Look-a-Like Dementia in elderly

[MortgageQueen]

I thought I'd just share an experience I had with my own mother.

About 5 months or so ago, she started getting more forgetful. It seemed to get a bit worse each month, but hey! She's 84. What can you expect, right??

In AUgust she had a major "event" where she completely lost track of time, where she was, and why she was there. It continued to get worse. I was seriously concerned she had developed a fast paced dementia of some sort. We had tests, MRI, you name it. The family doctor just sloughed it off as old age (I won't even go there. . .)

I finally was able to get her to a geriatric specialist, who gave her a full work-up and psychological testing. He also checked out her medications (which were 5 of) After that, he took a look at her bloodwork results.

SO guess what? He says there's nothing wrong with her mind and she's boring, she's that healthy.

Whaaaaaat?? Ya. . . it turns out ELDERLY PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT THYROID LEVELS than the rest of us. She was being highly over medicated with thyroid meds.

This is a very little known fact that most doctors do NOT know. Had we not insisted on investigating this thoroughly, my mom would have just gone mental on this drug. As it stands, the Specialist says she'll be back to normal after a few months.

This was Really Scary. Please pass this info on to friends/family. The excellent and very experienced Pharmacist did not catch this either.

Lesson for me: never leave a stone unturned.

Note: If your elderly loved one is on thyroid meds. check this paper out for "normal" elderly levels of TSH.(which are substantially higher than younger people) It's not hard to cross check their blood work

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17911171

[Natalka]

So very wonderful that this was found out, hoping she's back to 'herself' soon!

[walkonby]

it is really good that you pressed until you found an answer. Who among us would have guessed that it was a thyroid med mix up? Good work MQ!

[Lynn49]

Whoa boy, MQ, imagine that!!!
I thank heavens for our Doc who insists on keeping track of such things and ooops!! I was supposed to make two appointments....one for a complete physical (before Christmas! he insisted) and my mammogram (already received 2nd notice)...soooooo...I should do that now...

Hope your Mom will be back to her normal self soon...but jeepers, several months to get that out of her system...that's scary right there! Best wishes!!

[lecale]

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[MortgageQueen]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes. I'm hoping just one person reads this and acts on it in one way or the other.

I have seen far too many medical "mistakes" that have ruined peoples lives. ANd like this situation with my mom, it may take a lot of effort to chase down answers, but soooo well worth it in the end.

[thriftygranny]

Something similar happened to my coworkers 80 year old mother last week. My coworker noticed she sounded confused on a phone conversation and sent her sister to check on her,my friend lives an hour and a half away. She was hospitalized and diagnosed with a sever bladder infection that caused her uterus to prolapse. She didn't experience the pain a younger person would feel with the infection , and apparently it can cause confusion and Alzheimer like symptoms, she had a procedure to repair the prolapsed uterus and is on IV antibiotics and is improving. Who knew that these things can cause this. Perhaps we should be provided with a seniors guide book of these things to look for them in our old age.

[MortgageQueen]

Something similar happened to my coworkers 80 year old mother last week. My coworker noticed she sounded confused on a phone conversation and sent her sister to check on her,my friend lives an hour and a half away. She was hospitalized and diagnosed with a sever bladder infection that caused her uterus to prolapse. She didn't experience the pain a younger person would feel with the infection , and apparently it can cause confusion and Alzheimer like symptoms, she had a procedure to repair the prolapsed uterus and is on IV antibiotics and is improving. Who knew that these things can cause this. Perhaps we should be provided with a seniors guide book of these things to look for them in our old age.

Yes, a bladder infection is one of the first things to look for when an elderly person shows unusual signs of confusion/forgetfulness. Most medical professionals know to look for this, but still a good thing to make others aware of.