fast moving dementia

barb1213

Hi,
We have a family member who has not been diagnosed with dementia yet, however has all of the signs. It started about one month ago and has rapidly moved in the wrong direction. We took her to the ER and had a CT scan, blood and urine work done and it all came back normal. We have an appointment and MRI scheduled but not for 7 weeks (the earliest we could get). We are not sure what to do in the mean time or who to turn to for help. She has been having a lot of incontinence, has no idea where she is or who she is at times of the day and has started to just wander around trying to make sense of items. I am wondering if anyone has experienced dementia moving at a fast pace like this as well as what services we could use without a proper diagnosis? Thanks so much.

terei

Just on the off chance, did you have her checked for a tick borne disease? Lyme + others? That seems very very fast, at least to me.

Jo C.

I am sorry for what is happening and it has indeed happened so quickly that a good workup is more than warranted. There are so many different physical conditions that can mimic dementia, perhaps a through exam by a good Internal Medicine physician would be helpful. Here is a list of some conditions that can mimic dementia:

CONDITIONS THAT CAN MIMIC DEMENTIA:

 Thyroid disorders

- Lyme Disease

- Disorders of heart, lung, liver, kidney

- Metabolic disorders

- Environmental toxicity from metals, or other substances

- Electrolyte disorders

- Autoimmune Disorders

Anemia

- Diabetes

- Alcohol use/abuse

- Dehydration

- Sleep disorders

- Sleep apnea

- Vision/Hearing problems

- Depression

-   Vitamin deficiencies such as D3, B12 and other B vitamins, folic acid, niacin

- Hyprcalcemia

- Infections including UTIs which can be "silent" without symptoms

- Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

-   Medications: both prescription AND over-the-counter: such as BP meds, antihistamines, heart meds, sedatives, asthma meds, steroids, pain pills, antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, antibiotics, steroids

- Delirium

- Anesthesia

- Head Trauma

Malnutrition/malabsorption

. . . . and more

It will take some time to have everything ruled out; has she ever had a history of cancer or other blood disorders? You can try to keep contacting the physician's office to see if there are any cancellations so you can get her seen earlier. If she has a change in condition and gets admitted to the hospital, push hard for a full court press with all specialists being called in on consult prior to any discharge. This would include Neurology.

Let us know how things are going, warm thoughts are being sent your way.

ButterflyWings

Did they check her for a UTI, with culture? Silent UTIs (with no typical symptoms) are common with PWDs and incontinence plus sudden wildly off the chart behavior was the only "tell" for my husband's first UTI.

It is worth ruling this out asap while pursuing everything else recommended above. 24-36 hours on the right antibiotic puts DH back at baseline. Untreated, a UTI can end up in sepsis not to mention all the havoc of escalating behaviors and seemingly lightning-speed progression. Your LO must be miserable and may be in pain but can't explain it. Keep your chin up and keep posting, but do check for the UTI even if it was missed initially.

barb1213

Hi,

Thanks they did check for UTI which I thought was odd but I guess is very common. We have moved up an appointment with her primary to early next week to see if there is any help for getting an earlier MRI/neuro app.

jfkoc

What was the result of the UTI culture???

Marta

Her urine was likely checked by PCR which detects the offending organism(s) DNA. No need to wait 48-72 hours for a culture to ID the culprit.