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Sorry this is long! We need advice on getting my angry grandmother help. She is paranoid and delusional, won't let anyone help her. She just recently reached a point where she is still trying to cook and burning everything and trying to drive(long story), not able to care for herself. We recently took her car and now the police have told us to return it(didn't say it needs to run). This is mind blowing, knowing full well she shouldn't be driving. Her DL has been taken, but that won't stop her. This is horribly frustrating, my entire family is so worried and we are working 24/7 trying to jump through hoops trying to figure out what to do. She was recently in the hospital(she is fine)she screamed at everyone there, talking in circles and they had to medicate her.The Dr. and hospital social worker would not allow her to go home alone because of her mental state, there must be some way to get those doctors to help with a psych evaluation, so she can get help? 3-4 social workers have paid wellness visits and they say she is ok. 1 social worker was suppose to call me for a phone interview and I left several messages, she never did return any of my calls!! Thank you for any advice!

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Dear fleanow,

I'm so sorry to hear what is happening with your grandmother. I know your entire family is trying to do the best they can. Its a very difficult situation. I guess it could be anything, dehydration, poor diet, over medication, under medication, low blood sugar, mental decline. I would seek a second and third medical opinion and try to get her evaluated. I don't know what her blood work shows. Or if its more mental. But try to get her evaluated properly.

MsMadge, I'm totally with you. They wanted to put my dad on Serquol in the hospital when he was agitated. But he was dying! Reason he was up and trying to go home. Sometimes it seems all doctors want to do is push the pills without doing a proper analysis of what is needed.
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fleanow, has your Grandmother been checked for an Urinary Tract Infection [UTI] as such infections in the elderly can cause the symptoms you are writing about.

The UTI test normally isn't done at a physical, one has to request such a test.   The test is fairly easy, Grandmother would need to pee in a cup.  If the test is positive, then antibiotics are given to chase away the infection.
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It sounds very much like gma needs to see a neurologist or a geriatric psychiatrist
My mom's internist referred her to a neurologist
If gma has dementia and is experiencing problems with anxiety and behavior then unfortunately she will likely need meds
Even more unfortunate is that there are no meds that I've been advised that handle these issues therefore anti-psych drugs are used in an off-label manner I.e., a low dose of an anti-seizure or bipolar or schizophrenic drug may be used as these change the chemicals in the brain
i reluctantly agreed to give my mom seroquel but it didn't really help her agitation and made her very sleepy so we switched to another about 4 months ago - her mood is calmer but she is more confused now - at her next follow-up I may ask about decreasing the dosage

Others on this forum may advise you to have her put in a psych unit in order to get meds adjusted
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"The doctor and hospital social worker would not allow her to go home alone because of her mental state..." "3-4 social workers have paid wellness visits and they say she is okay."

Bit of a gap there: so what happened that allowed your grandmother's return home? How was it arranged?
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The police are insisting you return her car because you cannot just take her property, not even for her own and the public's good. Return the car, take the wheels off it and store them safely in her garage, and leave it on axle stands so she can't drive it anywhere.
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She is 95 yrs old and probably thinks she's 50 or 60 hence the driving and burning food. She had a full examination 12/30 100% healthy, it's all mental. Besides the bizarre stories where everyone was either murdered or raped, the worst part is her anger. She yells and screams at everyone and she doesn't hear or understand any reasoning. The odd thing too, she has tons of energy like a 30 yr old and she is getting up every hr. during the night. Is this common?

Since she is so angry with the family and we don't want to cause her any more unhappiness or paranoia, our goal is to get the state of Arizona to help her asap, but it's been impossible to get them to take any action. Any advice?
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If the doctor and social worker at the hospital refused to discharge her home without support, how did she get home?
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Also, you said she's had about three wellness checks which have failed to discover a problem. What do you expect the state's agencies to do if they can't find a problem?

Who is living with her now, and reporting that she's getting up hourly during the night?
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This is a tough one, I'm sorry you are all going through this. There are several factors at play. First does gma have what I refer to as her "necessary documents" which would include an advanced medical directive (AMD) aka living will? See my website for more info on this AMillionTinyThings.com. Second, did you or anyone talk to gma previously about what she wanted under possible circumstances such as this? Third, anger is long term fear. Think about and ask gma what she is afraid of? Fourth, control or lack of control is a huge issue for older people. Find safe parts of her life she CAN safely be in control of. Talk to a social worker in gma's doctor's office with some of this info. They may be able to help with options. Knowing gma's finances before you talk to a social worker is a good idea. This is a start. If you are reading this - do you have your "necessary documents" prepared? Have you spoken with your adult children about what you want and don't want? If your adult children don't want to talk about your life decisions, give them the option to hear all about the night they were conceived instead!!! Their choice !!!
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