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My then 86 yr old mother moved slowly with a cane but got around fairly well. About a year ago she ended up in the hospital for a 'funny feeling in her chest' which turned out to be a UTI and dehydration. A week later for her follow-up visit with the cardiologist, she needed her walker and was slower than a snail! I attributed it to her being in the hospital as mental capacities are affected, but it has not improved with time. I have since seen postings on this forum that mention mobility problems caused by different forms of dementia and wonder if such a sudden onset is common under those circumstances. Any other thoughts? Mini-stroke, perhaps? She has not had further medical emergencies.

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What diagnostic tests did her cardiologist perform, and what were the results?

I assume that she's been monitored for dehydration and that you're able to keep her hydrated? If she is dehydrated, it will certainly slow her walking pace as she will feel weak and won't have much energy.

Have you asked any of her other doctors, including an orthopaedist?

My mother walked much slower as she aged, but at the time we never attributed it to dementia, but rather to aging, arthritis, fear of falling.

Even if it could be dementia related, I'd at least start with a PCP, cardiologist, pulmonologist and/or orthopaedist to eliminate any physical problems. But stagger the appointments - going to too many doctors at once is mentally and physically fatigue for both the patient and her caregiver.

Hope you find some answers.
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Infection can slow down a person with dementia. As can dehydration. Add to that a stay in the hospital and it's possible she just wasn't able to bounce back from these things.
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I would go to a drugstore and buy a fingertip pulse oximeter. Log in the readings and if her O2 is fine when resting but drops after walking, discuss that with her MD. We also have a wrist blood pressure monitor, and share the readings with her primary and cardiologist.
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Don't forget, "fine" for O2 in the elderly is anything above 90. If it stays at 88 or below it should be cause for a hospital trip.
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Not that anyone should diagnose anything in a forum, but my dad with dementia suddenly started walking very slow, and one leg was definitely not as mobile. He also had more trouble getting out of chairs, then nearly fell from weakness. The hospital initially did not think it was stroke because he had no classic symptoms. After scanning his brain they discovered many mini strokes had occurred.
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Medications can change one's gate, or how they walk. A person looses strength as they become less active & stress & weight bearing will just help & is needed to keep bones strong...Anything is possible....have an MRI done if you wish....have a dex scan done to see the bone density....speaking from my experience as a home health R.N., Nurse manager. Also from my personal experience with caring for a husband with Dementia & having my scans done regularly. These are non invasive test/scans. I refuse to let them use dye on me-I am highly allergic & get all the disk of the scans sent to me, which I can read, so the dye matters not with what your wanting to find out.
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Everyone has given good answers here. Fluid on the brain, a mini-stroke, a different kind of dementia (there can be more than one present), another infection - unfortunately the list is endless. I hope that the doctor can get to the bottom of this. In the end, your first hunch about the damage from the UTI and treatment may be the answer. Everything takes a toll on a frail elder, so often even after they are treated for an ailment they never fully recover.

