Topic: Anyone with a medical background?

[notatroll]

Scenario

Perfectly healty 66 year old male goes suddenly gets Strep Pnuemonia.  He is diabetic...by the time he goes to the doctor his temp is 104  his sugar 560 and he is knocking on deaths door.  The pump him full of meds  keep him in  ccu for a week.  He comes home...now his speech is slurred...he spits when he talks....he drools and talks 90 miles a minute and generally about things that happened years ago.  Is not eating good has lost major weight  and looks like he aged 20 years in a week.   He tells things about his personal life ...inappropriate things.  Things he never told before.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this or ideas?

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[tootallannie]

Scenario

Perfectly healty 66 year old male goes suddenly gets Strep Pnuemonia.  He is diabetic...by the time he goes to the doctor his temp is 104  his sugar 560 and he is knocking on deaths door.  The pump him full of meds  keep him in  ccu for a week.  He comes home...now his speech is slurred...he spits when he talks....he drools and talks 90 miles a minute and generally about things that happened years ago.  Is not eating good has lost major weight  and looks like he aged 20 years in a week.   He tells things about his personal life ...inappropriate things.  Things he never told before.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this or ideas?

I'm not a doctor. But high glucose readings often indicate infection.

Is he on any new medications besides antibiotics?

It sounds a lot like a stroke. Diabetes would predispose a person to cardiovascular disease.

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[notatroll]

He is not on any new meds.  The pnuemonia raised his Sugar.  It was strep pnuemonia ...I can't seem to find alot of info on this.  I have questioned the posibility of a mild stroke also?  Something definately happened. *no&   His eyes are a different color.  They were Deep brown....now they are green with brown spots.  This has never happened before .  They have always been brown.

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[heyjude]

Did he have steroid therapy?   Steroid therapy in diabetics can be tricky.   Sometimes personality changes or emotional changes occur.    Usually adjusts when steroids are discontinued and clear system.

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[notatroll]

Did he have steroid therapy?   Steroid therapy in diabetics can be tricky.   Sometimes personality changes or emotional changes occur.    Usually adjusts when steroids are discontinued and clear system.

I am going to check...Suzi suggested the same thing!!!! How long does it take to get out of their system?

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[heyjude]

It is according to dosage, which steroid, kidney function, lots of stuff.

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[notatroll]

I will have his wife check with the doctor.  Because it is weird

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[heyjude]

It is a scary time.

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[notatroll]

Right now he is pitiful and heart breaking.

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[jimeezlady]

Nota, "Strep Pneumonia" is a simplified terminology for streptococcus pneumoniae... The bacteria causes much more than simple pneumonia and may have spread to other areas of his body.  I found a few links for you, I hope they help.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/streppneum_t.htm

http://www.antigenics.com/diseases/streppneumo.html

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1848.htm

Diabetes runs heavily on both sides of our family, as does asthma.   If he was having difficulty breathing they probably had him on prednisone or one of its derivatives.   Prednisone in high doses can cause mood swings and behavioural changes and they are magnified in a diabetic.     Your descriptions sound a bit extreme to link to the steroids alone, but it is possible.   The high sugar levels can also cause the same symptoms.   My Diabetic M.I.L. just got out of the hospital due to an illness and improper diet... when I spoke to her last, her speech was also slurred and she was very disoriented.     I am mystified by the change in eye color...  I'll look around in my medical books and online to see if I can find a link to his illness.   

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[notatroll]

JL  thank yu.  His sugar levels right now are at 87.  Which for him is an all time low.  But this weird stuff has had us puzzled  trying to figure out exactly what has happened.

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[libby]

Nota, The man's wife should make an appointment for a consultation with his doctor. She or someone else should write a list of the changes in him since he came home, and then write down some questions. For example: Why did his eyes change color? Why is he mentally "fuzzy"? Did the "infection" spread to his brain? Is his diabetes causing these problems? Did he have a stroke? Does he have other problems I should know about?

She should also make a list of the medications he is on. Then she should make a copy of both lists, and take the originals to the doctor. I would ask for a written list of what his diagnoses are (what they are treating him for); and what medications he should be taking for each.

Many people are too embarrassed to admit they don't have a clue what is going on or what the doctors and/or nurses are talking about. (I go blank - I remember my questions after I get home.)

They have the right to ask someone else - a "patient's advocate" - to go with them to see the doctor.  That person can, with the patient's permission, sit in and ask questions and take notes. 

Example: Not too long ago, one of my nieces asked me and her mother to go with her see the surgeon who was going to operate on her. I sat in while he explained what he was going to do, what medications he preferred to use for pain, what she should expect afterwards,etc. We were all free to - and did - ask questions.

Libby 



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[notatroll]

Thanks lIbby we figured it out....she had had surgery a while back and had been prescribed Loratabs.  She didn't take them all.  He takes the Loratabs thinking there were his antibiotics.....ANd needless to say...We have the answer to the unsolved mystery.

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[libby]

Wow. We should all get in the habit of getting rid of old medications. Not only because of what you just wrote, but because of the children. Some years ago a friend told me their son was sick while they were at the beach - spent the whole time in bed.  I learned later from someone else that he was not sick, just high as a kite from taking medications he found in his own home. 




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[notatroll]

Oh I agree.  ANd I thinks she learned a lesson from this.  SHe has flushed everything.

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