Why is 82 confusing

Many SNFs are not ideal for people who have been delirious. So, you may have to go with the SNF. Do try to stay as involved as possible, as that can help with recovery. This might be part of what the nurse is referring to. I usually recommend that people pay attention to the effect of their words. It can take a little trial and error to find out what the most reassuring and constructive approach is. It can take a long time weeks or often even months , especially if they were delirious for a long time, or if they had some cognitive impairment prior to becoming delirious.

Good luck! My 60 year old husband had major surgery a week ago, and now is having profound hallucinations. Initially the doctors thought it was the narcotic pain medication, however, he has not taken any all day, and his hallucinations are getting worse. Sorry to hear of this. My 85 year old father, who we recently moved into a highly rated and very nice assisted living facility, has been battling congestive heart failure after a serious heart attack 5 years ago along with kidney failure stemming from the chf.

His short-term memory has been slowly declining. Yesterday, my brother called him, and for about 10 minutes, our usually subdued father chatted on and on about currently being on a ship out at sea that had been hijacked by pirates.

After they ended the call and my brother called to tell me about it, I called my dad. He told me he was in the Pacific when I asked him which sea he was in. He provided details such as he had a gun, but so did the pirates, and during our surreal conversation, Dad shot at them. Before he ended the call, I told him to please be careful. Being serious, he promised that he would be very careful.

His cognitive decline over the past several months has been at the worst forgetting what he ate for dinner, or if my brother had visited him earlier that day. Typically, our telephone conversations lately have been brief and very basic. Hard to say just what caused this, or how worried you should be. I hope he at least continues to be in good spirits.

If you are worried about possible delirium, you could ask to have him further evaluated, or at least monitored a little more closely for the next few days.

My 85 year old father developed an infected toe. After many visits to various doctors, it was determined his leg had poor circulation and his foot had very little blood flow no pulse. During the procedure to insert a stent at the hip, the sedative Versed caused my father to become very combative, a side effect seen previously. We have no idea why Versed was used again. The procedure could not be completed. For a few days he was somewhat confused but okay, and then he fell getting up from the couch.

After that he was very combative, restless, and stopped sleeping nearly completely. Again no sleeping. After appearing to be improving, he had to return to the hospital after becoming very combative and agitated. At the hospital he broke his shoulder jumping out of bed, while his toes began to die. The psych ward dosed him into nearly total unconsciousness and at that point he had a successful vascular bypass, then the toes were removed.

A bout of sepsis followed but it responded to antibiotics. He has never really awaken since he was drugged unconscious. All medications are being stopped, aside from antibiotics and minor pain medication. Prior to this, my father could mow the grass, did his income taxes for , and did the shopping for himself and mom.

Could this have started from from Versed? No one at the hospital seems to know whats wrong with him. Brain shows no damage but his circulatory system is calcified heavily. The only hope now is that after the leg fully heals, he will return to normal. I share this mainly to warn others that Versed is not the best sedative for elderly patients.

Versed is a benzodiazepine used for sedation during procedures. All benzodiazepines are considered risky in older adults and can cause confusion or even paradoxical agitation in some older adults. In other older adults, they cause sedation and decrease agitation. My husband recently was hospitalized for high blood pressure.

They ran all kinds of tests and he is healthy. However, he seemed to all of a sudden be confused. He recognizes pretty much everyone but he is not certain who I am. He is 76 years old, never been sick and this is his first time in the hospital. We have been married 53 years. What could this be? Sorry to hear of this problem, it must be distressing to suddenly not be recognized by a long-time spouse. I would recommend asking his doctors for more information and help evaluating him.

You might also want to consider a consultation with neurology. This has been one of the most informative websites I have found. My 86 year old mum has been in hospital for 2 weeks. She was diangnose with pneumonia, sepsis, aspiration and then gall bladder infection. Treatment with Antibiotics have worked however we now think she may have had a stroke. Right hand side of face had dropped and her speech very slurred.

Doctors said she had delirium and up until the potential stroke she was communicative although talking strangely.. Now she is sleeping all during the day and not very responsive.

