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My 89 year old mother has been at a rehab facility after a fall. She has been saying that her doctor who is NOT at this facility likes to give shots to people to kill them. I was talking to one of the staff today and apparently she told the person that her daughter(me) and son in law told the doctor to give her a shot to kill her. The nurse was appalled as I have been visiting everyday, not to mention that we have been helping her the last 5 years. Can someone please tell me what to do??

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Uti testing certainly. And find out if there is a geriatric psychiatrist at the facility who can consult. Some antianxiety meds may be needed. Poor dear, how terrifying!!
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Koko, sounds like your Mom has delirium which is normal for someone her age who has had a fall and is now in rehab. Just ignore those strange remarks. I am surprised the nurse was appalled as they see this on a regular basis.
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Delirium can be treated if the delirium is a side effect to an illness, surgery, or medication. If the delirium is part of dementia, it can come and go.
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Oh. No, not time to walk away. Time to get mom aeen by a geriatric psychiatrist. Has she been diagnosed with dementia prior to the fall?

My mom was diagnosed with Vascular dementia after a stroke.( she had preciously been diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment; her execurive functioning wasn't great, but she was still in the same reality as the rest of us. However, when she was transferred to subavute rehab, it was clear that "something" was off. She reported that she needed to pay for "everything". That she was requured to take and manage her neds on her own (i was in the room with her and the nurse who had just administered her meds. When i looked confused about her statement, she pointed to her water pitcher with a significant look). The aide was having sexnin the bathroom. Dead bodies were being wheeled about.

We tried explaining and reasoning. That lasted for a torturous week or so before the sw suggested a psych consult.

Antianxiety meds helped a great deal. So did two different antidepressants. She continuea on all these meds and three years later, she's mostly okay. She's started to have some increased late afternoon anxiety about having a terrible skin disease, but we reassure her.

You can't argue with or reason away delusions like this. You can only reassure. "Oh mom, that must feel awful to think we'd want to hurt you" . Then distract with an activity. I know, the distraction does work with my mom. If she's terribly upset, i get the nurse and they give her an extra dose of antianxiety meds.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. It hurts like Heck!
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Delerium can be a symptom of dementia. It does not cause dementia. It can also be the result of vertain medications, illnesses, or for some, exposure to a new and frightening environment.
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I agree, my mom says crazy things like this every time she has a trauma. Might want to have them test for a Uti, thats usually whats going on with my mom.
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Koko your mom doesn't sound like she's in her right mind - she either has a urinary tract infection (which may not be the case if this has been going on for months) or she has dementia of some sort. She can't help it - she's not doing this out of spite, her brain is broken. A psych consult is called for.

So continue to support her and start watching videos about Alzheimers or dementia on youtube (Teepa Snow has great ones) so you can understand that it's her screwed up brain, not her true feelings. I'm sorry you have to go through this.
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One other thing. Since mom is in rehab, start thinking in terms of facility placement. It sounds as though she needs more specialized care than what she's jad previously.
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nasmir, try not to dwell on the dark side. Redirect to happier thoughts when the clouds begin to form overhead. It's part of healing. Been there. Done that.
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And, a couple of years ago, when Medicare was launching the reimbursement to physicians for having a discussion about "advance directives" they got mis-characterized by some folks as " death panels". I'm sure that's stuck in the back of some brains.
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