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My mother suffered a stroke only being effected by some memory loss and confusion at times. Now,all of a sudden she is feeling agitated.

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My mom also had a stroke, The particular position in the brain determines what each victim will loose.

My Mom has sever aphasia. It is almost impossible to determine what she knows, understands, remembers. She is almost completely unable to communicate effectively. BUT, she has no vision loss, no one side weakness, etc.

It is her heart condition that is leading to vascular dementia. Probably the heart condition that lead to the stroke too.
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Behavioral changes after a stroke are not unusual. If your loved one starts crying or laughing for no reason, then Google PBA stroke effect to learn more. My mother suffers from vascular dementia. At first she suffered from PBA shortly after the stroke, now she is just raging pissed all the time, screams/wails like an infant every time she is trying to communicate - because she's lost her verbal recall and is frustrated by being aware of this loss. She is fully aware of her decline and it's just so awful, stressful, and painful for me to watch as I can't do anything to reverse her suffering and it's only going to get worse. I'm just waiting for the day when she develops a fever or pneumonia so I can put her on hospice and let nature take its course as I'll stop any treatment at this point. I don't have to do this and treat all infections as-is but her future will not be better; ahead of her is another stroke or two, cancer, kidney stones, gallstones, shingles, liver disease, pancreatitis, etc. The body and mind ages no matter the age, the health of the person so medical conditions will surface no matter what. There just gets to a point when enough's enough. In my mother's case, she is just existing in a body; it's very cruel, inhumane, selfish, criminal for me to keep her in her condition. This is why I believe Death with Dignity should be a national law. She has no quality of life because of vascular dementia and is permanently homebound because of the progression of this hideous disease. Another thing is to keep in mind is urinary incontinence is common after a stroke so if loved one is behaving bizarrely, then you should get her checked for a UTI. Last year, my mother was so deliriously agitated, nearly physically combative...she was suffering from a UTI. She wears heavy duty diapers with a super booster insert because of the severe urinary incontinence post stroke. She doesn't tolerate catheters. If you're not familiar with signs and symptoms of a UTI in the elderly. then Google this.
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Sorry to hear about your mom's condition. My dad also suffered a stroke. I would have the doctor or nurse help review all her medications. I wonder if possibly its one of the side effects of the medication.
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It could certainly be a symptom of dementia. It could be a number of other things as well. Have her seen by a doctor to determine the cause and suggest a treatment plan.
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My mom is in the same boat as Katie's; a stroke that brought on Vascular Dementia. She also has severe aphasia.

Mom gets agitated sometimes for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are real, like when her NH roomate was filching her Depends. Sometimes it's because she thinks she "knows" something (I can't take showers any more because I have to stand; I have leprosy and can't touch the new baby) and sometimes it's because she has a UTI.

My protocol these days if mom becomes agitated is to

1. ask for a UTI test.

2. Have various staff members talk to mom to see if they can figure out what's wrong (mom's aphasia comes and goes; depending on the time of day, sometimes she can get out what's bothering her). With the shower thing, it was explained to her that she had been taking showers for months using a shower chair (I have? Really? That's nice!).

3. Upping her dosage of anti-anxiety meds, because she seems to have entered a new phase of dementia (this was the case with the leprosy. trips to the dermatologist, reassurance, nothing worked. Upping the meds calmed her).
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