New user, parent being aggresive

[Ron]

Hi, my mother has Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis and has been on prednisolone in varying doses for over five years. She has recently had a nasty flare up and her dose was raised to 60mg daily, it is now down to 20mg but won't be lowered for at least another month.

We have noticed a change in her behaviour for many months, forgetfulness, constant repeating of things and a real lack of tolerance etc. However, we have had what i think is something of a crisis over the last few days, she has become very verbally aggresive and seems to be making huge mountains out of nothing. Her verbal aggression seems to be directed towards me which was unplesant enough but I am very worried about my elderly disabled father who is her main carer.

Is this dementia or roidrage and what if anything should I do?
Thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy post

 

[branwen]

"Roid rage" is linked with use of anabolic steroids (the sort that body builders take) which are a completely different set of drugs to corticosteroids like prednisolone (which are mainly used for suppressing inflammation or immune mediated diseases). But I would suggest contacting the doctor as corticosteroids can have side effects on other body systems eg immunosuppression which can make UTIs more likely, or metabolic effects on other organs eg liver.

 

[chris53]

Hello Ron, just wanted to welcome you to Talking Point, sorry you have need for us but glad you have joined, sorry I have no experience of this very upsetting problem, but did not want to ignore your post,but may I suggest that your doctor does a home visit to assess this new situation, or if he/she is willing to talk to you, book an urgent telephone consultation or appointment, it would help if you have taken notes of these problems with your mum and the problems dad is now having. Keep posting and please let us know how things are.
Best wishes
Chris

 

[nita]

Hi Ron

My Mum was on corticosteroids (prednisolone - about 15mg daily) for about 18 months and during that time her memory got much worse. I too thought it might be something to do with the steroids as one of the side-effects is memory problems. However, she has now been off them for 7 months and is no different, so I concluded it is just a coincidence.

Has she been tested for a urinary tract infection? This is what caused my mother to suddenly show much more worrying symptoms - she became paranoid, not exactly aggressive, but very assertive and we were unable to deal with her. She certainly calmed down after being treated with antibiotics, or rather, several different ones until they found the one that targeted her particular infection.

This may be the case with your mother. I would take her to the GP or Memory Clinic as soon as possible. Hope she improves soon.

 

[Ron]

Thank you

Thank you for the replies and support. Can I actually speak to mum's doctor without her permission?
I feel like I'm walking on egg shells and have to be very careful not to upset Mum or alienate Dad who understandably is in complete denial.

 

[FifiMo]

Hiya Ron,

There is nothing stopping you from contacting your parents GP and reporting to them what is going on and asking for advice. Don't let them fob you off with patient confidentiality stuff like that - tell them you're not asking for the doctor to reveal information but rather than you are informing them of what is happening!

In addition, I would suggest that you start keeping a diary about what is going on on a day to day basis. Make a note of all the incidents which happen, how long they last, what time of day they occur. Also make a note of any factors which might explain the situation - like change in meds, or overly tired, that kind of thing. This could be come an important document which you can show to medical folks so they can quickly get an appreciation of what is happening over a period of time and whether there has been marked depreciation in her condition etc. It is also useful as a reference tool for you too to look back and consider how things are progressing.

Hope this helps,

Fiona