Temporary Dementia and Medication Changes

A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. Proverbs 15:5

I recently saw a video where the elderly relative was aggravated. It reminded me of the time when my dad had called another family member and asked them to bring his guns to the facility he was staying. When I went to visit him, he thought people were in the adjoining room plotting harm.

My dad doesn't have Alzheimer's and only has signs of Dementia when something is wrong with his body like pneumonia or a urinary tract infection. Unfortunately, some medical professionals think that when they see a patient with signs of Dementia that the patient has Alzheimer's Disease and will tell you so. It saddens me to think that many people may have put loved ones in Memory facilities, because a medical professional said that the patient had Alzheimer's.

In this case, the P.A. (Physician's Assistant) that saw my dad for his Dementia like symptoms found that it was related to a change in medications some time earlier. Dad had been taking two different anti-depressants and the P.A. had stopped one of them. Dad was taking one for Depression which can accompany Parkinson's Disease patients like Dad and the other was to help increase Dad's appetite. The P.A. didn't see that Dad needed two different anti-depressants, so he had stopped the one that helped Dad deal with having Parkinson's Disease. Fortunately, Dad's P.A. identified immediately what was causing Dad's aggravation and put him back on that medication. Once that medication was back in Dad's system, the aggravation went away.

I tell you these things, so you can try to find out if there are other underlying causes for Dementia or Ahlzeimer's symptoms before putting loved ones in a Memory Facility on the recommendation of physicians and other medical staff.

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

I'm including You Tube Video clips on caregiving that I found interesting, inspirational, or might be helpful to others, but am not responsible for the content in the videos. Always check first with a physician before trying any suggestions mentioned.

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By: Kati Morton, Healthy Mind, Healthy Body! via You Tube