Sudden deterioration of dad’s mental state after Covid/Pneumonia

I need to be able to upload all 4 images of his questionnaire and I think it’s only allowing 1 at a time. I’m trying to be calm and figure that out. I’ll mark in red what has changed suddenly in the last 12 days since his Covid/pneumonia diagnoses. I felt a need to tell you I’m working on this and will respond asap. and I’ll mention the remedies I’ve dosed him so far in my scramble to preserve his mind.

He’s showing improvement, clarity, personality- and then backsliding. It’s up and down. I am so stunned and appreciative of your effort for us THANK YOU. I’m also intimidated and feeling anxious for your attention, so bear with me. Handling this right now.

Okay I’m going to type it out to save time. I figured his handwriting and approach to the questionnaire would be helpful so let me know if you do need that.

Originally written 11/29/23
I’ll add ((this)) for new notes developing over the last 2 weeks.

Jerry
62 yo
-Troubling weather conditions? wet weather; cold wet weather

-Feel better by? sunny weather

-More sensitive or worse by? Bright light; loud noises; cold wet weather; drafts
((tight clothing; closed spaces))

-Chilly/hot scale? 3 out of 10

-Perspiration scale? Was 3 out of 10 ((now 5 out of 10))

-Particular area of perspiration? ((Head and chest))

-Times of day you feel best? Was 3pm
-Times of day you feel worst? Was 3am and 7pm
((Now his sleep schedule is reversed. He’s awake and restless during night, and deep sleeping during day. When awake he has lucid phases with personality, sarcasm, and awareness of time- and then dozing/confused/speedy speech phases))

-Symptoms during sleep? Talking; nightmares; snoring; legs twitching; get up to urinate frequently.
((his legs and now arms are twitching much more, can’t snap awake; was uncooperative but is becoming more cooperative with necessary care; doesn’t want to be bothered but has more patience than he did a few days ago; needs to lay sitting partially up and to his side; has vomited one time in this whole experience and happened while sleeping. He knew to ring the bell for my mom’s help))

-Which of following do you crave greatly? Sweets; meat; salty foods; icecream.
((Particularly wants ground beef and pasta, but has a notable reaction to it becoming drowsy, in a stupor, within 90m after eating it. Happened 3 times but that’s all he’d eat. Trying our best to convince eating tilapia tonight.
**Is it best to not feed him at all if he’s craving what seems to hurt him?** HE ALSO INTENSELY CRAVES orange popsicles with cream in them. he eats 3 at a time. That’s been his norm and he still relies on them. Will not drink water so we hope that offers hydration))

-Strong aversion to foods?
((Will NOT drink water; only homemade iced tea. Will take his pills but seems to swallow a bit hard. Seems to have his mind set on cravings and wants nothing else))

-General thirst? 8/10
((Now a 4ish out of 10. Thirsty when he does drink but mainly wants the cold creamsicle experience))

-What water temperature do you prefer?
5/10
((Total avoidance of water in drinking and bathing. Has avoided bathing for months))

-Which of the following do you greatly worry about in a frequent basis?
Money; my health; health of others; work; mental functioning; my future
((All concerns are the same, and they shine through in his hazy moments as well as his lucid moments))

-What do you greatly fear on a frequent basis? Being alone; impending illness
((Yes. In addition, he gets very frustrated with my senior dog who barks at him when he (the dog) is not feeling well. It “appears” like he’s either hurt emotionally or afraid of my dog. We’re all going through stuff and healing here together. >.>

-Overall personality description?
Affectionate; feelings of guilt; loving; overly concerned.
((In addition, he’s agitated by his current state of confusion and the isolation it causes. He can’t follow multi-step questions, and he gets angry when it’s too much for him. Learning how to maintain calm as we go. When he’s lucid, he understands and accepts help with his goals and worries he’ll be stuck like this))

-When I think of past trauma, I feel?
Resolved about them; guilt; remorse or regret
((That answer speaks to the nuance of his guilt. It’s always felt like an overarching part of him and he doesn’t love himself. The guilt shows itself in this crisis too))

