Does having a cold make dementia worse?

[Valpiana]

My PWD has a nasty cold and for the last week we are having a nightmare of incontinence issues. He is still aware of the urge to urinate and until recently was managing to go to the toilet alone. Over the last week we have had an afternoon of not lifting the toilet lid (3 times!) pulling down trousers and incontinence pants but still urinating in pants,trousers and on floor (4 times today). Luckily we have a tiled floor but in combination with the other dementia related issues it's still wearing me out.
Is it the cold or is he not getting the signals from his brain in time to get to the toilet in plenty of time? We are waiting for a visit from the continence team to assess for an external catheter but while he us still getting the urge to urinate I'm not sure that is the right thing at the moment. However something needs to happen before I lose my mind! Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[canary]

Hi @Valpiana , any sort of infection makes a person with dementia more confused and the symptoms much worse. You will probably find that your PWD improves as his cold does.
Incidentally, are you sure it is a nasty cold and not covid? Covid seems to cause havoc in PWD in the same way that UTIs do.

In the meantime, would it help if you put puppy training pads on the bathroom floor?
I used to keep the lid and seat up permanently to make sure that OH didnt pee on it. It doesnt look so attractive, but it was practical.

 

[Valpiana]

Thanks for your reply. I haven't tested him for covid but fairly sure it's just a cold. Might test him in the morning. I am keeping the lid and seat up but he is inclined to put it down again on entering the bathroom. I need eyes in the back of my head! I have got disposable mats but as the floor is tiled it would make it very slippery and dangerous.