My 70 year old mother is currently very sick. She got a urinary tract infection a few days ago (which is fairly common for her), but this one seems to have more staying power than usual. In addition, she is having a bad bout of high blood pressure and hasn't been able to fall asleep for more than 2 hours a day for the past 4 days, as well as nausea and fatigue. She also has a bad flare-up of Candida Albicans (which she has struggled with for decades). She can currently barely eat (all she can tolerate is boiled eggs). She can't talk loudly, and can't move much.
Worse yet, the "medicines" the doctor gave her made her worse (it turns out that they have side effects that can affect the nervous system, and she already doesn't have a good nervous system). She didn't figure this out until she had already taken them. It's a perfect storm of multiple problems at once. I've never seen her like this before.
She went to the hospital, but they wouldn't keep her because they said they don't keep anyone who can walk (even though she was having to grip objects to walk and was shaking).
She said that in her current weakened state, her body can't even process additives in natural supplements (such as fillers in herb capsules), so she can only take supplements that are pure without fillers, additives, etc.
She compiled a list of supplements to order for her, but her handwriting is so bad that I can't make most of them out (I was able to decipher curcumin, oregano oil, and hawthorn berry), and she can't talk well enough to help me figure out the rest.
Does anyone have any advice? And can you please pray for her to heal?
D-mannose will cure her UTI. And I just want to make sure that you do know that urintary tract infections in the elderly can mimic dementia symptoms, so if she starts to act unlike herself or if you think she's slipping into dementia etc, it is most likely the UTI. I know that sounds odd, but it is absolutely true. It happened to a loved one. We had no idea. Of course the idiotic doctors put him on bad meds. We got him off of whatever the hell they put him on and had him start taking the D-mannose, which cured him. It's not overnight, but it works. Also, once the UTI is cleared up, she should be put on a maintenance dose.
Buy the powdered form and have her drink it. (instead of the pills.) Once you buy some, there should be dosage instructions. I wish you the best of luck. I'm sorry she's going through this and I will pray for you both.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27424995/
Best advice here. D-Mannose is a miracle. Use it to treat an acute infection. For uti prevention, horsetail is great (3 weeks on, 1 week off). Horsetail is also good for many other things. May God bless your mother with the gift of healing.
I’m unfamiliar with these properties. Is D-Mannose a natural element in horsetail, by chance?
No, without doing any refresher research, I believe D-Mannose is a sugar that somehow keeps bacteria from being able to adhere to the wall of the bladder or urethra. Maybe why cranberry works ?? The ingredient in horsetail that prevents uti's is silica. Silica is great for many things and you can also get it in Volvic water (from France) and Fiji water.
Thanks for talking the time to reply! Cheers fren.
I’ve been fighting a losing battle with horsetail in my yard, Praise the Lord I never won! And never went chemical. On to foraging!
Agreed.
OP, they didn't give your mom cipro, did they? She needs to detox from whatever meds they did give her. (If it was cipro, look up ciprofloxacin toxicity treatment) Definitely get the raw apple cider vinegar. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it is a huge help to the stomach and liver. Put 3 capfuls in 6-8 oz water 3-4 x day. She'll need to rinse off her teeth after drinking. Prayers for your mom
No. The three medicines she says are now more or less killing her are Visoril, Lorazepam, and Clonidine. I think some of them are for anxiety (which she suffers with). She says that these are what are causing her the most severe problems she has now. I thought she was talking about medicines they gave her for the UTI, but after talking to her again and looking them up, it's the medicines she's been taking for her anxiety and blood pressure. I think she did say something about them either giving or wanting to give her antibiotics for the UTI, though.
She said that what she needs most is the ability to sleep (her mind won't "turn off", so she always stays awake), and something for the nausea.
That sounds exactly like what has been happening to my mother. It does seem like the blood pressure and anxiety medications are among the causes of her problem.
Last night, she went to the hospital again, and the doctor told her that going off of the Clonidine (and maybe the Lorezapam as well, I don't remember for certain) cold turkey was making things worse, and she needs to gradually reduce dosage to ween herself off rather than quitting all at once. He also gave her something for the nausea. She seems to be doing somewhat better now.
Melatonin for sleep. It helped my mom too.
She tried melatonin (which has helped her I the past), but it didn't help this time.
So essentially she's being poisoned by the pharmaceuticals while the root cause of her anxiety & high blood pressure remains untreated (since those meds do nothing to resolve the cause).
If it were my mother, I'd treat it as a liver/gut issue. What they say about a 2nd brain in the gut is absolutely true. It's where most neurotransmitters are produced.
Get off those meds as quickly as possible but as cautiously as necessary. Immediately start the raw apple cider vinegar because it helps the liver so much. If she can't stand the thought of that, look up chanca piedra (whole world botanicals is an excellent brand) and order right away. Also look up time release probiotic with at least 10 strains, as well as adaptogenic herb blend. GABA and trace minerals work best for sleep.
Can she drink broth right now? She could live off a good homemade broth for awhile if she can't stomach anything else.
Obviously just my opinion but my education is in nutrition and I've a lifetime of experience with anxiety and resulting physical problems.
Tell your mom lots if people are praying for her
She wound up having to go to the hospital last night. The doctor this time was better than the ones before, and told her that going off of the Clonidine cold turkey like she did was making matters worse, and that she needs to ween herself off, starting with a half dose. They also have her something for nausea and put her on a drip that fixed her dehydration. They still didn't keep her (she didn't meet their criteria to be admitted) and sent her home, but she is feeling somewhat better now. She's not as weak or shaky, and finally got some sleep.
She probably can now. Her appetite seems a little better now.
D-mannose is amazing! When I feel a UTI coming on, just a couple of doses will stop it in it tracks! I have suffered with UTIs for years, and it is truly the only thing that helps.
Yes it’s true about uti and dementia characteristics in elderly
Thank you. That should be very useful for that particular issue (although she has several other pressing ones at the moment, as I mentioned).