If you are someone who is caring for an older person who doesn’t easily care for themselves, I can’t stress enough how important bladder and vaginal infections are to the health of the brain. Even a mild vaginal yeast infection can cause all sorts of craziness. There may be little symptoms or indications of these infections that you are familiar with or symptoms may be very subtle. Watch for a different odor when helping them with personal hygiene. Also watch for extra problems in the bathroom, like not making it quite there in time or her not knowing if she is finished urinating or not.
But, the most obvious and hardest to accept as an infection symptom is the loss of reasonable thought. Even seeing someone who isn’t there can be completely caused by an infection. During one of Mother’s infections, I saw her lift a glass and toast to someone who she thought had come over to our table to say, “hello”! These people have very delicate systems and having an infection can throw off the normal electrolytes which have to be balanced for brain function.
Don’t simply accept that you are losing your loved one to aging when they aren’t thinking clearly. Give them the benefit of the doubt and have them thoroughly examined. Doctor’s don’t always jump to physical examination and testing. So, you may have to be assertive and insist. One episode Mother had, her urine was clear and even with a vaginal exam they thought she was fine. But, I knew she wasn’t and she had a terrible odor. I insisted on a vaginal culture which resulted in showing us that she had an E-Coli infection…THEN of course, she ended up with a yeast infection that had to be treated several weeks later.
A yeast infection following antibiotic treatment is to be expected and watched for. It didn’t mean that the original infection shouldn’t be treated, only that it’s important to be findful and watch for the side effects that are to be expected after an infection.
Good Luck and God Bless you for loving your family and friends…
Oh my goodness! I’ve been going through a similar situation for many months with my dear sweet mom who is 86 years old. Her urine taken from her bladder is clear, but I can tell that she still has an infection. I insisted today (against the dr’s advice) that the dr. take a culture from her vaginal wall to see if there is an infection there. She is so tired from being sick, and when she doesn’t have a UTI, she is a spritely, spunky lady; however, because the infection has gone on and on, she is losing hope of ever feeling better again. We are hopeful that this latest round of tests will reveal that there is, indeed, and infection that needs attention! THANK YOU for being there! I will be sure to watch for the yeast infection, too, after she is rightly treated for her current infection.
God bless you!