What is making her so tired?

KatieKate,My Mother was 86 when she passed last Christmas,outliving everyone on her side of the family.She had a very strong will to live,loved her family so much and didn't want to leave us,and she always said she was afraid to go off by herself and was scared to die.She always set deadlines and goals to make it to.She set a record with her Hospice company for being on their service so long at 3 and a half years straight.She had good days and bad days and a lot of the time it seemed like 1 step foreward and then 3 backward but she gave it her all to stay with us.My Mother was also on Diltiazem and coumbadin for her heart and blood clots too and Mother had a filter/umbrella in her groin to stop the clots that snuck up her legs but 1 got her up her arm one time and went to a lung.I gave Mother breathing treatments 3 times a day and took her blood pressure along with them,wrote it all down for the nurse.She had the small strokes T.I.A.'s when her words would become garbled and her arm/hand on one side would be limp and that awful buggy look out of her eyes.But never a major stroke Thank God.My Mother's oxygen wouldn't stay in the 90's,so she was on oxygen fulltime the last 3 years and in a wheelchair from her falls,but we still went everywhere and did SO much anyway.3 days before she left,we were at the mall for 7 hours straight Christmas shopping. A Pulse-Ox is about $40.00 at Walmart or Walgreens and is well worth it,just to see where your Mother's oxygen is at.Again Katie,I'm sorry you are dealing with this worry.I hope YOU are OK.Take good care,Lu

Thank you the reply Lu.

It sounds a lot like Mom. The mesh...surgery? Mom has expressed to me in the past that there will be no more surgery.

It feels like this is the beginning of the end. She is also having a lot of confusion and doesn't seem to know anything about the last 4 months....like time stopped back in July.

My Mother was very frustrated with being SO tired and asked the doctor "Why am I so tired?" and it was a combination of things.Her oxygen level and heart problem,which was her pulse was way too fast and they had to install a mesh window around her heart for the fluid they couldn't explain.Mother also had T.I.A.'s(small strokes) and close to the end,a vegal or vegus attack too. I'm sorry you are going through this tiredness with your dear Mother too.I know it's frustrating.Take care KatieKate,Lu

mom takes Diltiazem 180 mg to control her heart rate. Warfarin to help avoid blood clots.

Mom has expressed to me a DNR. But, medication to provide longer life...as long as she is able to get quality of life...yeah, keep doing it.

She isn't like this all the time. This just started in the last 3 weeks. She has a couple days a week where she cannot even hold her head up. Then..a few hours..she snaps back. Not all the way..but, energy level up a lot. Then in a day or two it happens again. But, I have to say, her energy level over all has dropped noticeably even on the good days.

On goof days, she get out to her various therapies. Goes out with me to a store, maybe the bank. We drove up on the Mesa just sight seeing last week. So..not bed ridden or anything.

What are your mom's wishes for continued medical tests and treatments? I might consider her desires and honor them.

Katie, is your mother taking Toprol (Metoprolol) for her A-fib? It does have a side effect of fatigue, according to our cardiologist. Is this is the case, ask about lowering the dose - that's what was done for my father.

Toprol also can lower BP.

There's a new procedure to reduce A-fib stroke risk: Watchman. It's not appropriate for everyone though. A cardiologist raised this issue with us just last week.

If you don't have a regularly treating cardiologist, find one. You'll get more specific results and advice from someone who can run more tests (including a MUGA and others) than are done at the ER.

Angie...there isn't any blood test that they didn't do...twice. They even did two separate measurement of that particular emzine that shows up if a heart attack occurred.

We were there 10 hours while they did every dianostic they could come up with.
During that time, Mom recovered and was feeling pretty good when we left.

She was feeling better coming home from the ER .. Late Saturday night.
But, yesterday, again, she was so tired she couldn't lift her head.

I am going to try to get a heart monitor for her. The ER doc said that even if the problem is her afib running away...she is already on medication to control it..and it will cause lower blood pressure. Her blood pressure is on the low end of normal..he thought if it is increased it will cause her BP to drop to dangerous levels. Basically, he was asking the old question...even if we determine it is that...there is no point, as we cannot treat it. I have heard this argument before, When asking if she had maybe another stroke...the doc said there was no point to doing a head scan...there isn't any treatment beyond what is already being done, so there is no point to doing more diagnostics.

Since ER ruled out everything else...I still want to get s monitor. Then we will have recordings to prove it is or isn't events with afib that precipitate the extreme tired events.

Katiekate, get a fingertip pulse oximeter. You can monitor heart rate and O2 levels with this. She may just be deciding to go. 90 is a long long time.

When my dad was exhausted (he was extremely tired and fell asleep in the middle of conversations), it turned out that his sodium was too low. Has the hospital checked your mom's sodium level?

Katie, my mom, who had a stroke three years ago, has been in bed, mostly sleeping, for the last three days. Very unlike her.

There is some suggestion that this could be a worsening of her vascular dementia, which proceeds " stepwise", as opposed to gradually. My mom also sleeps more when she is fighting of an infection, so maybe that's it.

Keep in touch, we learn from each other here!

What kind of diet is she on? Is she getting adequate protein? Could she be dehydrated? Have blood tests indicated low potassium?

I wouldn't give up; try a different hospital and different ER.

Katie, I see by your profile that your Mom is in her early 90's. Time travels fast at that age. Could be her age is catching up with her. Or the change in weather. This colder weather can make one feel pretty achy.

My parents were also in their 90's, and they were tired quite a bit, always napping.