What does delirium look like

It is usually worse at night. There is often more than one cause — but sometimes the cause is never found. You are more likely to have an episode of delirium if you are older, or have problems with your sight or hearing. About 2 in every 10 hospital patients have a period of delirium.

It is even more likely if someone has to be looked after on an Intensive Care Unit. Delirium is more common if you are:. If someone becomes confused they need to see a doctor urgently. They will often be too confused to describe what has happened to them, so it's important that the doctor can talk to someone who knows the person well and, hopefully, knows what has been happening recently. Once a physical cause has been identified, it needs to be treated.

For example, a chest infection will be treated with antibiotics. Even when someone is confused, there are simple steps that can be taken to help them feel safer and less agitated.

These include:. Some people become so distressed that medication may be needed to calm them down. Unfortunately, sedative medications may do this but also make the delirium worse. So, sedatives should only be prescribed if a confused person:. Any sedative medication should be given at the lowest possible dose, for the shortest possible time. Delirium usually gets better when the cause is treated. You may get better quickly, but sometimes it can take several days, or weeks, and leave vivid memories.

One man who became delerious at sea was rescued, and his hypothermia was successfully treated. But, while hypothermic, he had become delirious. He talked about having sailed his boat along the streets of a town, situated in the sea, with many shops and bright lights. Yesterday, my brother called him, and for about 10 minutes, our usually subdued father chatted on and on about currently being on a ship out at sea that had been hijacked by pirates.

After they ended the call and my brother called to tell me about it, I called my dad. He told me he was in the Pacific when I asked him which sea he was in. He provided details such as he had a gun, but so did the pirates, and during our surreal conversation, Dad shot at them.

Before he ended the call, I told him to please be careful. Being serious, he promised that he would be very careful. His cognitive decline over the past several months has been at the worst forgetting what he ate for dinner, or if my brother had visited him earlier that day.

Typically, our telephone conversations lately have been brief and very basic. Hard to say just what caused this, or how worried you should be. I hope he at least continues to be in good spirits. If you are worried about possible delirium, you could ask to have him further evaluated, or at least monitored a little more closely for the next few days.

My 85 year old father developed an infected toe. After many visits to various doctors, it was determined his leg had poor circulation and his foot had very little blood flow no pulse. During the procedure to insert a stent at the hip, the sedative Versed caused my father to become very combative, a side effect seen previously. We have no idea why Versed was used again. The procedure could not be completed.

For a few days he was somewhat confused but okay, and then he fell getting up from the couch. After that he was very combative, restless, and stopped sleeping nearly completely. Again no sleeping. After appearing to be improving, he had to return to the hospital after becoming very combative and agitated. At the hospital he broke his shoulder jumping out of bed, while his toes began to die. The psych ward dosed him into nearly total unconsciousness and at that point he had a successful vascular bypass, then the toes were removed.

A bout of sepsis followed but it responded to antibiotics. He has never really awaken since he was drugged unconscious. All medications are being stopped, aside from antibiotics and minor pain medication. Prior to this, my father could mow the grass, did his income taxes for , and did the shopping for himself and mom.

Could this have started from from Versed? No one at the hospital seems to know whats wrong with him. Brain shows no damage but his circulatory system is calcified heavily. The only hope now is that after the leg fully heals, he will return to normal. I share this mainly to warn others that Versed is not the best sedative for elderly patients.

Versed is a benzodiazepine used for sedation during procedures. All benzodiazepines are considered risky in older adults and can cause confusion or even paradoxical agitation in some older adults. In other older adults, they cause sedation and decrease agitation. My husband recently was hospitalized for high blood pressure. They ran all kinds of tests and he is healthy. However, he seemed to all of a sudden be confused. He recognizes pretty much everyone but he is not certain who I am.

He is 76 years old, never been sick and this is his first time in the hospital. We have been married 53 years. What could this be? Sorry to hear of this problem, it must be distressing to suddenly not be recognized by a long-time spouse.

I would recommend asking his doctors for more information and help evaluating him. You might also want to consider a consultation with neurology. This has been one of the most informative websites I have found. My 86 year old mum has been in hospital for 2 weeks. She was diangnose with pneumonia, sepsis, aspiration and then gall bladder infection.

Treatment with Antibiotics have worked however we now think she may have had a stroke. Right hand side of face had dropped and her speech very slurred. Doctors said she had delirium and up until the potential stroke she was communicative although talking strangely.. Now she is sleeping all during the day and not very responsive. They have also given her anti vitals in case she has a viral infection in brain.

Echo showed heart ok. They are struggling to get her O2 levels right and said she arrived in Hopsital in AF and with level 2 Resp Depression. She is not eating. I live 8h drive away but my sister lives local to hospital. She is not in good health either. The longer delirium goes on worse the prognosis. But reading the comments it is difficult to predict how long this may be for. Any advice would be appreciated. Apologies for long ramble. By the way I am in UK.

