Sudden changes

karwiy

My DH was diagnosed with Moderate Major Neurocognitive Decline due to possible AD in December of last year. Outside of the short term memory issue, he's been relatively under control. The last few weeks he's shown dramatic downturns; nightly panic attacks, auditory hallucinations,  near psychotic episodes during night speaking absolute gibberish, some urinary incontinence, speech difficulty, loss of appetite, nausea, you name it it seems. Neurologist put him on Zoloft two days ago - I know it takes time to take hold but has anyone experienced such rapid decline?

LadyTexan

Greetings karwiy.

Whenever I read about a sudden decline, my first thought is a urinary tract infection (UTI). UTI's can cause sudden changes and erratic behavior. The good news is that UTIs can be diagnosed by testing (with culture) and can be treated. I would talk to the doctor about this possibility.

I noticed significant changes in my DH yesterday. I attribute it to his body fighting off a fever. The changes in DH were alarming. They have subsided today as the fever has passed.

I am sorry you are going through this.

Take care.

ButterflyWings

Agreed. The 3 times there has been a sudden dramatic change, for us, it has been a "silent UTI".

You can do a dipstick test at home with a high quality test strip and get some idea if there is likely urinary tract infection.. Based on that, his PCP may prescribe an antibiotic which always allowed my DH to return to baseline within a couple of days. Like jekyll and hyde without that. 

But, as LadyT says, getting the proper urine test and asking for a culture is preferred. That ensures the correct med is prescribed to fully clear the UTI (or rules out that it is a UTI in which case something else is causing the issue).

DH won't get into the car if he doesn't want to, and telehealth appts don't check vital signs, so the last time this happened (3 weeks ago) we had to have a visiting nurse to come out, get the sample and test results confirmed the home test kit was correct.

karwiy

Thank you Lady Texan and Butterfly Wings - you're like guardian angels. Much gratitude. I brought him to Urgent Care and in checking his vitals he had oxygen at 85 - we were sent directly to ER.  No COVID and not all test results back but was told that dementia makes everything vulnerable. Wait and see now.

ButterflyWings

Karwiy, Good for you! 

So happy to hear that you are in good hands and getting the medical help to sort this out. What a relief.  

Sending positive energy your way. I hope you are able to get a healthy snack and/or a short nap while your DH is getting checked out. Keep us posted. Thinking about you and your DH.