For those of you that have followed a recent post, my mom abruptly became confused. Through some great advice, from her nurse, to test her blood again, we found she had low potassium and started her on additional supplements. I was very hopeful we had identified the problem.
A couple of days later she was positive for COVID. The confusion has become greater and we cannot get her to eat. She will drink Ensure juice so atleast I am keeping her hydrated. She is in an ALF. It will be another week before I can check her potassium but now I am questioning if the confusion (and behavior changes-refusing meds and baths) is because of COVID.).
Anybody have experience with COVID causing behavior changes and confusion and, if so, do they recover? Long haul?
She has so many things that could be a root cause between the potassium, COVID, and then general dementia decline. I do know that she is very frail and the lack of food opens us up for more risk of falls etc.
Any insights on COVID confusion and eventual recovery is appreciated,
My relative had same. Has had to go into care for now as Covid brought lack of appetite, not eating, unable to self-care. Falls risk ++
Infections in the elderly are known to cause delerium. UTIs & chest infections especially but more & more I am hearing about delerium from Covid in 70+ age group.
Many young people in 20-30s (pre vaccines) reported brain fog & fatigue. Some quite severe. It does appear from what I've read that most have recovered well. Only time can tell.
Keep up the protein drinks & stay hopeful is all I can say.. (((hugs))) to you both.
My LO got a COVID infection in March 2019, and remained COVID positive for months. She began experiencing symptoms on a Friday, and the person who infected her had no symptoms until the following Sunday.
We were unable to visit until late Fall 2019, and visiting was spotty from then on.
DH and were unable to find the vaccine when we became eligible, and we both were infected in January 2021.
We were vaccinated in Spring 2021, and my LO sustained her second COVID I defection.
The differences in her cognitive functioning during our infrequent visits were painfully apparent. She had stopped walking and was using a wheelchair all the time, became incontinent, developed echolalia. When we saw her after her first infection she could recognize me and call me by name.
I became infected at age 77 years 6 months. I may have had problems fro COVID OR from previously diagnosed hypothyroidism OR from previously diagnosed Fibromyalgia.
Subsequent to my 5 weeks with COVID, I’ve taken two original shots, two original boosters and one Bivalent, all Pfizer.
I’d like to see a WELL RESEARCHED NON POLITICAL paper on the neurological impact of COVID. I’m back to actively playing my euphonium in three bands and feeling pretty sharp again, but I REFUSE to give in. I DO have severe fatigue, but obviously lots of reasons for that.
I hope that your mother will begin to show signs of her old self, and I hope that I’ll begin to recapture some of my old energy.
I got covid in 2021. I was 62 years old and healthy, with no underlying risks. I got it the day my healthcare provider sent me the email telling me I could get the first vaccine. It felt like the flu and those symptoms went away in about 10 days but I did have weird fatigue for a year that improved very slowly. Covid gave me tinnitus, and ramped up my vertigo (which did go away gradually after a year). The tinnitus remains unchanged but is manageable.
My friend, who got covid at the same time with the same symptoms, has residual brain fog. She has a preexisting heart/BP condition.
Until just last month my husband went unvaccinated. He was out and about in society the whole time (plays hockey 3x a week) and never got covid until this past spring. He's 64 and very healthy. He finally got vaccinated because he was needing to get into Canada for a hunting trip. He got his first Pfizer shot, then Canada lifted the requirement and he never got his 2nd.
My 93-yr old Mother refuses to get any boosters after her first shots. She's out and about in society every day (shopping, talking to neighbors) and hasn't gotten any iteration of covid. She has no underlying health risks. Ironically she does get the seasonal flu shot every year.
I personally know 3 people who died from covid. All had other risk factors: smoking (or had been a smoker), overweight, HBP, diabetes. The oldest was 77 and had all of the risk factors. The others were in their late 50s, smokers and overweight. What I remember the most is how quickly they went downhill once they got covid. I never asked but suspect none of them had been vaccinated.
Another family friend was extremely sick (female, late 40's, smoker, drinker, pot smoker). She had to be airlifted to a city hospital and put on a ventilator and in an induced coma but survived and recovered most of her health. I don't know if she had ever been vaccinated.
The strange thing about covid is how it affects everyone so uniquely. Its lasting impacts are so general that they can be easily missed, or construed to be caused by something else. There is no real way to know for sure.
I am so sorry to hear this, Msblcb. I hope others here might have some info or experience to share. Anecdotally I recall hearing in media reports brain fog mentioned as COVID symptom. But your poor mom has a lot going on, unfortunately. I hope there is clarity for treatments for her and that she is feeling better soon.