Poor thing. In terms of recovering: the longer the person is sick in the hospital, the longer it tends to take to recover strength and function. Also it takes longer if the person was weak or impaired or chronically ill prior to being hospitalized.

It sounds to me like first she needs to get through this acute hospitalization, and then you can see where things are at. My 86 year old father had a fibulator input. Before the surgery he had a very difficult time breathing. He now has delirium. We is in a rehabilitation center for therapy. However, he gets agitated, tried to leave the center and has confusion. Our doctor has prescribed risperidone. He has been on this medication for 2 days. He is still confused.

My concern is for his safety. He is not able to come home and with this confusion should we consider a facility that provides memory care. This is so difficult and my family does not know what to do. Risperidone and other antipsychotics have not generally been shown to help delirium resolve, they mostly mask the more agitated symptoms by causing some dampening of brain activity. Generally to recover from delirium, people need rest, a restorative environment, and time. Of course, when people are confused, they need reassurance and also some level of supervision.

Personally, I think many older adults feel better when they are in familiar surroundings, but it can be hard for families to provide the necessary supervision and help while the older person is recovering. If not, I would recommend talking with his health providers about how he is doing, and a social worker can help you brainstorm ways to get him the care and support he needs.

My dad has been very confused and was taken into hospital last Tuesday. He has been saying how much pain he was in. Also he was very constipated. Since being in hospital he has had laxatives and His meds being controlled better.

He is due to get a CT scan but I feel hes definitely less confused. Does this sound like delirium? Yes, it does sound like it could be delirium. I would recommend you ask his doctors for more information, they should be able to advise you. That is great if he is already better! My father is 93 years old and had a prostate cancer 10 years ago. He is in remission and no longer have prostate cancer. However, as a result of the radiation, he has been having some bladder bleeding due to the thinning of the bladder wall and has been on a catheter continuously for over a year.

A Homehealth nurse would come to the house and flush or change it once a month or as needed. The catheter has been giving him UTI on and off and his doctor would prescribe antibiotics. A couple of months ago, he has been paranoid and aggressive solely towards my mom. His mind is still sharp as he can carry on a conversation and would remember everything. He never exhibited suicidal tendencies until a month ago, he got suicidal to the point that he called , police came and eventually the paramedics took him to the ER and was put on a hold and was sent to a psych hospital.

The hospital medicated him so bad that he was drooling and shaking. So we begged them to release him to a skilled nursing facility as he is not psychotic. The psych doctor thought it could have been the UTI that caused him to have delirium. He is still at the rehab and taking risperdal 0. It has been a rollercoaster ride because he would be in a good mood but then calls my Mom and goes back to the old paranoia accusing her of infidelity. My mom is 83 years old with osteoporosis and hunched back.

Prior to this incident, he has shown some aggressive behavior and throwing stuff or threatening to harm my Mom. He is only allowed for a short stay and then he can come home or go to an assisted living facility. Trying to figure out if the risperdal is the right medicine for him. Thank you and I appreciate this forum. Well, at age 93, his brain in general probably has underlying damage and is very vulnerable.

Drugs like rispderdal can sometimes reduce aggression or frank paranoia, but they also increase falls and can cause sedation. So starting to plan for a different care arrangement eventually may make sense. My dad is 67 years old and has not been eating well since 4 months ago. He needs assistance in walking now due to lack of nutritions. He has been admitted to hospital last Saturday as his potassium level is very low and has been on and off confused state.

We are really worried on his condition and not sure how long will he take to recover. They tied him down to the bed as he could turn violent. Sorry to hear of this story, it does indeed sound worrisome and very sad. It could indeed be delirium.

Skip to content. Understanding this Medical Emergency. What does Delirium look like? Restless and upset Slurred speech Not making sense Mix-up days and nights Sleepy, then alert Forgetful Cannot concentrate More alert than normal Not knowing where you are Trouble staying awake What causes Delirium? You are more likely to develop it if you: Had delirium in the past Have memory problems Dehydration Problems with sleep Problems with hearing Take more than 5 medications How is it treated?

Treatment may include a small amount of medication, and removing the cause of the delirium Is Delirium permanent? Questions to ask your health care provider: What is causing delirium? How long will it last? Older people recovering in the hospital or living in a long-term care facility are particularly at risk of delirium.

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 combination of a medical condition and drug toxicity.

Sometimes no cause can be identified. Possible causes include:. Any condition that results in a hospital stay, especially in intensive care or after surgery, increases the risk of delirium, as does being a resident in a nursing home. Delirium is more common in older adults. Delirium may last only a few hours or as long as several weeks or months.

If issues contributing to delirium are addressed, the recovery time is often shorter. The degree of recovery depends to some extent on the health and mental status before the onset of delirium. People with dementia, for example, may experience a significant overall decline in memory and thinking skills.

People in better health are more likely to fully recover. People with other serious, chronic or terminal illnesses may not regain the levels of thinking skills or functioning that they had before the onset of delirium. Delirium in seriously ill people is also more likely to lead to:. The most successful approach to preventing delirium is to target risk factors that might trigger an episode.