Dramatic rapid decline after illness

Merla

is it common for people with dementia to have a dramatic decline after an illness? My parent got a mild case of pneumonia (super bad for 1.5 days but recovered quickly) and is on antibiotics for this infection. She was already having an increase in symptoms prior to the illness which happened one week ago. But now her symptoms are terrible now, like totally delusional today, ie thinking I was still there visiting, not enjoying going out to lunch with family, and not really being present at lunch like closing her eyes and talking about needing to take care of her children .

just a week ago she was very present in this reality most of the time and would just mention delusions some of the time.

I really hope this is not her new normal and that she is just having an off day.

Colacho10

What you are seeing is very common after an infection like pneumonia. Even a "mild" illness puts a massive strain on the brain when someone has dementia, and it often takes much longer for their mental clarity to return than it does for the physical symptoms to fade. Give it some time for her system to fully settle, as these setbacks level off once the body fully recovers.

I hope you are doing well; it is not easy for you either.

April23

Antibiotics themselves can also cause weakness and mental decline. I usually don't take my LO out of the facility when he is on them. Give her a day or two off of the meds and you will probably see improvement. But yes, it's totally normal after infection, hospitalization, etc.

Merla

thanks. This makes me feel better. She is recovered physically for the most part but the cognitive part is up and down since she got sick.

care27

My mother seems to have longer declines with hip mobility hospitalizations. The stays are not even 4 hours but the cognitive effect is weeks upon months now. The doctor stated that any type of "trauma" will cause longer memory issues each time it occurs.

georgiana23

My Dad declined after a minor surgery. My mom, also now with dementia, got the norovirus on 11/30 and her dementia plummeted. So much we moved her in. And now everything is horrible. I have a team of doctors to help, but she is not well and thinks she is ok with a little bit of memory loss. Times really hard. I dont expect baseline before illness, but will she recover any more than this? The sundowning and anger and sadness and blames me for everything. I dont take it personally, I am just unable to console and all reasoning is gone. Short term memory is a few minutes and the confusion and agitation and depression are serious. She was in decline before the illness, since June it was evident. Good luck to all.

ARIL

My PWD has had illness periodically over the past two years, and the aftermath has resulted in decline, so much so that I think of the illness and aftermath as stairsteps. The body recovers (more or less), but the dementia symptoms are worse: COVID-19, norovirus, flu. My parent has not been sick yet this winter, even during a flu outbreak at the MCF, but I am kind of holding my breath. Wishing everybody well.