I'm worried; Update page 3 post 33

[Freedom]

Sandra, how old is your Dad? How recently has he seen a doctor? Has he shown other symptoms of short-term memory loss?

Dad turned 81 at Thanksgiving. He has some issues which his doc says are just the normal part of aging, nothing dramatic. His last primary doc appt. was in November, his last diabetes doc appt. was 3 weeks back.

[Sparklecoon]

The more I hear the more it sounds like a sundowner related issue. Mention it to the Doc when you go for the visit.

[Freedom]

the one thing about sundowners - our sunset was about 4:45 -- many many hours back! But I will mention it.

Dad is in bed, and doesn't want to discuss it with me anymore. (I keep trying)

Guess that is it. Thans much for all your thoughts. Just having someone to 'talk to' helped.

Men! Parents! Aging! Geesh!

[Freedom]

Oh Kim, I was typing and missed your post.

Dad takes an aspirin nightly on his way to bed (along iwth 3 other pills.) He took all his pills tonight but I'll see if I can get him to take one more.

[kimlovescats]

the one thing about sundowners - our sunset was about 4:45 -- many many hours back! But I will mention it.

Dad is in bed, and doesn't want to discuss it with me anymore. (I keep trying)

Guess that is it. Thans much for all your thoughts. Just having someone to 'talk to' helped.

Men! Parents! Aging! Geesh!

It is pretty apparent that my mother has Alzheimer's although my Dad is in complete denial. Anyway, one of her latest things is to call me in the middle of the night! She has always been one to be in bed by 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. She will call and not even realize that it is midnight or even 2:00 a.m.! She called last week to ask me if I put that pretty thing on the back of her toilet. She couldn't even tell me what it was, but I hadn't even been there in days and have no idea what was on the back of her toilet. Anyway, I did some more Alzheimer's research and getting the sleep schedule out of sync and getting night and day confused is typical.

[Grace]

My guess would be a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) - the mini-stroke that others mentioned.

You checked his blood sugar and it was okay - were you able to check his BP?

If he has another one over the weekend, take him to the ER.

[K9karen]

Yikes! My aunt had a stroke last month and now is experiencing some of the side affects mentioned. She's refusing blood work, blood pressure checks, etc, because she doesn't realize she's not OK. She feels fine, although the stroke affected her cognizant and speech skills. However, my dad, who had Parkinsons. suddenly became delusional and disorientated due to the side effects of so many medications.

Try to make notes of your dad's behavior to give to the doctor. I hope it's nothing serious and just a passing episode.

[Rachel]

Yikes! My aunt had a stroke last month and now is experiencing some of the side affects mentioned. She's refusing blood work, blood pressure checks, etc, because she doesn't realize she's not OK. She feels fine, although the stroke affected her cognizant and speech skills. However, my dad, who had Parkinsons. suddenly became delusional and disorientated due to the side effects of so many medications.

Try to make notes of your dad's behavior to give to the doctor. I hope it's nothing serious and just a passing episode.

Karen makes a good point about another thing to consider - side effects to his medications.

I do hope he is back to normal this morning, but in any event I would certainly make an appointment for him to see his doctor as soon as possible. Your notes here of exactly what went down are precise. Take them with you when you go.

[Medusa]

When my dad was in his 80's, he had episodes similar to the one you just described, only scarier. My mom started to sit on the sofa and he said "Don't sit there! You'll sit on that little girl!" Mom called me terrified that it might be Alzheimers. As it turns out, his medication was causing him to behave in that manner. He didn't have high BP or diabetes but he did have heart problems towards the end, although he never did have a heart attack. Perhaps your dr. could check his meds and see if that could be the culprit. Once they adjusted my dad's meds, he never had another episode like that.

[kimlovescats]

I was thinking stroke as well, that's why I suggested taking his BP. Think you could get him to take an aspirin before he goes to bed?