-When I think of my problems I feel?
Optimistic; discouraged

-My usual feelings about my spouse and partner are? Loving; affectionate; she is my Angel.
((Their 35 year marriage is marred and complicated, but they found some closeness and new priorities in my Dad’s canc diagnosis. They were fighting again the last couple months tho. When he feels frustrated he’s projecting a lot of anger onto my mom. They’re close but they’ve always fought, and that bleeds into his mindset in this situation))

-My general mood is? Morose/gloomy; moody.
((His family uplifts him very much but when left alone that is how he ends up. Relevant to this situation too))

-I am generally? Somewhat trusting; suspicious

-Which of the following do you forget frequently/daily? Dates; names
((His long term memory is mostly in tact, and his working memory sticks when he’s lucid but doesn’t stay/install. He’s slowly understanding what this illness is doing to him and retaining some of it, but some things will “reset”. I’ll describe more thoughtfully if you need it))

-Which of the following are you overly sensitive to? Music; rudeness; seeing others suffer
((Yes, all relevant. In addition, whatever he might perceive as rejection or feeling wrong. And he needs grace and patience or he’ll get upset and not cooperate altogether))

-How critical are you of others? 7/10
-How critical are you of yourself? 9/10

-Do you experience any of these behaviors on a frequent/daily basis when you get upset? Cursing.
((Now, cursing and raising voice; minor bouts of rage; he leaves to his bedroom after expressing anger; 4 days ago he made one threat of violence to leave his TV remote alone. No threats since.))

-Overall sexual desire? 2/10

————
The remedies I’ve tried so far:
1 dose arsenicum album 1m the day of collapse
1 dose Bryonia 30c; 3 days ago
1 dose Veratrum album; yesterday
3 doses over last 3 days; belladonna 200

He has shown some improvement over the last 3 days, but I’m not understanding how to maintain or get him off of this plateau.
I’m terrified of doing something wrong and unhelpful.
I have OCD and am on the autism spectrum so I’m not well-organized but I am obsessed with his care. Please tell me how to be helpful with this creative, beautiful science— or how to fix any damage I’ve done. -_-
Thank you infinitely much for any of your time and patience.

THANK YOU I will order the 2 I don’t have right now!!

I currently have Kali Phos 30, and Nux Vom 30 in pellets.
Is there a way I can use those in the day or two it will take to receive the order?

((I also want to add- he has been addicted to opioids for nearly 20 years, and alcohol before that. An addict throughout life. He has major opioid tolerance.

In this daze he’s having phases of wanting free access to his narcotics and he’s upset that he can’t have that right now. He becomes very combative, and he’ll search for them at times in his room. He’s obviously feeling pain, and he’s also lived for these for drugs for a long time in terms of dopamine and mental survival))

I also have Nux Vom 1m in pellet form, just in case that matters.
I gave him no remedies yesterday in waiting for your suggestion, and he did vomit again early this morning for a total of twice over this entire ordeal. He’s currently in his stupor/sleepy state, and when awake he’s suspicious of us not giving him his pain meds.

Thank you so much again for your attention to our situation.
I’ll wait patiently for your response.

It’s possible… his sugar was high when he went to the hospital for his Covid/pneumonia spiral, and they didn’t release him with any acknowledgment or directions or management for sugar levels or diabetes. His vitals aren’t bad enough to “force” him back to the hospital (using EMS services) for oxygen supplementation and general testing to understand his quick mental deterioration, but he clearly needs help and oxygen support, and he will not cooperate with going back to the ER voluntarily.
I’ll consider Type II food considerations just in case because he’s only become more belligerent and harder to support.
Thank you for your input!

THANK YOU okay! I gave him one dose of Nux 30 last night so far.

Update: Last night at 1:00AM I had to call EMS because he couldn’t snap out of his sleeping stupor, and his body weakness/tremors were so intense. While we weren’t in the room he tried to get up and function somehow, but ended up collapsing on the floor due to whole-body weakness. His o2 on the oximeter was 90, and his BPM was 90 as well, with somewhat low blood pressure but mostly stable. The EMS took him to the hospital for his weakness and inability to communicate, though I saw him trying to break through his stupor prison.