They have also given her anti vitals in case she has a viral infection in brain. Echo showed heart ok. They are struggling to get her O2 levels right and said she arrived in Hopsital in AF and with level 2 Resp Depression. She is not eating.

I live 8h drive away but my sister lives local to hospital. She is not in good health either. The longer delirium goes on worse the prognosis. But reading the comments it is difficult to predict how long this may be for. Any advice would be appreciated. Apologies for long ramble. By the way I am in UK. Poor thing. In terms of recovering: the longer the person is sick in the hospital, the longer it tends to take to recover strength and function.

Also it takes longer if the person was weak or impaired or chronically ill prior to being hospitalized. It sounds to me like first she needs to get through this acute hospitalization, and then you can see where things are at. My 86 year old father had a fibulator input. Before the surgery he had a very difficult time breathing. He now has delirium. We is in a rehabilitation center for therapy. However, he gets agitated, tried to leave the center and has confusion.

Our doctor has prescribed risperidone. He has been on this medication for 2 days. He is still confused. My concern is for his safety. He is not able to come home and with this confusion should we consider a facility that provides memory care.

This is so difficult and my family does not know what to do. Risperidone and other antipsychotics have not generally been shown to help delirium resolve, they mostly mask the more agitated symptoms by causing some dampening of brain activity.

Generally to recover from delirium, people need rest, a restorative environment, and time. Of course, when people are confused, they need reassurance and also some level of supervision.

Personally, I think many older adults feel better when they are in familiar surroundings, but it can be hard for families to provide the necessary supervision and help while the older person is recovering. If not, I would recommend talking with his health providers about how he is doing, and a social worker can help you brainstorm ways to get him the care and support he needs.

My dad has been very confused and was taken into hospital last Tuesday. He has been saying how much pain he was in. Also he was very constipated. Since being in hospital he has had laxatives and His meds being controlled better. He is due to get a CT scan but I feel hes definitely less confused. Does this sound like delirium? Yes, it does sound like it could be delirium. I would recommend you ask his doctors for more information, they should be able to advise you. That is great if he is already better!

My father is 93 years old and had a prostate cancer 10 years ago. He is in remission and no longer have prostate cancer. However, as a result of the radiation, he has been having some bladder bleeding due to the thinning of the bladder wall and has been on a catheter continuously for over a year.

A Homehealth nurse would come to the house and flush or change it once a month or as needed. The catheter has been giving him UTI on and off and his doctor would prescribe antibiotics.

A couple of months ago, he has been paranoid and aggressive solely towards my mom. His mind is still sharp as he can carry on a conversation and would remember everything. He never exhibited suicidal tendencies until a month ago, he got suicidal to the point that he called , police came and eventually the paramedics took him to the ER and was put on a hold and was sent to a psych hospital.

The hospital medicated him so bad that he was drooling and shaking. So we begged them to release him to a skilled nursing facility as he is not psychotic. The psych doctor thought it could have been the UTI that caused him to have delirium. He is still at the rehab and taking risperdal 0. It has been a rollercoaster ride because he would be in a good mood but then calls my Mom and goes back to the old paranoia accusing her of infidelity.

My mom is 83 years old with osteoporosis and hunched back. Prior to this incident, he has shown some aggressive behavior and throwing stuff or threatening to harm my Mom. He is only allowed for a short stay and then he can come home or go to an assisted living facility. Trying to figure out if the risperdal is the right medicine for him. Thank you and I appreciate this forum. Well, at age 93, his brain in general probably has underlying damage and is very vulnerable.

Drugs like rispderdal can sometimes reduce aggression or frank paranoia, but they also increase falls and can cause sedation. So starting to plan for a different care arrangement eventually may make sense. My dad is 67 years old and has not been eating well since 4 months ago. He needs assistance in walking now due to lack of nutritions.

He has been admitted to hospital last Saturday as his potassium level is very low and has been on and off confused state. We are really worried on his condition and not sure how long will he take to recover.

