Can a urine infection do this? Need help please

[Michele]

Hi,

I haven't been on here for a long time so I will try and keep this as short as possible.

Mum has been in her care home for a year now, which is a lovely one. She has gone down hill quite rapidly over the last year. She shuffles instead of walking, her speach is not very good, she is incontinent, she can't really do anything for herself anymore. However, she is always bubbly and smiling and happy.

Last Thursday I went over there and mum was very ill, shaking/jerking movements, could hardly talk, and was sleeping constantly. The doctor came and couldn't find anything wrong with her, but said it could be a urine infection so prescribed anti-biotics.

I went over Saturday, and she was really poorly, just sleeping constantly. To be honest I was expecting a phone call at the weekend for the worse.

Have been over today, and she slept nearly all the time. She has an infected eye and the carers are getting the prescription for her.

The thing is though, she can hardly walk now, it took myself and one of the carers to move her to a comfy chair, it was as if she had forgotten completly how to walk. They are having to feed her now. She sleeps nearly all the time, and her speach has gotten worse.

My sister says that they say she is a bit brighter in the afternoons, but still sleeps loads and obviously now takes two carers to move her around, and they still have to feed her.

Can a urine infection really do this? I would have thought she would have shown signs of getting better. She is brighter than she was on Saturday, but she is definitely not right.

Could this be bleeding on the brain / stroke?

I really don't know. Will she get better from this?

Any advice would really help.

Many thanks

 

[rajahh]

I am sorry that I have no words of wisdom to comfort you in this distressing situation. I honestly just do not know.

Others who are more experenced may be along later and help you, but just wanted to let you know that someone cares.

Jeannette

 

[sussexsue]

Hi, sorry to hear about your mum.

A UTI can 100% cause all these symptoms. In my mum's case, she would become borderline conscious, unable to eat or swallow, jerking to the point of fitting. Without a UTI she was continent and could walk - these abilities totally disappeared with a UTI.

On most occasions she ended up being hospitalised so that antibiotics and fluids could be given intraveneously. She would normally respond quite quickly, but would be several days before she even started to get back to where she was before, and each infection took away a little bit more of her abilities. Also with a UTI she hated to be touched and I suspect she was in quite a degree of pain, but because she wouldnt wake up she couldnt actually tell us.

It can also be very hard for doctors to find the right antibiotics, as it takes a few days for them to grow cultures.

Until you experience it, it is almost impossible to believe that an infection can be this catastrophic.

Hope she starts to recover soon.

Sue xx

 

[Michele]

Hi Jeannette and Sue,

Thank you for your kind words.

Blimey, I really didn't think that a UTI could do all of this, and be so bad.

I will be keeping everything crossed that mum starts to improve soon. It is just horrible watching her be like this.

Thank you again.

Michele

 

[Michaelaspeek]

Hi Michelle

My mum was diagnosed at Christmas with AD - she is only 69 and she has deteriated quite quickly over the past few months.

6 weeks ago, mum went from being bright and bubbly to crying all the time and very suicidal. She was diagnosed with a UTI. She was sent to hospital were she couldnt walk anymore and just cried. After the antibotics she made a very speedy recovery.

At the moment she is in respite care after having her third UTI (in 6 weeks) and is still on antibiotics.

I am hoping the third lot of antibiotics will work.

UTI is awful and every person acts differently with it. The other day my mother who is very loving and gentle managed to smash the hinges off and smash thick glass on a secured door at the care home.

Once the antibiotics have finished make sure you mother has another test as some times it can take more than one lot.

I do hope your mother is feeling better soon

Kin wishes
Love and light
Mickie

 

[janeb]

UTI's

Yes, a UTI can have devastating effects. My mum is 94 and has regularly had them for over a year in hre care home. She gets much more confused than usual, non-responsive sometimes and calls for her mummy and daddy all the time and gets very resless and terribly agitated especially in bed when she doesn't settle for hours. Sometimes when she recovers after 5 - 7 days of antibiotics if she has deteriorated a little I think she may have also suffered a small stroke if she does not get back to her usual level of understanding.

 

[Michele]

Hi,

thank you for your kind words and advice.

We are going to phone the care home in the morning and get them to get the doctor out again.

As far as we know she hasn't been tested for UTI, well the doctor hasn't test her anyway. So we are going to ask for this.

She is on her last night of antibiotics, and obviously they are not working properly, so hopefully tomorrow something will be done.

Thank you again.

Much appreciated.

Michele

 

[Justice2012]

The delerium caused by UTI's and even some small strokes is very very much more prevalent in dementia patients. But the normal behavioural problems that occur in dementia patients are also difficult to distinguish from delerium. So you can have the sudden confusion e.g. in VaD dementia without a 'medical delerium issue'.