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My father started acting very strangely this afternoon.
This evening before he had dinner, he asked for a cold drink (he never wants to drink anything cold). Then he asked for coffee (he has never drank coffee in his life.)
Then he had dinner and ate about half of it.
Half an hour later he asked for his food in the bedroom (he never has food in the bedroom and was sitting in the living room.)
When I told him he'd just had dinner he looked confused and said 'so aren't I getting any food?'
He asked for his urine bottle but then said he doesn't want it and now he is huffing and puffing (a bit short of breath)
He has also been singing all day - a kind of nonsense - he constantly says whoopsy daisy, diddley boddley do, sort of thing....
Any ideas what could have brought on this sudden change in behavior?

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A sudden change in mental status should be reported to his doctor immediately.

Could be a UTI, could be a stroke or a dozen other things. Some innocuous and some very dangerous.

The breathing difficulty is also very worrisome.
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JulieKac Sep 2021
Thanks
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You need to get him to the ER whether its dehydration or a UTI. If its dehydration and he is delirious he needs IVs. If its a UTI its also now serious, especially in men. It can become septic. He will need IV antibiotics and a culture for that.
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The easiest thing to rule out is urinary infection. It shows up in weird behavior or confusion. If you have a visiting nurse via Medicare, ask her to get dr to order urinalysis.
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JulieKac Sep 2021
I will get his urine tested tomorrow.
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Hi, Thanks for your reply.
I think he may be dehydrated. He hasn't been drinking enough for the last few days. He often has difficulty breathing as he suffers from panic attacks and uses an inhaler so that isn't a new condition
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disgustedtoo Sep 2021
Hopefully you've had the testing done and hopefully it was something "simple" to treat, like UTI...

Sudden onset of odd behavior of any kind often turns out to be UTI driven.

My mother's dementia was relatively stable, but a sudden onset of intense sun-downing heralded her first UTI in MC. It can impact each person in different ways - the real key is a sudden change.

Sudden onset of night time bed wetting heralded the second UTI several years later (this was despite max briefs, max pad inserted and toileting before bed - soaked EVERYTHING!)

As for the huffing/puffing, my mother would often start this odd breathing when we were headed to appointments, like short breath intake with obvious noisy (puffing?) breath out, almost with pursed lips. At least one place asked about it (dentist I think) - she'd only do this at those times, never any other time, so it was just a nervous habit, touch of anxiety?
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.Julie, start hydrating him as well as you can.    If he's not drinking, try foods like soup, fruits and fruit juices.   Avoid foods that are salty.
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JulieKac Sep 2021
I will try but getting liquids down him has been so difficult to do for the last few days. He doesn’t like juice and won’t drink any of the things he used to like yoghurt drinks, cordials etc
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Yes, as others have said infections can cause confusion. Also make sure his medication wasn't accidentally mixed up or he forgot to take things. Trip to the hospital should rule all that out if its not.
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JulieKac Sep 2021
Thank you. I will monitor his drinking and have him checked for infections.
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Make sure he isn’t over medicated. (Even if he has been on these medications for a prolonged period of time, they can accumulate in his system and cause sudden, significant changes). Read the pharmacy printouts got warnings, negative interactions, etc.

Get him checked out for ongoing stroke (in the ER) - damage from a stroke can be mitigated with early intervention.
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JulieKac Sep 2021
Thanks. He only takes one medication for relief of enlarged prostrate.
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Acaringdaughter has a point. The elderly don't seem to get rid of medication as fast. But just having him drinking more is not going to solve the dehydration problem. He needs IVs if he is becoming confused. Also, pneumonia will cause delirium too. You need to get him to the ER. This is not something you can fix at home.
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JulieKac,

I looked up several of these medications online and there has been a link to some in this class with early dementia.

You may discuss with his doctor whether it would possible to try weaning him from this drug to see if there is any improvement in his mental condition.

This happened with my mom (different medication -of course- but same situation) and mom came back completely.

My thoughts are with you.
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Julie, how is your dad today?
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