Dad had a stroke because of A Fib - blood clot. He had been independent up until this point. Walked everyday 6 to 10 blocks, no cane or walker. No salt diet, never smoked or drank alcohol, active social life. 97years old, 124 cholesterol, blood pressure 140/70. After stroke he can walk, talk, light eater, just some memory issues. Doctors put him on bp meds & cholesterol med. So now his blood pressure keeps going down to around 84/50. I feel it's the meds causing the low blood pressure. I keep asking what is the cause. Can't get clear answer. Well he is dehydrated - no the blood work does not show that. Does a 97 year old man need to take this medicine when all his life he never took any medicine?
84/50 is too low as he can become dizzy & fall so that is an issue that you should bring up - even a lower dose but his prior BP was good so keep up the questions until you get a clear answer - FYI my dad had 79/48 & said he was dizzy but that was without meds [low BP runs in family]
My dad was a dr so he taught me how to do a quick dehydration test - lightly pinch the skin on the back of his hand to make a mound then take your fingers away quickly .... if the mound stays up then he is dehydrated & if it goes down slowly he is starting to become dehydrated but if it springs back then no worry - you can also check kids this way - practise a few times on yourself so you have a good idea
Your dad must feel tired with that low BP so he needs you as his advocate otherwise he may just do a line of least resistance due to tiredness
After taking the drug, she became so disoriented that she thought she was back in Russia, where she hadn't lived since she'd been in her 20's. She began speaking only Russian.
My sister took her back to be seen by her primary care doctor, not the doctor who had started her on the statin. He said it was late stage dementia, due to her advanced age.
My sister protested and finally convinced the doctor to take her off the statin drug to see if the confusion improved. He finally agreed. The drug was stopped. Her mind cleared and she returned to normal mental clarity.
When my daughter was 9m old, she was given an antibiotic for an ear infection. Not only did it not work, she got WORSE! Switching to another antibiotic solved the issue. Found out after the fact that my mother also cannot take that kind of antibiotic.
While in the hospital, they kept injecting me with Heparin, which has been around a LONG time (Heparin is one of the oldest medicines currently in use. It was first discovered in 1916...) Generally it will lower platelets and help prevent clotting. USUALLY the worst side-effect is to lower them too much, leading to bleeding. In my case, platelet count shot sky high and finally resulted in a hematoma, which stopped the Heparin.
So, when taking medication, do watch for ANY out of the ordinary, not just the usual side-effect warnings. It could be a bad reaction to the medication!
Get him a good geratric doctor!