Please keep us posted,
Carol
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Just a year ago mom was able to go for a walk of a bit more than half a mile. That was before the first of seven successive UTI's. Since the first infection she has not been the same. Infection of any sort is very hard for them to come back from. She struggles with her walk, her gait and speed of it has deteriorated over the last year, as the disease progresses.
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My MIL did not have dementia but she experienced a noticeable gait change that was due to fluid on the brain. Her primary care doctor thought it was just arthritis and aging. She had to go to a specialty clinic to get the diagnosis and treatment.
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My mom experienced a gait change and it was due to hydrocephalus of the brain. A MRI of the brain confirmed the diagnosis. As it was explained to me, as we age, our brain shrinks and the area surrounding it is replaced with fluid. If it's not too severe, a shunt can be implanted to remove the water, but in my mom's case she was too far advanced. I was also told that smoking, and she did up until she went into a nursing home, helps advance the shrinking of the brain.
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This "slowness" is not sudden. Dementia has a progressive decline in motor skills for these patients, and it will get worse because the brain is not sending the correct signals to the muscles in order to work properly. My best to your mother.
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==Low levels of potassium [serum levels] and/or magnesium [red blood cell assay] can cause odd pressures in the head, jack-up blood pressure.
==Some commonly prescribed drugs [blood pressure pills, diuretics, anti-cholesterol, plavix, etc.] can cause imbalance and weakness as side effects, which could possibly cause gait changes as the person has difficulty navigating/operating their legs when the brain is having difficulty balancing or making limbs go.
==Residual anesthetics in the system, which are usually thought to clear out in some hours, sometimes low-level left-overs of these are still in the body for a couple weeks or more, just enough to make balance, strength, nausea, etc. an issue.
==Infections, with or without a fever.
==Constipation OR diarrhea can sometimes cause disequilibrium and strength problems.
==Pain: If something hurts, that's part of the body needed for walking, gait can change.
==Disintegrating disks in the back pinching a nerve: it only takes the amount of pressure needed to lift a nickel [balance on on the tip of your finger] to cause great pain, numbness, paresthesias.
==Strokes: these can be from clots, bleeds, or blood vessels clamping closed due to smooth muscle spasms--each of those can cut off oxygen supply to the brain, or to a body part.
There are lots of things that can cause gait changes--even a pebble in the shoe, or a lost sock stuffed into the toe of a shoe---I took care of one little old guy, who'd stuffed his socks into his shoes--one got missed--he tried to keep walking, but it changed his gait. Other staff were flummoxed trying to figure out why he walked differently, until someone finally more closely examined his shoes!
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My mom has fallen so many times. Now she doesn't go out. But she falls in the house. She has CHF and early dementia. Docs just don't know. She is very weak.
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A movement disorder specialist, neurologist will be able to diagnose the problem..
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UTI's cause a build up of proteins in the brain causing the "worsened dementia" and if left untreated, eventually a person can die from this. I never knew this until Mother with dementia started having them. She was not drinking enough fluids - mostly soda pop all day. We had to take it away from her. Sometimes the patient bounces back from UTI's and sometimes they just don't. I do no know what the difference is. Best if luck.
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Even small periods of less oxygen and kill off brain cells. When you don't have as many to work with, you see more effect. I would guess that while he is ill, there were losses.
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My mom is 93 and uses a walker. However, every single time she has a hospital admission, she comes out too weak to stand up safely using her walker and walking. Whenever she is in the hospital, they do not walk her at all. They move her from the bed to the chair but that's it and they won't even let her walk to the bathroom. Muscles degenerate very quickly. I ask the hospital to send her to a rehab facility for 24/7 care and good PT. She always bounces back after rehab in a facility. We have tried the rehab at home and it is never very good as she refuses to participate which she does not do when she is in a facility.
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Okay. I looked it up on Wikipedia. Gait abnormalities can include: ALZ, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Myasthenia Gravis , frature(s), arthritis, peripheral neuropathy,
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...Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, & joint replacement (arthroplasty). All of these cause abnormal gaits in people. blou
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My mum walks like a snail but her nurse didnt seem concerned? she was told that if she didnt excercise she would lose mobility in her legs? You seem to have better care in US as im in a constant battle here to get anything done for mum seems to me that because funding is very low here the elderly are not priority which is a disgrace.
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Did your mother go for any type of therapy after her diagnoses? My mother had to be hospitalized during her UTI, and was sent to a rehab place for two weeks after it. After coming home she had two different therapists come to the house for several weeks. All of this helped a lot physically for her, she is actually better than before the UTI.
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Thank you all for your responses, especially regarding rehab. That possibility was not offered when she was released from the hospital and certainly not on my radar. I was mainly concerned with loss of mental faculties & she was anxious to get home. You have given me a lot to follow up on. Thanks!
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don'/t forget cipro can damage tendons and create all kinds of walking problems
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Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Excess spinal fluid on the brain. Push for testing!!!!
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