HELP!
My 5' 8", 155 lbs mother will be 93 this week and has a weakness problem. She is house bound by choice with a walker but was agile enough to prepare cooked meals, wash clothes and dishes and feed the feral cats on the back porch. Her bedroom is 30 feet from the kitchen, and the tv and den is in the middle. I do the shopping and house cleaning.
Three weeks ago she suddenly became weak. She has difficulty pulling up from her recliner to her walker and is slow moving to the bathroom and back and no longer can do her "thing".
Sunday, she complained more of the weakness and some cold congestion in her chest.
Monday morning she felt worse and ask to go to the hospital ER. (she had taken an unknown amount of nitroquick tho no pain, she said there was a pressure there. I have objected to NQ unless there is pain but to no avail)

The ER visit (xrays/ ekg/ bloodtest) found her in excellent condition and no other problem except a slightly elevated blood sugar level and they advised her to see a regular doctor. ( she has never had a sugar level problem and has no regular Doctor) They also gave her a RX for Levarquin antibiotic.
There has been no improvement.
She is getting weaker. she also thinks the Levaquin make her sick at her stomach and last night we returned to another hospital's ER room. I ask the Dr. if they could run test for drugs or lead poison and such and was refused. Anyway the usual dianostic blood tests were run and nothing was found except low sodium and elevated sugar. So it is 6.30 AM, we are back at home and mom is in her recliner, weak and still very poorly.

My goal is to find her a local GP to keep from having to go to the ER and maybe get some tests ordered that the ER wont do.
She has a heart and lung DR. and did have a heart attack 18 years ago. (?)
Her meds are Klor-con, Furosemide, allegra, Cozaar, Toprol xl, and the recent Levaquin.
We have some rust in our drinking water but have had it for years.
So! any suggestions??

No ideas but since she has a heart and lung doctor maybe she should see them while you are waiting to find a GP?

Some drugs can interact with others. You may want to research the drugs she is on and how they interact with each other. I know at one point my grandmother was on some medications that didn't agree and for a time they thought she was going senile or getting alzheimers. Once they straightened out her medication she was back to normal.

not wanting to scare you...but this could be a sign of bad things happening. my father just passed away March 17th from emphysema. here is how things went over the last month of his life: he had a hard time breathing, so we took him to the ER..high blood pressure, very high erratic heart rate, high pulse...normal oxygen level. Tests were run...all looked ok. But due to the high heart rate, high pulse, high blood...they kept him. he was in the hospital for 5 days...and was sent home...with high blood pressure..but they said it was nothing...(174/94). I didnt like it, but what could I do?? He was released on a Wednesday. He had not felt good at all the whole time being at home..and had not been out of bed except to eat and use the bathroom. the following Monday...took a bad breathing spell...rushed to ER...tests done..all was fine.....sent home by his lung dr with Prednisone. Wednesday (less than 48 hours later)...mom had just left to go get his medication from the drug store...came back 10 minutes later...found him on the floor. He had gotten up to answer the door...but never made it..as he passed out or whatnot. He was conscious...just too weak to get up....mom called the ambulance. After JUST 2 HOURS....they were ready to send him home, because tests were fine!!!!!!!!! Absolutely not!!!!! I called his primary dr...and explained how the last few weeks had gone, and how they were ready to send him back home...and how I strongly disagreed......his primary dr agreed with me that he needed to be admitted. As each day went, he got weaker and weaker. Unable to feed himself, unable to get out of bed for any reason.......he died 1 week and 1 day later from the day that they were going to send him home after just 2 hours. He was put on antibiotics, fluids, you name it...(why was he on antibiotics if "nothing" was wrong????, beats the heck out of me!!!" AND his blood sugar was VERY high....he NEVER had sugar problems, and during the last few days, he started having congestion build up...which is what they call the "death rattle", but we didnt know that's what was happening. Another thing...he started swelling VERY BADLY after about the 4th day of being in the hospital...another sign that death was approaching)-----point is...during my fathers 5 year battle with his illness...I learned....the FAMILY has to step in and DEMAND care for their family members...they have to be smarter than the nurses, doctors, etc. If you dont think something is right...then by golly dont accept them dismissing her! Fight back. Go to the hospital patient complaint department and fight like heck. (The man in charge here, heard my complaints so much....he knew when I was coming, when I was there...and eventually handed me things on a silver platter!!!!) Doctors and nurses today, arent like they were 100 years ago....they have no compassion and only are in it for the money. Very rarely do you find a true compassionate doctor and nurse, that are doing their jobs out of love...and not for money. If you see a difference in your moms health and behavior...let them know that you will not leave until someone at least keeps her for observation for a few days.


I done a search on symptoms of death approaching...it was amazing as to what I read.

Please dont let this scare you....I dont want you to automatically assume that your mom may be dying....I pray that is not the case....however...I told you this, so that you would KNOW to stand up and fight for your mom, so that nothing happens to her. Please let us know what you find out.