They tied him down to the bed as he could turn violent. Sorry to hear of this story, it does indeed sound worrisome and very sad. It could indeed be delirium. Another possibility, if you say he drinks hard liquor every day, would be that alcohol withdrawal is playing a role.

I hope that by this point, the doctors were able to help stabilize him, and that he gets better soon. Hi there. My father 81 has delirium following cancer surgery in January. We moved him to an assisted living home and our family visits as often as we can.

He just rests a lot, but I would love if you could suggest something for him to do. Puzzles maybe? There are a lot of puzzles, games and apps that are designed to boost brain performance, and some of them have been shown to do so or at least people can improve their performance at the tasks in the game, but whether this translates into better function or more independence has not really been demonstrated.

The best kind of activity is one that will actively engage your father, both physically and mentally. If there are exercise classes or social events at his facility, he should be encouraged to attend and may need someone to knock on his door and invite him until it becomes a habit for him. Eating his meals in a dining room with others is also a therapeutic intervention. Hope that helps.

Hello — lots of good information here! I am searching for input on finding a care team equipped to understand and treat delirium in my 83 year old mother-in-law. Prior to the surgery, she had full physical and cognitive function — no apparent diminished capacity. Within about 8 hours post-op, she was in what we later found out was hospital-induced delirium — severe aggression, confusion, delusions, etc. Her Dr. After 8 days, she was moved to a skilled-nursing facility for Rehab, with orders from her Dr.

Her mental state was up and down over a period of a few days, but progressed into being pretty poor again, particularly at night.

We also found out the rehab center had her on a plethora of drugs to calm her down. She was treated in the hospital for a UTI, but her confusion continued off and on. They initially had her on only a small dose of Olazapine, Because her mental status had not cleared but her UTI did, they moved her to the Senior Behavioral Health Unit after 5 days, and she has now been there for 5 days.

Her nursing staff and psychiatrist also change frequently, and when I spoke with her new assigned psychiatrist today he had no history of the last 4 weeks, thought she had long term dementia and was surprised to find out she had not, etc. In fact, when I questioned her treatment plan the nurse stated they are just trying to manage her, and just wanted to push me off on a social worker.

I am not at all satisfied with her care team. I want to find a physician that understands delirium and can actually present a recommended plan and prognosis, but am unsure of how to do so. Are there some resources that you can recommend for finding a Dr. Hi Anita. You are really thinking the right way about avoiding sedating medications, promoting routine, ruling out infection and other aspects of delirium prevention and care.

Being in Canada, I am not sure how to advise about trying to get a different care team. I wonder if it is possible to ask for a consultation with a Geriatrician? This article from Dr. Kernisan may be helpful. My grandmother is 81 years old and has always been in perfect health. No out patient procedures, no surgeries. Then a few days after Thanksgiving, she forgot a phone conversation she had held earlier in the day and could not remember what she had for breakfast.

We were to return for follow up in 6 weeks. However, she progressively got worse. She would only give one word answers when asked questions, typically yes or no. I took her to an emergency room. They ran urinalysis, blood work and ct scan. No infection and metabololic panel looked normal. CT scan showed age related, shrinkage of brain which he then eluded to dementia. I asked if dementia, would we not have gradually seen some type of cognitive decline?

He said it was possible that she could have had a ministroke that exacerbated the condition. He then sent us home to again follow up with PCP. Every day her mental state has worsened. Last week, we saw her PCP and he prescribed her busiprone and trazadone. This week, there has been no improvement and her condition has actually worsened.

She is now fighting us with everything we ask or need her to do. She is cussing which is NOT at all normal , she tells my mother, whom is caring for her, to go home and leave her alone!

TSo again, we take her back to PCP yesterday and we demand he send her to hospital for further evaluation. She actually laid herself in the floor and had a tantrum to try to avoid going to the doctor.

I said what about all this medicine that she is prescribed, could she be suffering from seratonin syndrome. He said that it could be possible than in an attempt to make her better, prescribing her the busiprone and trazadone has only made her worse. He stopped all meds except for : Lexapro, Ativan, Lisinopril and a thyroid medication.

