How to Help with Mother's Aggression - Newly Admitted to Memory Care Facility After Broken Hip

DinoDinoDino

HI all,
Im so grateful for everyone here and the support everyone provides.

My mother has been admitted to a memory care facility within the last month or so after breaking her hip, having surgery, and living at a rehabilitation center for a month.

She had previously been aggressive and yelling in situation where she was with people she didnt recognize, like hired caregivers or friends that would stop over. However, she is now very angry and yelling non stop since she was admitted to this facility.

I think I probably know the "why" for the aggression and yelling as she's in a completely new environment thats "strange," but if you have other input on that, Im all ears.

I firmly believe anxiety she's feeling leads to the anger and yelling.

The main question I have is simple in nature but extremely complex to answer:

What can we do now?

What steps should we take to try to make her feel more comfortable?

When should antipsychotics (or other meds) be used (she's on a small dose of ability already)?

She also recently was prescribed a small dose of ativan, which doesn't always seem to work and I've read that it can have a paradoxical effect.

I'm sure there are many other threads on this and I have read some but it seems like every situation is unique.

I sincerely appreciate any and all thoughts and comments!

Thank you,

Dino

H1235

Is her doctor aware of what is happening. She definitely needs something more. Is the doctor hesitant or not experienced enough to treat this. I’m not a doctor, but here is my experience. Medication can take weeks to reach full effectiveness and often need to be started on a low dose and then increased if improvements are not sufficient. Then increased yet again in weeks if still not enough. If the medication just doesn’t help as hoped she would need to be weened off and start over with another medication. This can be a long process. If her doctor is not able to help her maybe it’s time to find someone else. I’m kind of surprised the MC facility is not pushing to for stronger treatment. Hope you can figure something out.

mabelgirl

one thing I have to remind myself when I try to figure why mom does or say some things she does, is that she no longer has access to her whole brain. The parts she does have access to can not be reliably reached. So therefore I can not accurately figure out her behavior.
Seroquel helped my mother’s agitation and aggressive behaviors and in my eyes gives her some peace. She takes in AM small dose and in PM a little larger. However some posts I’ve read their LO were on much much more. Surprisingly the best thing for my mom in conjunction with the seroquel was melatonin that let her get a good nights rest. Which reminded me that just like a toddler whose tired acts out so was my mom. Prayers for a solution.