The loss of muscle strength and weakness has been accumulating for about 3 days, and he’s mumbling things like in a dream state, but he has moments of clarity and clear speech when he does snap out- as he did while on the stretcher going into the ambulance.

My mom and I have reduced his prescribed opiate doses by half for this covid crisis based on his breathing while sleeping. When he got to the ER, the doctors needed to use narcan, and they had to dose him twice to get him out of it. They’ve given him pain meds again since then, but I find it notable that his decades-long tolerance for opiates has dropped. His brain CT was clear and his labs are stable- some even improving compared to months ago.

Any changes based on this info?

Haven’t been able to see my Dad at the hospital today for dosing.
The last dose he got was Nux 30 at 10pm last night.

*Improvements*
-Maintained 2 separate phone convos with my sister and mother. Slow, but more “himself”, and less bitter about receiving care.
-Expressing thirst
-Requesting drinks from staff
-Willing to drink something other than his tea
((He’d drink only tea for months))
-Expressing hunger and asking for food
((but I’m unsure if he was allowed to eat yet by their standards)).

*Decline/Issues*
((all developed w/Covid; going up and down in severity))
-Last week’s hospital stay he had
*acute encephalopathy* and then it was removed. It is now added to his chart again.
-Systolic heart failure
-Poor urinary stream
-Low Iron Anemia
-Ventricular enctopy
-Mental changes
-COPD ((has been chronic over time))
-Currently smokes cigarettes

Kali Phos 6x arrived this evening.
I’m going to do everything I can to get both remedies to him tonight.

Thank you (and any others) for investing precious time in our chaotic, ever-evolving situation. I am forever grateful.

*The Nux 200 arrived today!

*To be clear, should I use the Nux 200 now that I have it?
Or do 3 days of Nux 30 regardless?

I did get the KP and Nux 30 doses to him last night.
I saw growing mental clarity in the 2 hours I spent with him, and I think some improvement in strength too.

This morning he was still on that improved plateau, then by afternoon he was dazed and loopy again. He has some clarity now in the evening, but not as lucid as he was last night.

I’m trying to enforce the wet dosing method as you suggested.
He would not drink a drop of plain water so we had to use pellets.
I will try again for the water route.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your attention.

Okay I will do Nux 30 for now!

He IS willing to take the wet dosing method now. That’s a notable improvement considering he wouldn’t swallow a drop of water last week. He won’t bathe nor drink water outside of dosing purposes.

I used Nux 200 yesterday. He struggled last night into today, so I will switch back to 30. This morning he did have a very healthy bowel movement. He isn’t drinking much and his urine is dark. The confusion is the most pronounced symptom.

-His brain MRI results were clean.
-His chronic pain has changed in type and place.
-He is back home now as of the evening of 3/13.
-He still has pneumonia, is taking antibiotics, and he’s still Covid positive.
-As of tonight he has oxygen supplementation at home.
-His mind is still not the same as it was before Covid, and modern medicine doesn’t understand why. He’s come close to being “himself” and finding physical strength to move, but he always sinks back down.
-He has lucid phases and confused phases, and I’m trying to note any patterns to identify why/when. At his worst he appears lost like he can’t get a hold on time or purpose. When I tell him I know he’s feeling lost, and that he can trust me to slowly lead him out of this fog, he looks at me reassured and sighs with relief. He’s doing his best from the inside, and he seems like he’s whole behind his eyes- just trapped.


His mind was doing a bit better in the hospital so I’m thinking his diet has a lot to do with his brain and muscle stability.

I’m going to give him a Larch powder prebiotic to begin balancing his microbiome.

When he gets his sublingual b12 supplement he seems to snap out of a stupor (but not fully); I wanted to relay that in case it means something. He’s getting 1000mcg once a day.

