UTI plus over the top medications causes my mom to get hospital delirium. Even though I warned them the last time, they still over medicated her and she had a high bacteria count though not enough to be a UTI. These in-patient rehabs do not seem to get it until it happens. Then they assume dementia.
I always thought UTIs would just cause burning and urgency. In older people it causes behavioral issues. My Mom has had delirium several times in the last year from UTI's. She needs a catheter as she is 100% bedridden. I can always tell when a UTI is coming on from her restlessness at night...then confusion, seeing things and people not there and dark blood in the catheter. When she was hospitalized with delirium she would babble and grab at the air and try to get out of bed...not a good idea for some one that cannot walk of stand. When she recovered she was dismayed to hear that she did this. UTI's are so scary in old people...It seems a lot of medical people don't understand this and right away think it is a stroke. I suppose it is good to test for strokes...but in my Mom's case it was always the UTI causing the frightening delirium... .When people are dying they have "end of life" symptoms like seeing people in the room etc...so how can you tell if it is dying or a treatable UTI?? Very confusing.
No matter the current medical issues, dementia or not, ALL geriatric care centers run Urinary analysis first, and sometimes that's the only test until that's resolved. What we think of UTI is very different with elderly and chronically ill people. You would need a doctor to explain it in depth. However, UTI does cause many many behavoiral changes sometimes extreme, like what you stated in your question.
As said above UTI's in the elderly cause different symptoms than in younger adults many mimic stroke or seizures, this happened once years ago with my mom thought for sure she had another stroke...ER doctor said she has a UTI, sure enough when the test came back that was it! Now I can usually tell, mood, actions, smell. They have been basically cut down to zero after taking over her care but she was in the hospital where they gave her a bunch of laxative and didn't clean her up in a timely manner so she just went through a bad one there! The biggest thing is make sure they are kept clean!!!!! Make sure whoever is doing the care giving KNOWS how to correctly clean the patient...I have seen people involved in elder care for 18 years clean patients incorrectly and every time they get a UTI.
Meds this person was on were the first thing that came to my mind.
My mother had more adverse reactions to meds than for any real ailments. UTI's can even be precipitated by the use of antibiotics! The AL facility's nursing staff , where she lived, along with Mother's doctors, were responsible for recommending more meds than my mother could tolerate. A Z-pack, followed by Tamiflu, made her totally out of her head! Others were ready to declare "dementia" or "incapacitated". I knew her history and just wanted her to survive until these medications were out of her system! I took her into my home, and found new doctors for her, ones who would listen and understand her sensitivities. THEY acknowledged that older folks can not take doses as large as younger adults can. As the medications left her system, she returned to normal and lived a happy, healthy life. She died just short of her 100th birthday! She never had dementia, and we got to share much. I'm glad I was able to take her home.
I found my mom in the closet delirous. At the hospital they xrayed for a stroke but could not tell since she was shot in the head about 35 years ago. The only other thing found was a UTI infection. She was in terrible pain could not walk or sit and was delirous and confued. When they released her Hospice thought she was in the last phases of dying. The hospital had her on antibiotic for the infection. Now that i have learned the symptoms that the aged gets with a UTI i believe that is what was wrong with her . Possible she had a mini stroke along with the UTI. . It took her awhile to get back to normal.
With the elderly, the "normal" symptoms of a UTI often do no manifest. (like: pain, burning, frequent strong urge to urinate, incontinence) meanwhile for them, the confusion is common. Even the foul odor may not be present with the UTI, and this last is not age specific.
Lifeexperiences: If your father is urinating in a jar, and it sits there for a while, the foul smell is to be expected, as bacteria will grow in the urine while it sits. Also it likely it has an ammonia like odor as well. This is due to the fact that normal urine of protein eating mammals has large amounts of urea, which breaksdown into nitrogen. Nitrogen (N) in water eventually combines to form ammonia. (NH3)
Katie222, Just a side note about the fact the medical people tend to jump to the thought that the confusion is caused by a stroke, instead of thinking UTI first. Well, likely in most facilties that have an entirely elderly population, they should be thinking UTI, but ALWAYS responding as if it may be a stroke. The stroke must be eliminated, fast. Because if discovered in the first hour or so, you can treat it and prevent permanent deficits. If treatment of a UTI is a few hours late, it can still be treated and cured. If treatment for a stroke is a few hours late, the patient is likely paralyzed, brain damaged or dead.
A UTI may have caused my mom to have a mild heart attack and fall and break her left hip. When she was admitted to the hospital for the broken hip, she showed markers for a heart attack and definitely had a UTI. She was in the hospital for 7 days. The UTI came back in rehab. She was combative and confused in both places, so I would not be surprised if it can also cause seizures if left unchecked long enough.
Yes...Yes…Yea…UTI can mimic seizures, dementia and TIA…My Mom’s UTI caused by a bacterial infection, went to kidney causing sepsis. Doctor diagnosis in beginning 1st it was dementia, then Tia, and grand mal seizure, yet my mom never had any of these issues in past. I research and argued with doctors who gave up on my Mom. She went though this for almost a year in and out of emergency and hospital, I never gave up. Finally one doctor listen, pull her cultures that I requested in Emergency after her fourth seizure. Mom had used numerous new type of antibiotic in past year, mostly Levaquin and Cipro, but never the older penicillin base. She had a problem years ago with being allergic to penicillin. They gave her the penicillin and a standby shot incase she had an allergic reaction. The doctor explained the old penicillin was different than the new base penicillin that is why she was able to use penicillin. After a day in the hospital she was released and 14 day twice a day a nurse came to my home and gave her a shot in the hip, (remember those shots in the past?) Her dementia, seizures, tia, uti, sepsis, and all other symptoms went away. I had 10 great years with my Mom until she past from cancer. Never give up and research like you are doing now…Char
.When people are dying they have "end of life" symptoms like seeing people in the room etc...so how can you tell if it is dying or a treatable UTI?? Very confusing.
My mother had more adverse reactions to meds than for any real ailments. UTI's can even be precipitated by the use of antibiotics! The AL facility's nursing staff , where she lived, along with Mother's doctors, were responsible for recommending more meds than my mother could tolerate. A Z-pack, followed by Tamiflu, made her totally out of her head! Others were ready to declare "dementia" or "incapacitated". I knew her history and just wanted her to survive until these medications were out of her system! I took her into my home, and found new doctors for her, ones who would listen and understand her sensitivities. THEY acknowledged that older folks can not take doses as large as younger adults can. As the medications left her system, she returned to normal and lived a happy, healthy life. She died just short of her 100th birthday! She never had dementia, and we got to share much. I'm glad I was able to take her home.
Lifeexperiences: If your father is urinating in a jar, and it sits there for a while, the foul smell is to be expected, as bacteria will grow in the urine while it sits. Also it likely it has an ammonia like odor as well. This is due to the fact that normal urine of protein eating mammals has large amounts of urea, which breaksdown into nitrogen. Nitrogen (N) in water eventually combines to form ammonia. (NH3)
Mom had used numerous new type of antibiotic in past year, mostly Levaquin and Cipro, but never the older penicillin base. She had a problem years ago with being allergic to penicillin. They gave her the penicillin and a standby shot incase she had an allergic reaction. The doctor explained the old penicillin was different than the new base penicillin that is why she was able to use penicillin. After a day in the hospital she was released and 14 day twice a day a nurse came to my home and gave her a shot in the hip, (remember those shots in the past?) Her dementia, seizures, tia, uti, sepsis, and all other symptoms went away. I had 10 great years with my Mom until she past from cancer. Never give up and research like you are doing now…Char
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