My Mum seems more confused.

[Mother goose]

My 88 year old Mum has a chest & urine inf & was started on antibiotics & steroids, 4 days ago.
At Christmas, she had a very bad chest inf & a week later got the flu. She has had several infections, in the last year & never suffered with them before getting alzheimers. I've been into see her every day this week, as I was so worried about her. I've just got home from seeing her & thankfully she's a lot better than yesterday, but still coughing a lot.

I live in Southern Ireland & my brother lives in England & he sees our Mum once a year. As her memory has got so bad in the last few months, she never mentions him. Twice this week she said to me, Is B & his wife still here. I wasn't sure what she meant & asked her. She said, are they still here & I realised she meant in the Nursing home. I said, no they live in England. She said, they were sleeping in a room down there. I asked, did she see them, she said yes. I found it strange that she thought they were over here & yet doesn't see them or talk about them. Is this sundowning or the alzheimers getting worse?

 

[yak55]

My 88 year old Mum has a chest & urine inf & was started on antibiotics & steroids, 4 days ago.
At Christmas, she had a very bad chest inf & a week later got the flu. She has had several infections, in the last year & never suffered with them before getting alzheimers. I've been into see her every day this week, as I was so worried about her. I've just got home from seeing her & thankfully she's a lot better than yesterday, but still coughing a lot.

I live in Southern Ireland & my brother lives in England & he sees our Mum once a year. As her memory has got so bad in the last few months, she never mentions him. Twice this week she said to me, Is B & his wife still here. I wasn't sure what she meant & asked her. She said, are they still here & I realised she meant in the Nursing home. I said, no they live in England. She said, they were sleeping in a room down there. I asked, did she see them, she said yes. I found it strange that she thought they were over here & yet doesn't see them or talk about them. Is this sundowning or the alzheimers getting worse?

Hi, my Mum says similar things so I'd be interested to know the answer too

 

[karaokePete]

Infections can play havoc in a person with dementia. You may find that the apparent worsening of the dementia abates and even rebounds towards the previous state once the recovery from the infection is complete. I hope this is the case with your Mum.

 

[Bnicholls]

My Dad repeatedly had infections in the last 9 months either UTI or chest infection. His confusion got markedly worst prior to treatment with anti biotics I think it’s called delirium and is related to toxins in the body. Once the anti biotics kicked in he would improve and the very confused state would lift for a period but after each infection he was never the same as he was previously and he seemed to step down a level so we had to adjust to a new “normal” I really do feel for you, it’s so terribly difficult

 

[canary]

Hi, my Mum says similar things so I'd be interested to know the answer too

Its called confabulation and is the result of damage to the memory. The brain is producing a sort of "false memory" to fill in the gaps where memory has gone. This is not done purposely and the confabulations feel like real memory to that person. If its not doing any harm I would just go along with it. My favourite response in this situation is "Really?......(not sarcastic).", "That must have been fun/interesting/etc" "Well, I never" or some other neutral phrase.

 

[Mother goose]

My Dad repeatedly had infections in the last 9 months either UTI or chest infection. His confusion got markedly worst prior to treatment with anti biotics I think it’s called delirium and is related to toxins in the body. Once the anti biotics kicked in he would improve and the very confused state would lift for a period but after each infection he was never the same as he was previously and he seemed to step down a level so we had to adjust to a new “normal” I really do feel for you, it’s so terribly difficult

 

[Mother goose]

Thank you for your reply, BNicholls. Sorry to hear your Dad also had repeated infections. I saw my Mum this afternoon & she was still coughing & was to finish her antibiotics yesterday. I've a feeling that she will need another course, which will then lead to her being more confused.

 

[Mother goose]

Its called confabulation and is the result of damage to the memory. The brain is producing a sort of "false memory" to fill in the gaps where memory has gone. This is not done purposely and the confabulations feel like real memory to that person. If its not doing any harm I would just go along with it. My favourite response in this situation is "Really?......(not sarcastic).", "That must have been fun/interesting/etc" "Well, I never" or some other neutral phrase.

 

[Mother goose]

Thank you for your helpful reply, Canary.

 

[Mother goose]

Infections can play havoc in a person with dementia. You may find that the apparent worsening of the dementia abates and even rebounds towards the previous state once the recovery from the infection is complete. I hope this is the case with your Mum.

 

[Mother goose]

Thank you for your helpful reply, karaokePete.

 

[Mother goose]

My Mum has now finished the antibiotics & thankfully her cough has almost gone. I was in to see her this morning & we sat in her room. The tv was on & sadly she isn't able to absorb programmes anymore, but just looks at the screen from time to time.
Then out of the blue, she said is that B on the tv, meaning my brother? It was a young, slim fella probably late 40's & looked nothing like him. My brother is 67 & mostly bald & stocky. I had a picture of my brother on my phone & showed it to my Mum. She said, no that's not B. As I mentioned in my previous posts, my brother see our Mum once a year & up until now, she's never mentioned him.
Could she be having flashbacks of when my brother was much younger? And what would make her suddenly think she sees him?