Urinary Tract Infection

[steffie60]

Decided to telephone GP yesterday for advice on UTIs as Mum was constantly going to the bathroom but not necessarily passing urine. Had previously looked on websites for symptoms and Mum did not seem to conform to any of the symptoms being suggested other than the regular trips to the loo. Fortunately the GP took a reasoned view (especially with weekend coming) and has given my mother some antibiotics. It was later yesterday afternoon when I noticed that she was showing signs of greater confusion when she called me by my sister's name, the one who has not spoken to us for over two years! Mum is quite an actress and knows how to cover up some of the signs of her dementia. Hopefully the antibiotics will work quite quickly.

I would sometimes like to be able to access something/somewhere that makes all these sorts of things really clear to people like me who are not totally into medical stuff just to make life easier for my loved one.

And of course now I have woken early (been up a while) because I am stupidly thinking, I should have noticed sooner, I should have called the GP earlier etc., etc. Why does the brain do that?

Well moan over, glad to get it off my chest even if not out of my brain.

 

[SWMBO1950]

UTIs can cause extra confusion as does not drinking enough (often the cause of UTI ) especially in this very hot weather.

As difficult as it is - I and many others are going through this right now - encourage your mother to drink more. Someone suggested ice lollies when I posted about my mothers liquid intake or should that be lack of intake!!

Once the AB kick in things should return to normal but keep the fluids flowing it is essential.

Best wishes

Decided to telephone GP yesterday for advice on UTIs as Mum was constantly going to the bathroom but not necessarily passing urine. Had previously looked on websites for symptoms and Mum did not seem to conform to any of the symptoms being suggested other than the regular trips to the loo. Fortunately the GP took a reasoned view (especially with weekend coming) and has given my mother some antibiotics. It was later yesterday afternoon when I noticed that she was showing signs of greater confusion when she called me by my sister's name, the one who has not spoken to us for over two years! Mum is quite an actress and knows how to cover up some of the signs of her dementia. Hopefully the antibiotics will work quite quickly.

I would sometimes like to be able to access something/somewhere that makes all these sorts of things really clear to people like me who are not totally into medical stuff just to make life easier for my loved one.

And of course now I have woken early (been up a while) because I am stupidly thinking, I should have noticed sooner, I should have called the GP earlier etc., etc. Why does the brain do that?

Well moan over, glad to get it off my chest even if not out of my brain.

 

[loveahug]

Don't beat yourself up Steffie, you can't always second guess these things.

If you want to be prepared, get some urine testing sticks off the internet and if there's the slightest doubt do a test and check for leucocytes. It's not failsafe but at least if the test shows up something you can phone the GP. Make sure you buy a proprietary brand of sticks as some of the really cheap stuff is so unreliable, they are not worth buying, and you don't want mum having ab's unnecessarily.

As everyone else suggests, lots of fluids in whatever form you can manage. One ploy I've seen in hospital recently is handing over a small glass with a couple of tablespoons of liquid and asking the patient to 'just finish that drop for me please then I'll get you a clean glass'. It seems to work as patient is not being faced with a full glass of drink. This is happening every 20 minutes or so

Good luck!