82 year old mother sudden memory loss

[FeltCarrot]

Any one with any expertise in this area please help!
My mother has just phoned me (lives 2 hours away) to say she’s had a “funny few days” in that she can’t remember anything unless she looks in her diary
eg she visited two weeks ago with her husband but can’t remember coming. She can’t remember phoning me on Sunday and when I said I would drive up tomorrow she said “ but what about work?” I told her I was retired (18 months ago] but she couldn’t remember that.
A doctor has seen her and taken blood/urine samples but no results yet. They also asked her a few memory tests which she could do.
What could be wrong with her? I’m worried sick but she was very calm telling me not to worry!

Oh, she had WhatsApped our family chat on Thursday saying what a lovely day out she’d had so was fine then.

Might be a kidney infection. Really sets older people back and they can rally again when they have the necessary treatment. I saw it with my own mom. Amazed at how she recovered as l hadn't realised a kidney infection would hit so hard.

maybe a uti? symptoms are different in the elderly - mental health, confusion, bad temper etc

She’s always been so with it though and pretty healthy apart from a touch of arthritis and has problems sleeping. Walks a few miles every day, always on the go.

Thank you for replying. Fingers crossed it’s “just” an infection. Very strange and worrying especially not being round the corner.

Likely UTI or dehydration , that’s the two most common reasons .

Does she live by herself or is there anyone else that could give you more information?

I don’t want to worry you, it could be any number of things. A uti is probably most likely but it could be a stroke. How’s her balance and continence? Really unlikely but it could be normal pressure hydrocephalus.

She lives with her husband (my dad died 14 years ago with Alzheimer’s) but he’s as deaf as a post so not great on the phone. She said she’d call me tomorrow so I’m going to give her until 11.30 before I call her.
When I spoke to her on Sunday she was fine so this is quite sudden.

My 85 year old mum presented like this last year .At first we suspected Alzheimers but an MRI last month confirmed that she has had a temporal lobe stroke. My mum is still active but her short term memory has been considerably affected .

She could just be constipated. I work in elderly care and sudden onset confusion can be caused by something as simple as that. Others have suggested a UTI, so that, or any other kind of infection or viral illness can cause confusion as well.

A couple of older relatives of mine have had cognitive problems as a result of sodium deficiency; they were both told to reduce sodium intake due to blood pressure issues and it went too far the other way. Nice and simple to fix.

Just to update if anyone is interested, my mother has had excellent care from a team of nurses and this afternoon went for a brain scan which showed Transient Global Amnesia as well as a bit of brain atrophy.
So worst case atm she may not fully remember the last couple of weeks but shouldn’t impair her too much.
Will sleep a lot better tonight!

I'm glad she is getting good care and it's something temporary. Sleep well tonight.

Always good to know what you are dealing with .

Thank you! Going to see her tomorrow just for extra peace of mind!