Advice please

[sarahC40]

I’d really appreciate some advice really. My dad is 78 and had a hip replacement two years ago - all good. He’s had four falls now, which only my mum has ever seen and a couple of those left her more irritated at him battering her roses than worried. He’s had an mri and they found nothing, and we’ve been aware over the last few weeks that he’s getting quite shuffling and wobbly.

So tonight was go for a Sd walk with dad. He has a stick and walked slowly but perfectly normally around the village until within the space of fifteen yards, suddenly speeded up then stopped still, saying he needed to stop. He then completely lost his balance and tipped forward without being aware he was doing it - didn’t brace or even change expression. He was able to stop when he had someone holding his arm.

Within fifteen mins, he was perfectly ok and walking around the garden. He’s deaf in One ear (Since childhood - measles) and was being fitted for hearing aids When lockdown started. His speech is sometimes a bit slurry and sometimes completely clear. He doesn’t drink much (glass of wine) but has committed to not drinking anymore because he hates falling.

Any thoughts or experience v welcome. He’s got a sharp Mind and is determined that he’s not old - having to do a bit of a swift mental adjustment to my dad being an old man.

I’d like an edit button - blooming iPad and capital letters. I’m a teacher and want to get my red pen out 🙄

I have no experience to offer good advice but I wish your dad well and I hope he keeps himself fit and independent for as long as he is able to.

I was going to suggest something to do with his ears affecting his balance. My mum had similar problems,falling without warning in the house. She was very deaf though I'm not sure if it was directly connected, but her gp said a slight sudden head movement could cause it.

So she was extra careful to change her head direction very slowly which did seem to help. It did make her anxious as falling is no joke,obviously.

Has he had his BP checked recently? The loss of balance and slurred speech could be a sign of TIA caused by high BP .

Thanks for the replies - blood pressure and heart are fine and checked recently, but his hearing has deteriorated. I imagined that might account for balance but the speech too? Thanks for your good wishes. He rang me when I got home to make sure I wasn’t worrying and said that getting older (note not old) was a bugger. Feeling a bit low to be honest. I’m going to make sure that he gets his hearing aids done now things are opening up again. Thanks for your thoughts.

A neurological issue? Will your Dad go to the GP? His GP will be concerned about falls.

His gp is v good and has referred him fir an mri which found nothing. Apparently he was told he was just getting old but told me that when annoyed as he woukd like a reason and was worried about a tumour (no history - that was an assumption on his part). Think im going to start by encouraging him to use the exercise bike a bit to strengthen muscles and get this hearring aid finally fitted, whilst he gets onto the gp again.

Was it an MRI of the brain? I too thought some kind of neurological deterioration. It's odd that he sped just before crashing. Was he talking normally during the time he was speeding up?

Sorry you are worried about your dad op

Presumably your dad's gp has ruled out Parkinson's disease? I am not an HCP so please do NOT be alarmed as this may not apply in your father's case, but someone I know has Parkinson's and the shuffling gait, loss of balance, loss of control over automatic movements (putting your hands out to stop you falling) and slurred speech are fairly typical symptoms.

It is a condition that is diagnosed mainly through someone's medical history, I don't think it can be picked up by MRIs etc.

One indicator, is if someone's hand-writing gets smaller.

Your gp would presumably be alert to this possibility though.

I hope your dad's health improves soon.

Mri scans dont show everything. Definitely have his ears /balance looked at. In the mean time , would he use one of those rollaters? It's like a walking frame on wheels, they are far more sturdy than just a walking stick. It might be worth asking the gp for a referral to ot to be assessed for one.

Thanks for the responses and suggestions. My dh went over this morning and my dad was powering through on his exercise bike 😳 and chatting away. He’s got no dizziness today and I chatted to him on the phone and got every word. I went over after I’d finished at work and he was walking around their garden dead heading things and chatted again for an hour, then leant over and picked up a heavy bag from the ground to take it inside. I know that he’s in touch with the gp, but it’s the intermittent nature of this all that I find odd.

When he sped up walking he was ranting about Boris, so I thought that he was being energetically cross. He was similarly grouchy and vivid about the govt today. He did have an mri on his brain and I checked with mum today, who said that they’d queried Parkinson’s with the consultant. I’m going to try and get the hearing aid sorted for him - he’s so used to having crap hearing that he said that he couldn’t be bothered to push it at the moment.

When I rang him this morning he said how much he’d enjoyed going out for a walk and could we go again on Sunday as it was so much more interesting with people, so he’s either coping with what happened better than me, or he feels a bit safer with people around to catch him and keep an eye.

Sorry for the essay - this has helped me to process.

Glad to hear things are looking more positive op! Long may it continue that way!

I’m hoping that he gets some answers - gp is good but at least I’ve finally seen what it looks like when this happens - it’s defo not normal and I did have another look at the Parkinson’s page. I had thought that he might have had a mini stroke (his mum suffered two and his sister had a stroke too).

My first thought is dehydration. It is very common for the elderly to be chronically dehydrated which brings about a host of issues, including dizziness. I would talk to him and your mum about making sure he is drinking plenty of water.

That occurred to me too. Tbh I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen my dad drinking water - he drinks coffee all day, which is ridiculous. He has given up booze entirely, which is great.