My mother's doctor says she is just getting old. She 84yrs young. I get weekly email from AgingCare and MANY stories I read are what my brother and I are going thru. I plan on calling doctor this week to ask him to look into Dementia for my mother. I signed up for live chats support group and I found a local support group. I do not want to fight with my mother anymore. I want to understand! My brother lives with her and they fight also everyday. I am worried that he could have a stroke. I realized 4yrs ago that my mother is not the same caring person she use to be, it was a mourning process I when thru, very sad. She use to be my go to for everything in my life, that is over.
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Symptoms in the elderly are different when it comes to UTIs. The dementia symptoms increase and a UTI can be toxic.
If she has one, she will need an antibiotic. Some drs will test with a dip stick and give an antibiotic that may or may not clear it. If she gets a culture you will know which antibiotic is needed although it will take longer to start the treatment.
You can buy the dip sticks at the pharmacy. I’ve heard differing opinions on how effective those are. You would still need an antibiotic.
A trip to an urgent care is what I did for my aunt (92). They did a stick to confirm that she did have one and then ran a culture. Her only symptoms were she was crabby and not wanting to take her meds, didn’t want her breakfast, and wanted to go back to bed. Not like her at all. After the treatment she returned to her pleasant self. Some people will have hallucinations, are paranoid, think you are stealing their money, won’t take a bath, that you hid the remote control, yada yada yada.
Search for UTIs on this forum and you will see that it is a likely cause of a sudden increase in dementia like symptoms and is very common.
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Edit: We also have to realize that aging isn't easy, it can be plain exhausting. Thus the person has a right to be grumpy and not user-friendly at times. Another thing to do, have your Mom tested for a Urinary Tract Infection. Such an infection can mimic dementia.