Aggressiveness

[shirlanne]

My mum has Alzheimer's dementia she is happy but when it comes to the carers or family to change her as she is incontinent she strikes out spits nips and swears is there any medication that can help this

 

[karaokePete]

My mum has Alzheimer's dementia she is happy but when it comes to the carers or family to change her as she is incontinent she strikes out spits nips and swears is there any medication that can help this

Hello, you are welcome here.
I don't have experience of this but know that psychological factors can cause this problem because the person misinterprets what is happening. They may feel distress because of their situation and perceive a carer as an attacker/abuser because of the invasion of their personal space and some dark memory or fear from their distant past. Sometimes people will react better if the carer is in uniform and/or of the same gender and introduces themselves(even if family) and says what they are going to help with because all this makes them feel more secure in the situation. It's also important to keep the area calm and the less busy the better.
The best I can do is hope that someone with more experience will be along to advise later and in the meantime leave this link to the AS Factsheet about the issue in the hope that you can get something useful from it https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites...ctsheet_dementia_and_aggressive_behaviour.pdf

 

[70smand]

Sometimes medication can help but only as a very last line because they can have such awful side effects, and what might work for one person will not always work for another. I’m sorry that’s probably not much help to you but if your mum is happy most other times then maybe a different approach could be tried if it’s possible to work out why she behaves like this- could she be embarrassed or scared, just as Karaoke Pete has said above.
I know my dad did get aggressive during personal care with the carers on waking, but as this was the only time I think it depends on the carer and the way they handle him and speak to him. His eyesight and perception are very poor and he hates not being in control and as he can’t take instruction shouting at him doesn’t help. Whenever he is hoisted he shouts out and my mum talks to him soothingly explaining what the carers are doing and he usually calms down straight away.
Dad has been on meds for agression in the past when there really was no rhyme or reason to his behaviour except paranoia but they had awful and debilitating side effects and we have fought to get them reduced. Good luck x

 

[shirlanne]

Sometimes medication can help but only as a very last line because they can have such awful side effects, and what might work for one person will not always work for another. I’m sorry that’s probably not much help to you but if your mum is happy most other times then maybe a different approach could be tried if it’s possible to work out why she behaves like this- could she be embarrassed or scared, just as Karaoke Pete has said above.
I know my dad did get aggressive during personal care with the carers on waking, but as this was the only time I think it depends on the carer and the way they handle him and speak to him. His eyesight and perception are very poor and he hates not being in control and as he can’t take instruction shouting at him doesn’t help. Whenever he is hoisted he shouts out and my mum talks to him soothingly explaining what the carers are doing and he usually calms down straight away.
Dad has been on meds for agression in the past when there really was no rhyme or reason to his behaviour except paranoia but they had awful and debilitating side effects and we have fought to get them reduced. Good luck x

Thankyou for your reply mum is in a care home and she gets on well with the carers they all love her and mum loves them to sit and talk or sing with her but for the past 2wks she will not stand up to be changed she always let me help her but that has stopped now when i ask can i help her up she gets realy nasty its like she doesnt know how to get up but doesnt want help from any one i ask her to stand and she shuffles down the bed a bit and says there im up then she swears and threatens me and spits in my face this is heart breaking im with her 7 days a week and its just the last 2 weeks that she is refusing to let anyone change her she has just finished a course of antibiotics to rule out chest or water infection the carers have scratches and bruises from her and yesterday she lashed out and hurt herself i just dont know which way to turn she wont have the doctor near her she swears and threatens her if she was left and not changed i think she would be very happy it doesn't bother her that she is sat in wee and poo she has said to me I'm not bothered yet if she is in the room on her own and wants to stand up she will do

 

[blackers]

It's a well known fact water infections can make elderly people delirious. I remember when I was a carer I saw it often and now talking to customers (Post Office) looking after elderly relatives, the same applies..

 

[70smand]

The other thing is maybe she could still have a urine infection if this behaviour started so suddenly. I suppose it’s difficult to get a sample if she’s incontinent and resistant to being changed. Do you know if they got a sample in the first place as if they didn’t the dr may have just treated her with a broad spectrum antibiotic that the infection is resistant to and it might need a different antibiotic?

 

[shirlanne]

The other thing is maybe she could still have a urine infection if this behaviour started so suddenly. I suppose it’s difficult to get a sample if she’s incontinent and resistant to being changed. Do you know if they got a sample in the first place as if they didn’t the dr may have just treated her with a broad spectrum antibiotic that the infection is resistant to and it might need a different antibiotic?

Mum wouldn't let the doctor near her but she did hear a crackle on her chest and mum is more prone to chest infection so the doctor gave her antibiotics to cover both chest and urine infection normally half way through the coarse of antibiotics mum shows improvement which she has to a certain extent its just this aggression when getting changed but the carers are lifting her which she doesn't like she strikes out swears spits nips but i have sat with her 2hrs trying to get her to stand so i could change her but for some reason she wont stand and when i offer to help her to get up she swears and spits at me and says she can get up herself which she can do but wont she starts to get up but sits down again before she does get up i have tried all ways like asking her to come to another room with me to get her to stand she wants to come with me but she still wont stand up this is the worse i have ever seen her

 

[70smand]

My dad used to have trouble standing- sometimes it could take ages as he just couldn’t seem to coordinate or take instruction, and then he would be able to jump up if he didn’t think too long or hard about it. unfortunately he seems to have forgotten how to stand and walk in the last few months and now relies on being hoisted. He is plenty strong enough but if you try to help him he almost pushes against you the opposite way.
Sounds like your mum is just aggressive when the carers try to lift her? Do you think she could be in any pain at all? I’m sorry Unfortunately most medication just makes people more drowsy and less mobile and doesn’t always help the mood. I have often said if only they came up with a pill to deal with the aggression without all the side effects I’m sure people with dementia could be looked after for longer at home, l know that would have been the case with my dad.
Sorry I can’t come up with any solution except if her urine is offensive smelling or they can get a sample to test it that’s all I can come up with at the moment. If I think of something elsrpe I will be back to you.

 

[shirlanne]

My dad used to have trouble standing- sometimes it could take ages as he just couldn’t seem to coordinate or take instruction, and then he would be able to jump up if he didn’t think too long or hard about it. unfortunately he seems to have forgotten how to stand and walk in the last few months and now relies on being hoisted. He is plenty strong enough but if you try to help him he almost pushes against you the opposite way.
Sounds like your mum is just aggressive when the carers try to lift her? Do you think she could be in any pain at all? I’m sorry Unfortunately most medication just makes people more drowsy and less mobile and doesn’t always help the mood. I have often said if only they came up with a pill to deal with the aggression without all the side effects I’m sure people with dementia could be looked after for longer at home, l know that would have been the case with my dad.
Sorry I can’t come up with any solution except if her urine is offensive smelling or they can get a sample to test it that’s all I can come up with at the moment. If I think of something elsrpe I will be back to you.

 

[shirlanne]

Thankyou for your reply i dont think she is in pain because she will get up on her own and go for a walk on the other wings with her three wheeler walker when i went yesterday she was walking on the corridor she said she was looking for me i took her to her room and pulled her bottoms down and cleaned her before she got to sit down and she was fine chatting away while i was sorting her then the trouble started when i asked her to stand up so i could pull her clean clothes up

 

[shirlanne]

Today she has started hallucinating she said there was 3 men in

 

[shirlanne]

Today she has started hallucinating she said there was 3 men stood in the corner of her room i said where she said cant you see them are you blind