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My mom has always been a very gentle person. She was almost always soft spoken and rarely cussed. in all of my 43 years I have only heard her use the F word perhaps twice and she didn't even finish saying the word. It is now her new favorite thing to say. She will now tell me to ----- off if i don't agree with what she is saying. My mom is now rude to people in public or on the phone. She has threatened doctors office employees over the phone that she was going to go down to the office and hurt them. My mom and i have always had open communication about sex and intimacy. But, not with too much detail. She is now speaking about sex to everyone she meets. She has talked to my teen (18 and 19 yr old) daughters about her sex life and has offered to purchase them umm lets just say gadgets. She becomes enraged when a conversation is in opposition to her views. Flipping over a kitchen table or throwing her cell phone down on the cement. She has spent all of their money in days and has not paid bills or rent. She will call my home at midnight to chat and not think anything of it. She can tell me a story then leave the room to put her shoes on and when she returns she will tell me the same story as if I had never heard it. My mom was never a drinker. She very rarely had even a glass of wine. She has begun drinking brandy now and will drink a bottle of brandy within a week. My dad doesn't know what to do. He is very concerned! I don't know what to do! We have been to doctors for other health reasons (she has edema issues that she is being tested for) they are running tests but tell us psychologically she is fine. Most of these behaviors are not every day. Her money spending and new obsession with sex is though. Does this sound like typical aging as I am being told or do some of these drastic personality changes sound like something is happening neurologically?

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I am almost 7 years OLDER than your mother and I don't swear nor do I plan to talk sex to teens! GOOD GOD!
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Herdaughter4: THIS IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT NORMAL AGING. Your mother needs a psychiatric evaluation ASAP! Verbal threats are to be taken very seriously! What happens if "her mind tells her to go and kill that doctor?" She needs some psych meds.
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I agree with everyone. I think an appt with a nuerologist. There is something wrong. 63 is not old.
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As others have said, some of your mom's behaviors are classic manic (bipolar) or frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). My dad was diagnosed bipolar at age 65 but now I know he has FTD. Read this page:
http://www.theaftd.org/understandingftd/disorders/bv-ftd
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Medication side effect came to mind for me too. This is a dramatic personality change with extreme sudden disinhibition, and on an acute to subacute basis this needs immediate attention. She needs urgent neuro exam and imaging. I hope you can get it and I hope you and your dad are tough and smart enough to insist she does. If there is a physician who knows her and will also recognize this is dramatically wrong it may help you as well.
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Some of the behaviors you are describing are hallmark of two different things -- frontotemporal dementia or brain damage (stroke, edema?) or bipolar disorder. If she hasn't shown previous signs of depression or mania, I would have her doctor do a scan of her brain to see if there is some damage in the frontal-temporal lobe area of the brain. The scan can also show if there is any fluid build-up in the ventricles or around the brain. You know your mother and know this is a huge behavioral change for her. You are right that something is most likely wrong. It might be something that can be fixed, so finding out fast is good. Even if it can't be fixed, understanding it will make it easier to explain. Good luck! With luck it is just a personality she suppressed for so many years finally coming out... but I doubt that.
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HerDaughter4, take your Mom to one of the urgent cares and have her tested for a Urinary Tract Infection, such an infection in someone who is older will set off such strange behavior. This test is something that isn't routinely done, one has to ask for such a test.... the patient has to pee in a cup and the lab runs the test.

Your Mom is younger than I am, but I remember having a UTI but I was watching out for it as I had a kidney stone surgery, so I went immediately to the ER when I felt I wasn't feeling quite right. Sure enough it was a UTI, and antibiotics cured the problem once the doctor figured out what type of infection it was.

Hopefully your Mom's situation is as simple as a UTi. If it isn't an UTI, at least that would be ruled out. You can also rule out cardio issues as it is very rare to have those types of side effects from that.

Has your Mom been placed on any new prescription medicine?
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Think everyone has answered your questions love but I will add, that this is definitely not "normal aging." Can you imagine what the line at the grocery store would be like near the senior citizen apartments? Sounds more like normal dismissive behavior from some physicians toward some elders. Push very hard for an earlier appointment, the sooner the better because if Alzheimers is suspected early treatment will prolong some semblance of normalcy. With Mom's family history a dementia sounds very likely.
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Research non-Alzheimer's dementias. One of them ( fronto-temporal ??) triggers an uncharacteristic lack of inhibition.
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Who told you that your mom was " psychologically fine"?

If there is Early Onset Alzheimers in her medical history ( meaning onset before 65) I'd have her seen by a neurologist asap.
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Thank you for your responses. My parents reside in Nevada and I am in California. I have traveled to be there for her other appointments so I will do my best to be there for her cardiology appointments too. I will most definitely submit a letter and ask my Dad to do so as well. We have been fearful of Alzheimer's since we lost both of my grandparents to it at a rather young age. my grandmother was 68 and my grandfather was 73. (Her Mom and Dad)
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Typical aging???

I think not. Your mother is ten years older than I am. I don't expect to be swearing like a trooper in public and giving sex tips to teenagers within a decade.

If you described to your mother's doctor what you have told us, I am astonished that the opinion was that she is psychologically fine. Unless the practitioner was making a nice distinction between psychologically and neurologically fine.

This is a *marked* change in behaviour, including an apparent *significant* loss of inhibition. It accompanies ? heart failure. If you plan to accompany your mother to see the cardiologist, be sure to tell her/him in detail what you have observed. If you will not be there, write a clear account and deliver it to the cardiologist in advance.

A slight vitamin D deficiency can be corrected by going outside in daylight in pleasant weather. Do not overcorrect it with excessive dietary supplements.
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Was she checked for a UTI? Blood work will not check that.
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We do know that probably isn't something like that She was in the hospital from the 13th to the 15th of August for lower limb edema. She does have some fluid around her heart and is seeing a cardiologist for it. She will be seeing an endo doctor but because of her Tricare (VA) insurance it won't be until December. She just had bloodwork done 2 weeks ago and does have a slight Vitamin D deficiency.
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Something wrong neurologicaly or perhaps an infection. I would get her to the ER, she is a danger to herself and others. I would not leave dad alone with her! She might have a UTI. One way or another you need to get her checked out!
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