After suffering from a flu for a week, my mother became strange today. She is seeing and doing strange things. She saw people in the room that were not there and kept asking who they were. It is late night now as I write this and she acts like she is sewing something invisible on her bed. While she was normal the flu had her very very tired. Now she seems to be more active doing her "things". She will not sleep. Dementia? Temporary delirium? The meds she took were Nyquil Nighttime (1 tablet a day), aspirin (1 a day), loratadine (10mg a day) and losartin (50mg a day for high blood pressure). The loratadine and Nyquil were not taken the same days. I will take care of her, but want to know if this is a permanent or temporary condition.
That didn’t happen again during the next three weeks. I’m trying to gain weight now. Oh and I do not have dementia.
And from the Mayo Clinic website, causes of delirium:
(as you can see, some of these need to be dealt with immediately; don't let the doctor put you off. If you need to, call the EMTs)
Causes
Delirium occurs when the normal sending and receiving of signals in the brain become impaired. This impairment is most likely caused by a combination of factors that make the brain vulnerable and trigger a malfunction in brain activity.
Delirium may have a single cause or more than one cause, such as a medical condition and medication toxicity. Sometimes no cause can be identified. Possible causes include:
Certain medications or drug toxicity
Alcohol or drug abuse or withdrawal
A medical condition
Metabolic imbalances, such as low sodium or low calcium
Severe, chronic or terminal illness
Fever and acute infection, particularly in children
Exposure to a toxin
Malnutrition or dehydration
Sleep deprivation or severe emotional distress
Pain
Surgery or other medical procedures that include anesthesia