My 91 year old mother seems to be losing the use of her legs. Anybody have solutions? Successful treatments?

Is your mother usually lying down in bed or sitting in a chair? In either case, picking your feet up just off the surface is surprisingly good exercise, of the hips and stomach muscles. If she is willing, she could hold her legs up just a tiny bit whenever she thought of it, and it might help. A big advantage is that it’s private – no PT workers, no ‘performance’, no medication, no danger, no nagging. Perhaps see what she thinks about that?

Orthostatic hypotension can cause dizziness on standing.   You could buy a BP machine, take her BP while sitting down, and after she stands up, especially if she has a dizzy spell then.

Sinus problems can also cause dizziness, especially if they're infected.   That happened to me a lot years ago. 

I think the best thing to do is see a neurologist, but if she won't do so willingly, you'd have to trick her into seeing one, and that's really not an easy thing to do.  She might be more comfortable with a neurologic PA or NP though.

If it's a matter of her becoming dizzy when she gets up from a chair or bed she may have a condition called vertigo which is is related to ear problems. An ear, nose & throat specialist examination might be helpful.

When you said she gets dizzy from standing it made me think that she may have lived long enough for the small bones in her ears that effect our equilibrium to have dissolved. It is not something that doctors really mention, but it makes you feel like you have had to much to drink and it takes some time to adjust your gait, if you can, some people do better than others. This happens to everyone that is fortunate enough to live a long life.

I would try some dramamine for a couple days and see if that helps with the dizziness.

From the activity you described she has also lost muscle mass by inactivity and the only solution for that is increased activity.

Hopefully the dramamine will help with dizziness and then she can start doing some walks with you to increase her strength.

I have read that melatonin can lose it's effectiveness with long term, high dose use. Magnesium and zinc taken together can help her body naturally produce melatonin.

Just my opinion and thoughts.

Although directed to medical professionals, I think this article might give you some useful information and ideas about what to explore with your mom's physician. https://patient.info/doctor/walking-difficulty-and-off-legs-in-adults

Have you tried physical therapy? It can be quite helpful in building up her muscle strength which may help her stay ambulatory a while longer. The question is, I guess, what's causing her to lose the use of her legs? Is there a medical condition behind it? My mother has bad neuropathy and managed to avoid a wheelchair until she turned 92, at which time, chronic vertigo, pain and other symptoms caused her to need a wheelchair full time. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done to prevent that outcome. But it all depends on WHY the problem exists to begin with.

Best of luck!

She's 91. How much muscle does she have left? What's her bone density?? What was her condition when she was in her 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s???

My dad has very weak legs, walks with great difficulty while extremely dependent on a rollator for every step. He’s had a good number of falls caused by this. He’s had physical therapy for his legs many times, it hasn’t helped, probably due to a combination of him not fully cooperating and the weakness being so advanced. He barely picks up his feet at all, more of a slow shuffle. Some of this is due to the fear of falling. Sorry to say, for us, no solutions or successful treatments. I hope you’ll find better

I agree wit the above your mom should see her doctor, however doctors don't know everything and i think it;s good you reach out to the community. The reason for the loss of mobility could be many, even medications. My 99 year old dad lost his walking ability several years ago.
The doctor said he had a stroke. It turned out it was caused by his sleeping med Ambien. One week after dropping the drug he was walking fine. Now seven years later he again is losing control, coordination and strength in his legs. We went for a cane to a walker, and now are using a wheelchair at times. I will be watching your answers to see if any apply to his condition.

Could you give a bit more information. She can’t feel her legs? She can’t pick them up from the bed if she is lying down? She can’t move them to walk? She can’t take her own weight on them? You probably need to be a bit clearer for the doctor that she needs to see, but let us know too.

Hello. Please keep in mind that this is an anonymous forum and even if we were medical professionals, we should not attempt to diagnose someone. We can make suggestions and share experiences, but this should not preclude a visit to the person’s doctor or even the ER if she’s losing her mobility and it came on all of the sudden. Good luck. I hope you find out what’s going on.