Mom with MCI and low dbp

jen ht

Hello dear community,

I usually come to you with questions about Dad in MC. This time I am concerned for my Mom. She still lives independently with an MCI diagnosis. Last fall and winter were really rough for her. So as daylight lessens and chily nights creep in I find myself watching her even more than usual. Anyway, she was more wobbly than usual and we checked her BP. The bottom number was pretty low at 67. She is under a doctor's care and it was low when we were there last Monday too.

She has two more appts this week, so I know she'll be seen again later in the week.

I guess I have 2 questions.

One for the near future and knowing when to take her to urgent care.

The other for the longer term plan of getting through winter with as much well-being as we can. I'm pulled a lot of directions and last year was scary rough. She was losing around 2 pounds every couple of weeks - we finally got that stabilized, but it took WAY longer than I thought it would.

She is very introverted and determined to stay in her own home for as long as possible. Of course I would love this for her, but her safety is foremost in my mind. We do have PoA taken care of. So that's good.

She struggles to hydrate enough and her days and nights are turned around. She has pain, so wants to rest a lot and will crawl back into bed or rest in her recliner. She is still extremely underweight.

I welcome your experiences and thoughts.

Thank you, as always.

With gratitude,

jen 💜

M1

Jen I wouldn’t worry too much about the low BP reading on the bottom number. Just being underweight and older can do that. It does sound like her days of living independently are coming to an end. I bet she might eat better in a different setting.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/224366#Comment_224366

Thank you M1. I agree on the maybe eating better in another environment.

Still been listening to Jackson Browne here.

NizhoniGrrl

She should see her PCP and have an EKG. My mom had rather sudden low BP which contributed to fatigue, and turned out to be heart block (electrical signal failure). She needed a pacemaker.

H1235

I agree it sounds like her ability to live alone is coming to an end. If she is wobbly, what happens if she falls? Could she get out if there were a fire? Is she still using the stove? Will she remember to shut it off? Day and night confused, Not eating well, not hydrated! Sounds like it’s time for her to move. Given the things you are telling us it just doesn’t sound safe in my opinion. Keep in mind ideally the move would be done before there is a big scary incident with her being rushed to the hospital. Good luck.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/224375#Comment_224375

She is also under the care of her cardiologist. She has recently had cardiac testing too… as we were following up on the health difficulties of last winter. Thank you for replying and alerting me to the possibility of what you all experienced. Take care

jen ht

I absolutely agree with you @H1235. Thank you for confirming the direction my thoughts were heading. Take care