Hallucinations suddenly stopped prior to administering an antibiotic. I am wondering if anyone has had experiences with this problem ... the lady I care for is very spoiled and often manipulative. About 2 weeks ago she woke up in the wee hours on thurs. morning screaming hysterically, when I went in her room she said she was seeing people (but was more excited than afraid). She continued with this behavior for about 26 hours straight. I left at 5 am the next morning (Friday) to be with my daughter at the hospital, she was still displaying this behavior. By 5 pm when I got home, she had quit and never had another "hallucination". A urinalysis was done Friday afternoon, and it was positive for a uti, but she did not start her antibiotics until the following Monday (3 days later). I have had experience with elderly patients behavioral changes due to uti's, but have never seen them stop prior to the patient receiving the antibiotic. Thoughts, opinions or experiences, please anyone?
Many kinds of dementia also include hallucination. Infections and almost any kind of illness typically make the dementia symptoms worse. So the uti may have simply triggered dementia symptoms -- and they definitely come and go.
So, was she hallucinating because of the uti or because the uti worsened the dementia temporarily? And does it matter? The key is she was treated for the uti and presumably that is cleared up. If she hallucinated again with no infection present, that is likely to be the dementia and worth a call to the doctor who is treating the dementia.
And being on hospice does not prevent a patient from receiving antibiotics. A UTI can be very uncomfortable, especially if it goes up into the kidneys. Hospice, if done correctly, will give medications that will help th patient to be more comfortable. Antibiotics should help get rid of the infection and make the patient more comfortable, and so it is allowed on hospice.
Please tell tennis woman's family about this episode and encourage further work-up by a neurologist, especially if it happens again.