Stepmother geriatric appt - Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia Message Board

Ry953 · 10-11-2008, 06:46 PM

Well, my 2 stepbro's took my stepmom on Friday. They paid an aide to go with them to help with her personal needs. She did fine on the trip - didn't respond to much of anything but was passive. The doctor wanted her to fill out this 10 page questionaire and realized quickly she couldn't. They feel she is overmedicated for her age. They also did blood and urine workup. Both were fine. They did an MRI which we do not know results of yet. The doctor said he saw where there was no diagnosis in any of the medical papers from her 2 doctors here. He wonders if she hasn't had a stroke. Maybe the MRI will show that? They want to slowly reduce her meds if MRI is fine. She will most likely get combative - that's what's happened in the past. She was hallucinating some while there and he saw that. They should get results in the next week. Thanks for your continued concern! I'll keep you posted. RY

Gabriel · 10-11-2008, 10:27 PM

Thank you for the update Ry and hopefully this will be the beginning of finding out what is going on with your stepmom. I am glad she was so cooperative. The MRI should validate or rule out the stroke and can tell them other things that are going on. When you start weaning her off the medication be sure to keep a log of side effects observed. That will be a good record for the doctor to know what is going on with her. You know what she has done before so you will know what to tell them to expect.

I am sure they would say that my Mom is overmedicated for her age but we have tried the baby doses of so many different meds. When they decide to "wean" her off of something she goes into melt down mode. Right now her antidepressant is 4 times what it was and her PRN antianxiety is twice a day but she is functioning with less anxiety than she has in the past. It's all about what's best for the patient not normal for an age group. Hopefully they will get everything regulated and life will be better in your world.

My thoughts and prayers go with all of you and keep us informed.

Love, deb