UTI in dementia patient; any experience with this?

Yes probiotics and cranberry tablets really help prevent future ones too. Mom is incontinent and went on them almost a couple of years ago after a nasty uti. I use curettle and cranberry pills from Costco and haven't has another one since.

We will be getting the cranberry tables and probiotics asap. Thank you for your response.

HI , you have received excellent advice , I just want to point out that you should get pure unsweetened cranberry juice , not the sugary cranberry cocktail or such. That's best.
Aso make sure your MIL stays hydrated with actual water not just water in tea , drinks etc .

Good luck

L

I am assuming that a culture and sensitivity test has been done? The three day test that tests the bacteria to ascertain which antibiotics are effective against what particular strain of bacteria. Many strains are becoming resistant to current antibiotics. I am glad that you are doing the followup as you should. I sure hope you get good news soon.

My Mother struggles with swallowing pills and as is common, doesn’t still well hydrated. I asked the doctor to “prescribe” cranberry juice at lunch I her assisted living place as then they have to be sure she gets it. That has been enough so far to keep Mom’s UTI”s at bay. I haven’t tried these yet but apparently it helps some elderly stay hydrated as they think they are candy. https://healthcarechannel.co/edible-water-ball-jelly-drops-invented-for-elderly-with-dementia/

Good luck!

Unfortunately, the medical profession is having problems with multi-drug resistant microorganisms. If your MIL is elderly and frail, she is at increased risk of developing a UTI and not being able to "fight it off." There are several things you can do to help her immune system: have her drink at least 2 liters (1 gal) of non-sweetened fluids (especially water) every day, make sure she wipes her bottom from front to back, a bidet attachment to the toilet will help keep her bottom clean after each toilet use, and keeping her bottom area as dry as possible (dry-wicking panties or change Depends every 3 hours). Some have found that estrogen cream in the vaginal and vulvar area helps to thicken up those tissues so they are less prone to infection and irritation.

Yes a urinologist is best answer. I found my mom constantly diagnosed with uti with reg doc but with urinologist she wasn’t. She just had what they called dirty urine but that was no concern and did not need antibiotics. So since going to urinologist for 2 yes she has only needed antibiotics 1 time. Before that doc was giving constantly almost and she’d had bad reactions.

In the last year, 98 year old Mom has had 8 UTI’s.
She lives at home with 24/7 care. The hygiene is impeccable but she is predisposed to UTI’s. She’s on a prophylactic antibiotic nitrofurantoin, cranberry pills or gummies.
I had a bidet sprayer installed in the bathrooms, She bathes every day but none the less the UTI’s come back.

9 out of 10 times I know to have the urine checked because of extreme changes in her behavior. it’s easy to blame it on dementia when it’s actually a UTI.

Hydrate
cranberry pills or gummies daily
good hygiene

we are just trying to keep it at bay.

This is how we found out my mother had dementia, one day she was fine the next full blown dementia, she had a UTI, I was told she will go back to normal after the infection clears up, nope didn’t happen never regained her senses, we now live with LBD she cannot do a thing for herself and her mind OMG! It’s 4 years now of Looney Tunes.

I assume they cultured the urine to diagnose the kind of bacteria? I do think you want a urologist to manage these infections.
My mom was also hospitalized for a week for uti (plus shingles and falls). After the hospitalization, she wound up needing 3 different rounds of iv antibiotics for 1 week each. We went to the hospital for these infusions but later learned the home health nurse (she was getting post hospitalization rehab care at home) could have done it.
It may be she is not voiding and continues to be infected from retained urine. (To ensure she is voiding as much as possible, have her lean forward 45 degrees after she thinks she is finished urinating. This pressure will help push out any retained urine.)
Wishing her a quick recovery. These infections are dangerous and can be chronic, as they have been for my mother why is why I think a urologist is needed. (For reasons I cannot understand, she rarely gets them in Maine but constantly gets them in Florida. If anyone has a guess as yo why, please share.)