Can a dementia patient forget a loved one overnight? My mom has always been able to recognize me immediately. Today, for the first time, I am not sure she knew who I was, though she was kind and talkative. Can their ability to recognize others change that suddenly?
Those drugs of course affect the mind, memory, and can result in rapid decline.
Loves and hugs back at you. Thank you
If they continue to be very dramatically different, they could have low sodium which can even cause delirium. A bad UTI can also cause delirium.
A husband of a patient of mine- he was relatively healthy, 80 years old- woke up one morning and did not recognize his wife, his home, his bedroom... He knew nothing. He had complete memory loss. His daughters came over and were in complete shock and called an ambulance. The hospital said he had low sodium and that is what caused the complete memory loss. He had no Dementia or Alzheimer's, but the low sodium brought on those symptoms.
So even though your loved one may have what you think is dementia, the starting of dementia, or full-blown dementia, please, please get them checked often for UTIs and get them a blood test to check for low sodium and low magnesium. I can't tell you how many elderly people have suffered and are even branded as having Dementia but it's really a chronic UTI. Or it's untreated low sodium and delirium. And, if the delirium isn't treated, then it can cause damage to the brain. It's really sad. Elderly people are not treated the way they should be in this country.
We have to be their voice, their advocate.