Bizarre medical episode

ESkayP

I wanted to post what happened to see if anyone else has a LO with AD who experienced this odd condition. My mother has AD. She lives in MC. The staff discovered Mom sitting and murmuring gibberish Monday after breakfast. Her BP and oxygen levels were both extremely low. They called the paramedics and Mom started indicating she was in pain. They rushed her to the ER unsure if she was having a heart attack or stroke or something else. The ER doctor ran several tests including EKG, chest and abdominal X ray, CAT scan, urinalysis, and RSV test. None of the tests showed any abnormalities! For over four hours, every fifteen minutes her BP registered normal, really good in fact. She was awake and breathing normally. She knew who I was and could respond to me. They released her, and I drove her back to MC. They were shocked! They were so certain there was something wrong, but the tests showed nothing. I stayed several minutes to make sure Mom was reacquainted with her surroundings. She was in a good mood when I left. Both times I called yesterday and today, Mom was doing just fine. Does anyone know what might have happened? Does this kind of episode ring a bell with anyone here? Is hypoxia an indicator of a stage of this disease? Could it be a precursor to something more serious? The staff and I remain flummoxed.

*EDIT 3/15/25 // After a visit with Mom's primary care doctor, the "official, professional guess" is dehydration. Her sodium levels were higher than normal, so they think her breakfast carbs and morning meds weren't diluted enough by her own fluids. I knew that dehydration could cause an odd woozy feeling, even pain. I've had that, but no one tried to take my BP or oxygen levels to see what was wrong. I just drank a Gatorade and felt better. When patients with dementia can't take care of themselves like they used to, it all becomes a guessing game. Even the most common of ailments seem like medical mysteries. It's so frustrating.

SusanB-dil

Hi ESkayP - Sorry, I am not familiar with the connection of hypoxia/dementia. I did look it up, though, and it said that hypoxia can contribute to dementia, and if hypoxia is 'already there', I would think it can manifest.

I'm glad she got checked out and that everything is ok, though. That was a scare for all of you.

harshedbuzz

@ESkayP

That is really odd.

Given the negative findings in the ED and the quick resolution on her symptoms, I wonder is this was a one-off thing that was mechanical or postural in nature.

I have a mom who has 1) moderate COPD, 2) stress-induced asthma and 3) a cognitive breathing issue. As mom's gotten older, her BP tends to run lower than it has previously which plays into oxygenation; I noticed this in my dad as his dementia progressed as well.

When mom's O2 drops, aside from an asthma attack or COPD/pneumonia exacerbation, it can be really subtle at first. She isn't aware and what I see as O2 drops is changes in behavior. At 92%, she starts to get a little vague, at 88% she gets forgetful, and anything lower than 85% sees paranoia and confabulation.

Sometimes, mom nods off in a chair or hospital bed and her head drops forward which mechanically restricts her breathing, which isn't great, further. I wonder if this might be what happened with your mom. I have seen this happen even on oxygen via nasal cannula. If I wake her and get her more upright, her O2 level and cognition rebound quickly.

YMMV.

HB

jehjeh

My husband had a similar experience recently. He wasn't forming words, just sort of saying aaahhhh in response to anything I said. Thinking stroke, I called 911. They thought the same as did everyone in emergency room. Hours of testing, nothing wrong. He would shake his head to indicate yes or no but we were never sure if his responses were accurate or if he was just moving his head randomly.

On day 2 in the hospital he began talking though still not himself. By end of day 3 he was back to baseline and went home on day 4. We never did know what happened. Dr. said it may have been progression of the disease. DH has no memory of those days.

ESkayP

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/237778#Comment_237778

I wonder if my mother has had this before, and it just went unnoticed. Maybe the staff was alarmed because they had her in their sights, and she was behaving oddly. Then she just recovered on her own while they were running all those tests at the hospital. I made a follow up appointment with her primary early next week. If they have any ideas, I'll come back and update this post. Thanks for giving the idea of a cognitive breathing issue. It makes sense that a brain disease would impact all kinds of physical conditions. I forgot that AD does that.

ESkayP

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/237806#Comment_237806

I have often wondered what might manifest as the disease progresses. It would make sense that some of the physical issues my Mom has had might have gone unnoticed when she was able to recover on her own. The AD is probably affecting her ability to correct all the blips that occur daily for all of us that we just ignore.

ESkayP

@SusanB-dil It was scary. The staff is still bothered by how bad of shape she seemed to be in, especially for all the tests to indicate normalcy. I mean, of course, we all want it to be nothing, but it sure seemed like something. All you can do is hope it doesn't happen again.

Missy67

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/72462/bizarre-medical-episode

My mom does this at night……my dad reported that she was moaning and speaking but not real words. I didn't even believe him because he's a story teller, until I spent the night with her. It sounds like she's fighting something or struggling, but mumbles this bah bah bah bah gibberish stuff. I was told this is due to dementia by her doc. She's only done it at night however.