Why would candy make an elderly person act crazy?
My teenage cousin gave Grandma a bag of Easter candy without telling me. Grandma ate it all at one time and I didn't realize it until I found the empty bag a few hours later. She was acting kind of hyper and making various noises (sucking, talking, mumbling, etc.) for nearly 2 hrs straight. I couldn't even stand to be in the same room with her anymore. Overnight she went back to whimpering and groaning in bed (she hadn't been doing that for a month). She kept me up all night. She woke up at 4 am (4-5 hrs earlier than normal) and was acting extremely odd. She couldn't put on her pullup diaper or pants by herself. She was panicky about it. She said she couldn't get up/stand up (from the toilet), but she hadn't even tried yet. She said she couldn't walk from the bathroom to her recliner and was panicky about it. I had to grab a kitchen chair for her to sit in to take a break. She was hot which is very unusual. I assumed it was from the candy, sugar, and fat (perhaps heartburn - that makes me hot). She just kept saying "I can't, I can't" but she actually could. It's been over 24 hrs since she ate the candy, and she's better, but not normal. This is the fourth time that eating a lot of candy has caused a bad reaction, though this is the worst reaction and the most she's ever eaten. Her health is good for 92. She has high cholesterol, but is no longer taking medication for it. She has DVTs and is on Xarelto. That's it. No other health problems. Is there a reason sugar, chocolate, and saturated fat would cause this odd and crazy behavior? For the record, the candy she ate contained a total of 16 grams of saturated fat, 120 grams of sugar and the top ingredients were: sugar, semisweet chocolate, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, and peppermint oil. It contained 5 servings. There were no dyes or glutens.
I knew I was overeating and binging on sugar, as I do when I'm stressed.
The situation could also be caused by a combination of high sugar foods and other issues as suggested in the posts.
Get her checked for a UTI, thinking all that sugar made it's appearance worse. imo.
Is it possible that the candy was laced with something? Perhaps Teenaged Cousin was not even aware of it. There are crazy people in the world nowadays and even if the bag was sealed, it could still have been injected with something. If the bag was not sealed or if it was in a basket, all the easier to tamper with. Grandma’s reactions seem a little extreme and long-lasting, that’s what makes me wonder. And, I hope Teenaged Cousin, no matter how well-intentioned, has been made to realize their choice to give Grandma candy was not a good one and not to do it again.
I believe it could be TIA's,
Transient Ischemic Attack.
Your mom is being treated for DVT (deep vein thrombosis- a blood clot in the deep veins of the calf.) It would not be surprising if she had little clots that float through the brain-affecting speech, coordination, etc.
This is from the Mayo Clinic;
People may experience:
Muscular: difficulty walking, muscle weakness, problems with coordination, or weakness of one side of the body
Whole body: feeling faint, lightheadedness, or vertigo
Speech: slurred speech or impaired voice
Visual: blurred vision or vision loss
Facial: muscle weakness or numbness
Also common: difficulty swallowing, mental confusion, or reduced sensation of touch.
I would contact her doctor (the one takes by care if the DVT) and make an appointment soon.
This is not medical advice, just my observation.
If she has been on a heart-healthy diet and not used to a lot of fat at one time, that might make her very uncomfortable. (And give her heartburn.)
Possibly she has an allergy to palm kernel oil. Was the candy she ate the other times also peppermint? Maybe she reacts to that.
And possibly her having a bad day had nothing to do with the candy.
Some people think eating lots of sugar makes children hyperactive but studies don't support that. Instead the situations where they are eating lots of sugar are often too stimulating and that is why they are bouncing off the wall when they get home from a birthday party. It was Easter this weekend. Did Mom get more visitors than usual? Was there more stimulation than she is used to?
You are a very caring person to try to figure this out. Next time Mom sees her doctor, bring this up. Or if her clinic has an online application for communicating with her doctor send a quick note describing the symptoms.
I am sure you generally avoid letting Mom have large quantities of candy. Whether that is related to these symptoms is a mystery ( at least to me).