effects of some UTIs. No, I did not mean to imply a UTI could not be serious with serious side effects, only that I had not had anyone have those symptoms. Again, thanks to all who did their research and I stand corrected!

Hello Raven1, What your mom has is called a vaginal prolapse. It's true that having had a hysterectomy can make the vag. prolapse slightly more likely to happen. As for causing the UTI, I don't know. The urethra is rather short in women, compared to men; and the logistics of needing to wipe with tissue can introduce bacteria into the urethral meatus. Together those factors explain why women get UTI's more than men. With the vag prolapse the urethra is likely pulled downward more, and shortening further the distance the bacteria need to travel to the bladder. Add in the urinary and fecal incontinence providing an abundance of bacteria to the area, and UTIs become inevitable. Prevention involves cleaning properly (front to back wiping), and a diet that acidifies the urine (ie: the cranberry juice that you spoke of) Cranberry comes in pill form too, for people who don't like to drink it. The other thing that really helps is drinking lots and lots of water everyday. Unfortunately woman who deal with incontinence often try to avoid fluids, adding to the problem. Vitamin C. can also help acidify the urine. Some other foods help acidify the urine too, but cranberry is especially good for this purpose. You might want to look up "acid ash diet" to find what those foods are.