He said to return again in a week to see if that change in meds has helped but also implied that we should be getting ourselves prepared as this condition will probably not improve. It is no exaggeration when I say this literally sprang up over night and has just gotten worse with each day. We are so confused and do not understand any of what is going on. I believe that someone else needs to take a second look at her, though I am no sure in her agitated state, how we would get her to go or cooperate.

I am thinking a neurologist but would a mental health facility be better? Any type of advice you could give us would so greatly appreciated. She has been this way since Thanksgiving and it sure would be nice to know that if there is something else going on with her, other than dementia, we know about it because maybe we can HELP her! It sounds like you are all noticing some significant changes and seeking help as best you can.

The medications that you mention are mostly prescribed for depression, anxiety, and insomnia Buspar, Lexapro, Remeron and Trazadone , so if I saw someone who had been prescribed those medications, I would be curious about whether they had struggled with those conditions. Dementia can certainly cause changes in behaviour and language skills, but those psychiatric conditions could do that too.

Just to make things more complicated, the medications themselves can have side effects that can bring abut such symptoms as well. See this video about anticholinergic medications for example. A Geriatrician would be able to sift through all of the different medications, underlying medical issues and current behaviour changes, and give some advice about how to get clarity on the diagnosis and treatment. I would advise someone in your situation to advocate for a referral form the PCP.

Best of luck. My mother is 95 and has had Alzheimer disease for almost a decade. But she has been at a constant level and has recognized all of the immediate family and been able to enjoy our stories and respond appropriately to our conversations. But then she developed a urinary track infection that was not identified for two weeks or so.

She then received antibiotics but became significantly more detached and unsteady enough that her caregivers in the memory home have her in a wheelchair for fear she will fall if she continues using her walker.

Her doctor checked her out after she finished the antibiotic. They took a blood test but did not find anything wrong. At this point the advice is that we move forward with comfort care. We are heartbroken at the sudden decline and it certainly seems from your article that she may have suffered from delirium from the UTI. I am left wondering if we should be taking other action in trying to get more clarity and help for her, or if this is just the unfortunate turn of events that we deal with moving forward.

This is a familiar story when a seemingly small challenge like a UTI can be a major setback. Unfortunately, this can lead to a cascade of changes, like using a wheelchair more often, that will then compound the difficulties through reducing mobility, contributing to weakness and falls risk. Sometimes, this is irreversible, and does lead to an ongoing decline where a focus on comfort makes the most sense. In my experience as a Geriatrician, though, an older person can often rally with a return to regular routine, good nutrition, physical activity and trimming away any unnecessary medications.

A consultation from a Geriatrician might be helpful to identify any reversible issues that the team at the memory home have missed. This is a very informative forum! Turns out severe constipation that had no doubt been going on for months. Talking utter nonsense, spinning tails if you will. He would be ok one minute then totally unrational the next. Could all this be classified as hospital delirium? What do you think his chances are to be back to normal cognitive behavior?

You might also be interested in this article about constipation. Your story is a good reminder that a seemingly minor challenge like constipation can lead to serious problems. My 91 year old mom has been officially diagnosed with Alzheimers two years ago. I am certain she had it several years before I brought her to a specialist. She now lives with me and has for about 1. Recently she was in the hospital for very mild fluid in one lung and possible UTI not sure if it was never really cleared up or if it was new.

Now home for over two weeks and a sudden onset of delirium and massive confusion. I brought her to urgent care and everything came out fine. Great vitals, no UTI and chest xray clear. Today she didnt know me and I played her dead sister for most of the day as that seemed to calm her. Her doctor did prescribe 5mg of Adavan they gave that to her on one night in the hospitaL her doctor was reluctant but understood that it was important since she got up 3x in one night and tried to use my stove.

I have now been referred to a psychiatrist for management of her meds. Can this delirium just go away? I fear this will be the difference between caring for her at home or in a home. Delirium can take a while to improve, days or even weeks or longer. And it can wax and wane as you describe. Call Email dcs. Call Email customerservice. Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges infrastructure-ni. For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

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