Thank you so very much for your time and attention.
Every moment means the world to me and my family.
This man is a unique kind of survivor, and he deserves this support. Thank you.
[Edited by Cosmosis on 2024-03-16 01:12:16]

Okay I will cease the Nux 30 and do as you suggest!!

—Improvements—

The day before yesterday he had an existential experience. He was saying “something is seriously wrong” and identifying it. He was testing his perception of reality with reality. Wanted to know if his shoes were where he put them in his mind. He was upset that they weren’t aligned with his expectation. We had a long emotional talk about how tough this process is, and I reminded him who he is- his identity as it was. He took it in, we cried a lot, and he napped much of that day.

*YESTERDAY INTO LAST NIGHT WAS A BIG SHIFT*

-He now objectively refers to his stupors as “confusion episodes”, like he can step outside of them. Ever since he mentioned them as episodes ((yesterday evening)) he hasn’t fallen into one. We’ll see how it goes.

-When he is drowsy he’s more responsive and cooperative than he was.

-HE WAS ABLE TO TEXT LAST NIGHT! Almost perfectly! Full thoughts, some typos.

-He’s remembering where we left off in our care routine before Covid spiral. Last night he remembered/requested our Black Seed Oil regimen and melatonin.

—Struggles—

-He seems to have notable difficulty after a (small or big) meal. Mentally and physically. Haven’t found the proper food/diet that doesn’t make him drowsy and depressed after eating. No longer craving a constant stream of icecream pops.
Wants chocolate milk and protein, but struggles afterwards.
*Any food suggestions???

-We had a full conversation last night.
He requested I watch him closely when he’s stuck in his confusion because he doesn’t feel control and worries about the person he is, or what he’s capable of.
He was relieved that I have his back. His norm is loving and considerate. He carries a lot of shame and self-worth problems. He would never hurt us. A lot of trauma, addiction, and homelessness in his past- I think he was defaulting to a protective, defensive stance in the stupor.
And he fears spinning out.
When we were growing up he’d sometimes wake up startled and swinging his fist, and catch himself carefully as soon as he snapped awake.

-He’s doing better mentally in evenings and nights.
More awake at night.
However, we talked about his nightmares.
They are extreme.
He’s hesitant to sleep because he wants to avoid them, and then he’s drowsy all day and not healing properly.
*Please guide me on how I can help that if possible. Nightmares have been an issue his whole life, but especially now.
His nightmares always make him feel worse toward himself.

-Feeling more of the pain and discomfort he had before Covid spiral.
*Extreme shoulder/upper back/into neck pain. When he’s feeling this pain intensely he will sit up with his legs down, hunched over, and quiet. Not wanting to be touched and doesn’t respond quickly.
*Unsettled stomach.
*MUCH less interest in his opiate pain meds. They aren’t seeming to be very helpful with his complaints, and he’s not trying to take them for dopamine cravings.

Thank you so, so, so much I have no words for how we value your guidance. We are seeing him- he’s in there, and he’s digging his way out. He’s coming back to us, and he’s seemingly finding some internal balance he’s NEVER had. Thank you, Dr. <3

Thank you!!!

One last concern, and then I’ll wait to update per your suggestion! I don’t want to squander any potential healing.

Sleep schedule is reversed since the initial spiral— going to sleep around 10am, awakening in evening around 4-6pm.

1. Should we nurture all rest no matter when his body is inclined to rest?

2. I’ve been dosing him the Kali Phos & Cal Phos during his waking hours, which has evolved to be between 4pm - 3am.
***Should I wake him and dose these remedies during daylight hours? Or continue dosing during his particular waking hours?

Thank you infinitely for your patience.
((A worthy personal note: My Dad is now aware and understanding our efforts. His faith in homeopathic medicine is thriving. He’s humbled both by the power of this science, and the time you’re donating to his case. He wants me to thank you from him directly, and I’m proud to relay it.))
[Edited by Cosmosis on 2024-03-20 01:03:10]

I will order Ferrum Phos 6x!!

