I always thought my Fathers bad behaviour was because of dementia. Although no diagnosis till recently.
Following a stroke he was in hospital and brain scan done. He has pretty severe brain damage caused by at least 2 previous strokes. The consultant could not understand why these were not picked up. I suspected one. I got doctor in who said he was ok after minimal examination.
I have read on other posts that behavior can change after strokes.
He is in a care facility. His behavior is very sexually orientated even before latest stroke. Since the last one he seems much more confused and either very down or manic. The damage is at front of brain and a large area at the back. Hallucinations are every day and crazy. Anyone have any experience of this? Meeting with head nurse soon about various issues and would like to know others experience . Thanks in advance.
Its good to remember that dementia can be in addition to other health problems. In other words he could have dementia AND strokes. The highs and lows sound like bipolar.
Usually doctors can try to treat symptoms even when there are no meds to *cure* dementia.
My FIL had a severe head trauma that caused hallucinations. In his case his sodium was low. After a long Hospitalization and rehab and sodium tablets his hallucinations went away. Later he had dementia but no more hallucinations. He died years later from the effects of a second fall.
UTIs can also cause hallucinations as can dehydration. Something has gone wrong in the brain or is affecting the brain. Exactly what is causing your dad’s hallucinations might be difficult to unravel or might show up on a blood test or culture.
Multiple strokes can result in vascular dementia. That can explain the sexually oriented behavior. (I saw this with my own father.) It's also possible that he has had underlying bipolar disorder that was never diagnosed or treated.
Sort answer, yes I think strokes can cause changes in behaviour. My own experoence I've seen halucinations with delerium or ALZ not stroke though but I'm no expert. I agree with 97yroldmum - low sodium, UTI, dehydration could cause systems like this. Also an ongoing bleed in the brain? If UTI or dehydration suspected he may need a doctor/transfer to hospital. UTIs common in older folk & behaviour so much worse but clears when UTI does.
My Mum's stroke last year has certainly caused personality changes - oh yes! Also did the mini-stroke (TIA) the previous year where she lost spacial awareness of how to hang the washing line cord. Dad didn't think too much of that until the spacial awareness also mean she kept crashing the car... Mum's damage was at the back of brain but she also has some 'emotional lability' which I think is more common if damage to frontal cortex. She can swing from happy to crying & can't stop for ages. We were given a handout from the rehab on this 'emotional lability'. Basically said be understanding - nothing you can do :(
As a volunfeer of a Stroke Survivor group for a time I met a man who looked perfectly normal, but blurted out inapproptiate things (sexual inc) & swore at random times. We accepted that but was very hard for him out in tbe world.
I hope it's just a simple UTI & things improve soon.
In 2015 he had some TIA's and ended up in the hospital. None of the many doctors was saw mentioned the possibility of dementia or Alz. At one point during the stay, he was punching the nurses. This was totally out of character for him. After the TIA's he began to have trouble speaking, and very shortly afterwards forgot what a toilet was for.
That's when I moved both parents into my home. On the 4 plus hour trip, he claimed I was kidnapping him. Although we stopped frequently I actually had to stop and pour him a G and T to calm him down.
Once at my home he settled in, but he also became much more psychotic as well, especially at dusk when Sundowners occurred. There were days when he was walking around the house swearing and cursing. On one occasion he pulled himself and Mum to the floor on their walkers, and then went into a rage. When he wasn't in a rage, he was crying.
Eventually he ended up in a psychiatric hospital, but still even there, there was no diagnosis of Alz. Eventually in 2016 I got both parents into the Cleveland Clinic but by the time I got him there he was again in a psychotic state. There were no tests necessary since to the trained eye it was obvious (to them) what was going on. Finally a diagnosis! Thankfully they were able to adjust the meds and with their help he seemed to be more calm. With the new drugs we were able to spend some time together before he passed.
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