My mother has been very slowly mentally declining over the last 2 years. In the past 10 days there has been a huge decline. Not knowing who people are, insisting that she is not in her condo, believing people are trying to poison her, etc. I’ve had a full set of blood and urine tests. We checked if she had a stroke. All negative for a problem. She is refusing to eat/drink or take her meds. She has round the clock nursing care.
I just have never heard of a decline this fast.
one day he seemed to be ok.. the next day he definitely was not..
So, it does happen.
I think at this point if you wish contacting Hospice would be a good idea.
Stopping eating and drinking is one of the things a person will do at End of Life.
Her body no longer needs food as fuel her body will use what is stored to maintain the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys. As the fuel runs out each will stop functioning.
She does not feel hunger or thirst like you or I would. And there are no hunger pains like we would have.
Please resist the urge to do tube feeding or IV's for fluid.
the goal now would be to keep her comfortable.
"The symptoms often continue to get worse over time. This may happen slowly, or in sudden steps every few months or years.
The symptoms depend on the part of the brain that's affected, but can include:
significant slowness of thought
feeling disorientated and confused
memory loss (amnesia) and difficulty concentrating
difficulty finding the right words
severe personality changes, such as becoming aggressive
depression, mood swings and lack of interest or enthusiasm
finding it difficult to walk and keep balance, with frequent falls
loss of bladder control (incontinence)
increasing difficulty with daily activities."
Dehydration alone (refusing to drink) will cause confusion.
If she has round the clock CNA's what do the CNA's say or suggest? In my experience they were pretty good with suggestions and they had seen it all before.
Rapid declines are common amd this may be a transition to a new stage of dementia. Is she on anxiety meds? My mother suffered with high anxiety in the later stages of dementia. Meds helped calm the confusion and hallucinations. My mother had three steep declines that would level to next stage of dementia. It was very sudden and very painful to watch.
Wishing you strength during this difficult and challenging time.