i have just been lurking latley but i went to see dh today, he was not the same as on Sunday, he was not very responsive when we tried to talk to him is screeming oww ever so often, has a fever and the nurse says his urin is smelling bad, they think it is a UTI but not confermed cause dr. doesn`t see him till the morning. I have not experenced this so new to me, i have read alot of other posting on this but was wondering what to expect, is this a hard thing to get rid of, how long does it usually take to get rid of it, he looks so sick.
marygail-urine specimen should have been sent at the first sign of trouble. UTI's usually respond quickly and well with the appropriate anti biotics. A urine culture should be done before the anti biotic is started.
At the risk of scaring you, this just happened to my husband about two weeks ago. He lives in an Alzheimer's memory care facility, and I had seen behavior changes that were worrying me...in fact, I was bringing it up to staff at every visit for at least 2-3 weeks. Then I went one Monday and he didn't eat any of his lunch (very unusual). I walked in on Wednesday to see several people around him...he was drenched in sweat, but all vitals were normal. They told me the same thing had happened the previous day (no phone call to me though). I went home and made him a doctor's appointment. The next morning I got a call that the sweating was occurring again, only now he had a fever of 102 and they had called an aid car.
Bottom line, I was told he had a UTI, probably undetected for some time. The sweating and fever were an indication it had spread to the kidneys. Over the next number of hours, I watched him decline more rapidly than I have ever seen happen...the infection spread to his lungs (bacterial pneumonia), he was having shallow, labored breathing and was in tachycardia (rapid heart rate and at risk for heart attack). They called it sepsis, which is life-threatening. All this time he was on IV and antibiotics, but they were waiting for a culture, which takes 12-24 hours, to know exactly what bacteria they were dealing with. Once they knew the best antibiotic to use, the turn-around was nearly as fast as the decline had been.
I still have questions as to whether or not the facility should have tested for a UTI at the onset of sudden behavior changes, blame myself for not thinking of that as a possibility, and wonder if this is unusual or "to be expected".
I have no experience with uti's, but my aunt who is 97 and in a NH has them frequently. Her daughter says when her Mom starts acting out she tells the Nurses they better check for a UTI so it sounds like they check whenever she asks them.
i dont think personell at the facilities think about this much -they see symtoms that dont go away they call a dr and it takes time for the dr to appear and diagnose. We seem to know what to look for. thats why we are constantly telling everyone here when theres any change in behaviours or demeanor get a UTI test asap before it gets worse, ie-kidneys or sepsis. sorry it took so long for them to treat your DH. now you know -demand testing asap next time- i always get the test and if its ok i feel better and know that can be excluded. if not we caught it early.divvi
thank you for your input i will be more on top of this now, still not sure if it is uti yet but sure sounds like it, dr will be in to see him at 7:30 in the morning, he is resting comfortbly, just called the nh, he wouldn`t drink anything so i had to tell them how to get him to drink out of a straw, has a hard time sucking until i put a little of his drink in his mouth and when he swallowsput the straw in his mouth and he will drink just like teaching a little one how to use a straw.
UTI's can become very serious if not treated quickly, the 102 degree fever and the 130+ heartbeats per minute are symptoms of a Sepsis Infection When the infection gets to this point they will pass out and should be transported to the ER PDQ. They can be treated with anti-biotics and IV fluids, they will return to normal in a day or so. Often the UTI will return in a few weeks so be on the lookout for the urinary symptoms.
My wife had a Sepsi Infection and A UTI three or four weeks ago, it scared the beejeebers out of me.
UTI is my utmost constant concern with DH. we have had soooo many uti concerns over the last yrs its unreal. so many our urologist opted to treat long term with low doses of macrodantin 50/mg//day antiobiotics. been on them over a yr now, and so far so good but i am very cautious not to miss doses. like jimmy says, the uti can come on quite suddenly and without much warning. (silent uti they are called) and until they are obvious the patient can deteriorate very quickly -my first sepsis episode before i was informed came in the middle of the nite, and it looked quite like a stroke. unable to move, unable to answer words, fever, sweating, just very scary. ER put him on iv/fluid for 3days. if it hadnt been treated asap he may have died. his kidneys are impaired due to the constant uti over theyrs. its my constant companion and concerns are always present. i can now detect the most minute changes and do my over the counter uti home strip tests first then contact dr asap for a further followup if warranted. dehydration is a must and unless they are drinking enough fluids it can happen fast. divvi
Long term treatment with anti-biotics is a very good idea, we have asked our PCP to provide DW with a low dosage of an anti-biotics on a continuing basis to help control future UTI's. I do have to check with the NF to make certain this is being done. The patient can develope a resisistance to the anti-biotics, this is a risk you take with an anti-biotic used long term.
Some NF do not properly supervise the patient's intake of liquids, this can be a real issue in preventing dehydration and UTI's. Most people who have UTI's are dehydrated. My DW has only about 25% of her kidney function remaining so like Divvi's husband she requires constant supervision of her liquid intake.
Divvi, I agree when they have one of these serious UTI's along with a Sepsis infection, the first thing you think of is a stroke. Once a person has one of these serious UTI's you must monitor them very closely because the odds are very good they will have recurring infections.