She not only calls 10 plus times a day but can't sit still for a minute. One of the many messages she left today was that her bladder is hanging out between her legs. After calling the head of nursing to discover this isn't true - they checked her- we get a text from FIL saying she won't sit still for a minute. She's always been extremely high strung but seems to have worsened. She constantly fidgets with her hair, or digs throught her belongings. Now she's up and down from the chair all day long. She sees the gereatic pysch. Is this just her or is this common? Is this what they mean when they refer to agitation in August? Can he give her something to calm her down or do they just let her keep doing this? She gets so distressed about everything.
My mother had a roommate in the nursing home who was the same way. She got up out of bed every 90 seconds to go to the restroom but wasn't actually going. She would also go out of her room and ask everyone she met where her room was. There was more than one resident in her memory care unit who would occasionally become agitated and delusional. The hyperactivity and delusions are how your MIL's dementia is manifesting itself. Does she have a primary care physician? It might be a good idea to contact him/her and ask for help.
Tell the nursing home doctor about your mother's symptoms - and ask him/her if there was a recent medication change because her behavior and her actions are not her norm. If this doctor isn't available frequently, still leave a message with this doctor about what's going on and then ask the director of nursing to go over your mother medication list with you - write down all the meds - Google them or talk to the local pharmacist about these meds and if they can cause mania/hyperactive/restlessness as a side effect. If your POA, then it's not a problem for you to access the current list of medications for you mother.
Of course, always ask for a UTI evaluation just to rule out an imminent infection.
Can you go with her to the Psych apt? Sounds like she may not be able to voice her own issues and would need someone from the outside to help.
I hate to disagree with Handout--but judicious use of drugs are OFTEN called for. If MIL is causing disruption in her facility, they might ask her to leave. A Dr. can do blood work and determine the cause, to an extent. UTI, Thyroid check for sure! And I have never heard of August agitation, not to say it doesn't exist, it's just interesting to me.
Good Luck---maybe get her on the waiting list for the psych dr. They take FOREVER to get in to see, I know.
I would think that there would definitely be something that she can take to calm her. The Alz. just makes everything worse b/c you cannot reason with her, I'm sure. Sad that she and FIL have to be together...I had clients ( I worked Elder Care professionally) who as a couple, had lived together and it worked until the wife developed dementia. She needed a much higher level of care, he was still relatively independent. Family didn't want to pay for separate rooms, so they brought them home. Oh my. What a disaster. I lasted 4 hours (woman punched me in the face and soiled her pants, deliberately and said "whatcha gonna do about THAT?" I stayed long enough to get a replacement aide in and never went back. I sometimes wonder how that dynamic ended up.
Good luck to you, and do call and get on a waiting list, ASAP. Even if it gets you in to see the psych doc a week early, it will be good. Could her PCP prescribe something in the interim? Most PCP's don't want to deal with psych issues in the elderly, but maybe something to keep her calm until you DO get in to the psych dr?
Blessings,
Jamie
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