Tks. Going to her Heart Dr this morning because she won't let me find her a GP>

Thanks Ladybug. You better believe we are lookin hard and trying to help.
04/13/05 Heart Dr. results: Furosemide water pill cut to 1/2 per day.
Hospital Lab tests from last friday show low Serum sodium-130, low serum cloride -97, high glucose 161, high BUN 37, high blood creatinine -1.8, high alkaline phosphatase -98, and low calculated osmolality- 273.
Blood was drawn today at test lab. Results to be sent to an internist for looksee and appointment next Friday - Thanks to sister that is doing the pushing and made the appointment in spite of mother's reluctance. Wish us luck.

I wish you the best of luck. It takes pushing..both towards doctors....as well as the patient. I remember with dad, I would get so upset with him for being stubborn, not wanting to go to the dr when he was so sick and needed a dr...but in the last year, I didnt worry anymore, because he knew when it was time to make an ER trip..and didnt waste time calling me. I hope things work out with your mother. I am praying for you.

I know your mom is taking potassium, but, what is her potassium count on the lab sheet? She still may be too low in potassium and this definitely will cause weakness.

If potassium level is 3 and above she is o.k. but a 4 or higher is better. If count is near 2 she is way too low in potassium.

I know your mom is taking potassium, but, what is her potassium count on the lab sheet? She still may be too low in potassium and this definitely will cause weakness.

If potassium level is 3 and above she is o.k. but a 4 or higher is better. If count is near 2 she is way too low in potassium.

Too little potassium is bad and too much potassium is bad. Do not increase potassium intake without doctors approval. Too much potassium can cause problems with the electrical system.

Lab Potassium 4.2.
There has been some definite improvement since the reduction to 1 furosemide (lasik) pill per day, and drinking Gatorade for sodium recovery. ( I was in error when I said Lasik was cut to 1/2 pill. Prior to this it was one and a half per day. )
The potassium should rise also with the reduction of lasik.
A letter from the Heart Dr. says he recommends her seeing a urologist.
So - until Friday and the internist visit - hurry up and wait!

My 95 year old neighbor has the same symptoms from time to time. The first time she went through every test the doctors could think of, and then finally they found she had a kidney infection.

I have seen this happen several times with different people.

My mother is much improved and moving around as usual tho much slower. The gatoraide has helped, I suppose - at least she believes it does and thus gets more fluids into her system. Also her sugar is still high and she got an rx for one a day of something or other.
5/5/05 we will go back to the internist for the results of the past weeks investigations.

now let me tell you about my top left leg that is cramping in one small spot and likes to knock me down!

so glad to hear that your mom is doing better. thats a relief to hear.

as far as your leg, i dont know what to tell you. have it checked into....you have to take care of yourself, in order to be able to take care of your mom...so dont dismiss your problems. good luck.

My mother in law (84) was in the hospital two weeks ago due to dehydration, a result of pneumonia and neglect at her home. She was very weak from the dehydration and potassium deficiency but has improved on that score. She can't stand or walk (2+ years, unknown cause) but has a scooter and had been transferring from bed/chair etc fairly well until the last day or so. We had her to the doctor yesterday, blood tests today so are working on it. She gets terribly weak suddenly after seeming nearly fine.

Pneumonia is one of those things that seems to go with dehydration, I've had it myself and it can really wipe you out. I worry that the 80+ age group does not recover well from such illnesses. Now from what I read in this thread I worry about her sugar level. We'll get the results from blood tests soon.

I am SO thankful to discover this board! I am new to elder caregiving and need all the ideas and support I can find.

jehiatt,

Glad you are there for your mother. I'm in much the same situation and am so glad I can take care of her.

My mother got to feeling so sluggish and could hardly walk a few feet before giving out three years ago. Had always been in excellent health, so this was a shocker. We spent months going to her doc and blood work after blood work showed nothing. It wasn't until I raised a ruckus that they included thyroid tests in the blood work. Doc's just don't include it routinely. Her thyroid was non-functioning to the point that it had already done damage to heart and kidneys because of the strain of trying to exist.

I got her to switch to my Osteopathic doc and found her a good endo and heart failure doc. Now we have just the osteo and heart failure docs and a nephrologist. They all keep each other well informed andn she is doing very well.

My uncle got down quickly and about the same time as my mother. Tried traveling the 75 miles every day or two to take care of him as well and at least got his docs to check his thyroid and yep, he too had no thyroid function by then. Eventually his daughter got him to come stay with her in another state as he too suffered other organ damage due to the fact he had dragged around for so long and his docs weren't checking thyroid either.

So glad that they found that the potassium was off and are correcting that. That is one thing that often needs adjusting, but if her thyroid has not been checked, be sure that they do.

Changes as we age can affect us so quickly, even being anemic. That makes anyone feel poorly, but if an older individual has other problems such as heart function and/or something like thyroid, you can definitely see changes in personality as when they are anemic their blood isn't able to take enough oxygen and replinish like it should, kidneys don't function as well, and they can loose some vision because there isn't enough oxygen. It's not something that anyone notices right away, so our osteopath insists on seeing her every three months even if she things she is feeling okay. Meds get adjusted as needed and she's definitely better than when she was with the other doc.

Hope your mom continues to feel better. Still, you might consider discussing thyroid check with the doc the next time blood tests are done.

Best wishes