UTI, Pneumonia, Sepsis and Hospital = Sharp Mental Decline

LJCHR

I have read here many times about how UTI's and hospital admittance escalates dementia and now I am experiencing it.

My DH is in stage 5 of Vascular dementia. He was admitted in hospital Sunday evening with UTI, pneumonia and sepsis. He is 83 years old. Fortunately, we came home yesterday afternoon as he responded very well to the antibiotics and the doctor said he will recover better at home.

Unfortunately, he has had a significant mental decline. He has become agitated - yelled at me for the first time ever yesterday. Totally out of his character. He was very disoriented to time and place - thinking we were in another city and it would take us 6 hours to drive home.

He was not able to take his Aricept for 2 days because the doctor said it could interact with the antibiotics he was receiving in the hospital. He will be able to take it today - which does make me wonder if missing the 2 days of Aricept added to the mental decline.

I'm praying that getting him back home in his familiar surroundings and routine will help him.

I am so thankful for this site!

harshedbuzz

@LJCHR

I'm sorry you and your DH are dealing with this.

I recently went through 2 bouts of pneumonia and sepsis/bacteremia with my mom who doesn't have dementia. She was hospitalized for 13 days initially and then readmitted 18 hours later after another positive blood culture for another 4 days. She developed hospital delirium during the first stay and was on the verge of it the second time around. She was also on high doses of steroids which is typical of pneumonia treatment and known to further agitate many people.

I would expect his mood will improve as he settles in at home though you may see some disease progression from his previous baseline.

HB

trottingalong

Last year my husband was admitted to the hospital with a UTI and sepsis. He also experienced hospital delirium which I had never heard of at that point. Sure did scare me. He rebounded fully a day or two after being back home.

jfkoc

He will recover better at home with time and a lot of TLC.

Carl46

I wouldn't be very with it if I had pneumonia either. Even a bad cold lowers my IQ a lot. I think he will be better when his pneumonia resolves.