-For now, I have Ferrum…
Ferrum Phos 3x
Ferrum Phos 12x
“Five Phosph. 6x” with all five Phos cell salts

Can I start any of these until it gets here?
Thank you, Dr.!!!

My Dad has experienced some potential backsliding. Please let me know if I’m handling this properly and what else I may do.

::Overall condition::

He is again sleeping most of the day and night. When he is awake he isn’t making full sense and he does get frustrated with himself, but he understands that he’s feeling confused. He’s able to maintain calm at his most lucid, i.e. “I don’t understand, but that’s okay”. When he’s done eating he gets very drowsy, and that’s primarily when his thoughts are blending/overlapping. His shoulder pain is very much nagging him.

::Potential causes of his decline::

He was awake most of the day on the 20th and doing fantastic, though that day there were 2 notable occurrences.

1. He experienced a very strong emotional event.
((He’d decided to stop chemo treatments because the physical sacrifice is too great, and it likely made him vulnerable to the struggles he’s enduring now. He isn’t done fighting against this disease, and we are doing whatever we can to help him fight this WHILE maintaining quality of life. The 20th he said he “suddenly saw more color” and felt some internal emotional shifts he couldn’t describe)).

2. Later that evening his Morphine dose was increased. ((His most recent hospital stay he recieved Narcan which benefitted him greatly, and this appeared to be the same situation developing. As a reminder, he needed 2 doses of narcan that day for his PRESCRIBED DOSE of pain meds that he had been taking for months, with years of opioid use building his tolerance.))

*He has an oxygen machine here at home now, so his o2 level is stable for that support.

*The following day (the 21st) began his backsliding into sleep/stupor conditions.

::Timeline::
1. 17th - 20th he was steadily improving.
2. Decline started the 21st.
3. He proceeded to sleep all day of the 21st, so I gave him Nux 30 that evening at 7pm (as I was worried Nux 200 was causing agitations).
4. He awoke from 4-6am early morning of the 22nd for icecream and medication, then back to sleep. I realized the possible opiate connection and reduced his morphine intake starting the morning of the 22nd. We are tracking BPM (which is 80) to be sure his suffering isn’t great. As he said himself a couple days ago, “I can handle the pain, but I really don’t like that brain fog.”
5. He then awoke for an hour the afternoon of the 22nd from 12:30-1:30pm to eat and take medication. He fell hard into deep sleep after eating. Considering these glimmers of improvement I gave him Nux 30 again at 7pm. He was not aware and awake for that dose.
6. By 11pm he was able to wake up for medication and some food. He’s dazed and he’s aware of the fog, and able to identify the state he’s in. He knows to call out for assistance and nurturing.

*I believe it is again the morphine or something to do with his lowered opioid tolerance— AND/OR the emotional event he’s been processing. I am humbly receptive to any suggestions or prescriptions you have.

*Something noteworthy overall is his BPM has been improving and lowering steadily over time, now at 80. His baseline heart rate was 100-113 for nearly a year. Over the last 3 weeks that has changed and stabilized.

Thank you for your time!
[Edited by Cosmosis on 2024-03-23 05:57:06]

I need some guidance.
I ordered the ipecac Q, but it won’t be here until the 27th.

I gave him ipecac 30 I mistakenly thought it was ipecac 3c.
I am admittedly exhausted.
Is this okay? It seemed to help, but he wanted to eat beef again (small portion) for a late dinner, and every time he eats beef he struggles afterward. Early this morning he did have a bowel movement he really needed, but he’s too foggy to do that efficiently with total awareness. Needing help with the whole process of a bowel movement happened prior to his recent improvement too (from the 17th to the 20th).

So going into today, I’m not sure if the ipecac was a problem or if that meal was a problem, or if this climb toward potential improvement is very slow. He awoke with no appetite other than popsicles, and he’s kind of disengaged but making more sense than not.

With 2 doses of the Nux 30 yesterday, and 1 dose of the accidental ipecac 30 last night, so far he is more consciously awake, but not quite grounded.