My mother constantly asks to go to the bathroom, very often within five minutes of going. Twice she asked me to take her to the bathroom while she was sitting on the toilet she has been tested and retested for a UTI, always coming up clean. What other underlying causes could there be, or is this just another symptom of dementia?
Her urologist can test for both these issues, so make an appointment for her today.
Painful Bladder Syndrome
High Oxalate level showing in urine.
Some medications affect the feeling of bladder urgency.
Could be many different reasons.
Yes. Chat with her doc.
It's not easy to get tested for it, as that requires an MRI. Not everyone can afford that and, in the UK, it won't be done unless there is a medical need for such an expensive scan. Furthermore, there is no medical cure, but we can be proactive ourselves.
The way to avoid it or, possibly, reverse it (if, as you say, it's caught before it causes too much damage) is to change your lifestyle. Eating healthily, reducing blood pressure, not smoking, exercise, etc. can prevent the damage to the small blood vessels and even reverse the scars that form in the brain.
I wonder if this is why there seems to be an increase in people suffering from dementia, rather than just more people living longer. After all, dementia isn't as prevalent in communities who follow a Mediterranean diet, or eat foods with lower levels of cholesterol and sugars, or have more reliance on their feet for getting from A to B than hopping in a car.
MID, or "small blood vessel disease" was what caused my mum's stroke and vascular dementia. Unfortunately, the first thing she did when leaving the hospital, after a 5 weeks stay, was to light up the cigarette her husband passed to her. Her doctor's warnings were ignored; her husband reasoned that she was too old to change. Mum was only 63 years old. Now, she's 76 and won't reach 77.
Polyuria (increased frequency of urination),
Polydipsia (increased thirst),
Polyplagia (increased appetite).
When my mother hasn't had a bowel movement in 3-4 days, she will want to go to the bathroom constantly because she feels the need to go but doesn't register that it's not to urinate.
When this happens I give her Milk of Magnesia to help her have a bowel movement and that takes care of the constant urge.
What happens is the lining in the bladder, urethra and the vagina also, shrink and the skin becomes very thin and susceptible to uti, thrush, burning on urination,urge incontinence and feeling full even after peeing...sometimes even the length of the urethra shrinks.
It causes all sorts of pain and urinary issues.
50+% of women will get this in perimenopause or in actual menopause. It happens because of the cessation of estrogen production. It is progressive and the only way to truly treat the condition at its roots is with vaginal estradiol (no, it doesnt cause cancer based on the latest 20 year long study released in May (?) 2023).
You have to look it up. Its too much to type.
Just something to consider.
My mom is 85 and I noticed her struggling to make it to the bathroom in time before placing her in a personal care home. My mom also has a reoccurring UTI all the time from poor hygiene.
unfortunately due to gravity “everything” falls down and gets jumbled up.
a yeast infection is not happening.
Get help treating that. Maybe that can help the irritation which has it's own set of symptoms.
Frequent urination can be treated OTC. UTI's and reduced kidney function can't.
They require Rx meds. Weak kidney function may require a special diet too.
Best case, is that there's no UTI and good kidney function.
Then you know her troublesome urination is more associated with her bladder.
There are Rx meds for that too but you may have to accept it's capacity is shrinking with her aging. Depends and other products are designed to make that less of a bother.
There are meds that can help or remedy the problem.
My mom had constant UTIs. Bladder not emptying completely was the culprit. Put her on a med and she never had another infection
The answer off the top of my retired RN head is "many things" including a prolapsing uterus, and etc. It can also have origins in the brain.
Time to see MD for this MD question.