I am caring for mom, dad and my 1 year old. Things have been going downhill for a while now for my parents, dad has parkinsons, and difficulty walking but mom was a real help, despite having dementia, even though we have still not had a concrete diagnosis - waiting for a neurologists appt! She is on aricept and zoloft for mood. She recently had a fall - and since then totally changed, she doesn't want to do anything and the whole workload has been dumped on me. I am not sure if this temporary. I am now looking for psw - and hoping that siblings offer a little bit - otherwise i dont know how ill afford it! Oh and Im also working FT. Im so exhausted most of the time!
I guess I'm just hoping that I can get into a routine that works for all of us!

UTI=urinary tract infection. In the elderly the effects of such can cause unexpected symptoms including confusion and unusual behavior. Yes, if not done, her GP should be able to manage that now.

Thanks I will definetly try to get her in earlier. Whats a UTI?
Are there any other tests that she will require?Maybe simplers tests that my GP can order and that way we will have the results by the tinme I get to the neurologist?

Fayth theres the most important and thats a PET scan but honestly I dont think Id wait till April for an appt. is there any way you can tell the Doc theres something wrong you just cant pinpoint it?
Honey lie if you have to to move that appt. up.
Tell him you think she may have a UTI and you would like her checked right away.
Tell him shes getting agitated without reason, combative, depressed and its affecting your father in a derogatory manner.
It cant hurt to try

Hi there
Thanks for the responses. Yes sleep would be great just about now!
We finally have a booked appt in mid april, and I plan to take in a list of tests that I think they should do (please provide any names u think releavant).
PSW is a personal support worker - i have one that is funded by the govt, coming in now, for a few hours. Its a help - but I still need to plan out everything make all the food, laundry,...well u know. Its so overwhelming at times!
Ok so she fell because she had the stomach flu, had not slept in two nights and was just overall weak. The medics saw her and said she was ok. She is just so scared of walking and her behaviour is just worse, that she is refusing to do anything, like making breakfast, etc.
What worries me the most is that it is affecting my dad because now he is getting depressed, being with her all day and she keeps complaining, grumbling.

Hi Fayth and welcome back. I know you were asking about AD treatments about 6 months ago,,,still no diagnosis? When is the appt. with the neurologist and what tests has she already had, if any? I understand why a PCP puts them on aricept at the first sign of memory lapses, but I am not a fan of that practice. In my own Mom's case, she had actually had some TIAs, but her PCP never ordered any tests of any kind (this was 10 years ago before I was involved.) 4 years later after Dad's death I was with Mom in the ER and the new doc we met there ran a CT and found evidence of the mini-strokes, and didn't think Mom's memory lapses were AD at all. The scary thing is for 4 years she walked around without any medication to prevent more strokes and was spending money on a drug that was not right for her.

Still if the wait to see a neuro is going to be 6 months or more I guess the primary wanted her to start it as soon as possible just in case. You are in Canada, right. I hear the wait for a specialist is often longer than it is here, although with managed care, they put you off longer and longer here. I, too, am curious about psw.

Several things could be going on about your mother's fall. There is so much on your plate it may be difficult to come up with answers, but here are some things to think about.
First, is she in pain? bruised ribs, twisted knee or ankle, hit her head.. Did she see a doc after this fall (right, BG already asked)?

Second, Do you know why she fell, how she fell? Zoloft can cause dizziness, and if she is dizzy, she may be frightened to get up alone. Did she trip, or just drop over like a faint or TIA?

OK, that is enough for now, but I hope you check back soon. Being a CG for elders can take some real detective work and I know you are exhausted, so we will try to feed you some of the basic Qs so you can keep them in mind while you work with them. It might help while you find a routine.

Hi Fayth welcome in
Wow all that and a 1 year old also, bet you just wanna go hide under the covers right about now
If this is Dementia your mom has this is a tough one. She has memory lapses yes?
So Im going to ask...Did you take her to her PCP or ER when she fell?
Its hard to tell but if she indeed has memory loss she may forget the fall after a week or so maybe a little longer so I dont understand why she would change unless there was something wrong.
When you say she "totally changed" what exactly do you mean?
Is it behavior or just not wanting to move around?
If its the latter then I would definitely take her to the ER.
Oh and what is "psw"?