Someone dear to me spent 9 days in ICU on a ventilator (with various sedation holds). The first few days she would just stare and was completely out of it. Now her mind has gone wild, she thinks people are visiting that haven’t been; she’s coming out with bizarre things, thinks she’s in different countries etc. There is the odd moment we see HER but it is seconds only before the wildness takes over again. Does this sound like delirium? There’s a strong possibility she will have brain damage. I am hoping this will pass?
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Delirium is confusing for the viewer & the sufferer😊
“patient is convinced that what they are experiencing in their mind is actually happening. It can be terrifying for them and very worrying for relatives.
A patient who has delirium may still recognise friends and family but they will not believe it when they are told that they are imagining these frightening situations. They feel in danger which they can’t escape from, so they may try to get out of their hospital bed or demand to be taken home.
Patients with delirium can find it very difficult to understand or remember information – so even if they appear to understand what is happening, or may be joining in a conversation, they may not remember what has just been said to them. Delirium can also change quickly, one minute you will be having a normal conversation and next they will say something that makes no sense to those listening.
Whatever she’s seeing don’t appear to be scary to her. She’s got the giggles and is just coming out with bizarre things. She seems to remember people but not who they are to her. She thinks that I am the mother of myself and my sister for example.
Well I’m glad she’s having sweet dreams 😊 - delirium normally passes in a few days although my father-in-law who found himself in ICU with COPD, had delirium for quite a few weeks.
Just don’t be surprised if she is different when she is home. My daughter said she thought I had had a brain transplant. My sense of humour is evil, I don’t tend to engage brain before speaking and although I try and warn people I don’t really care. I have been out of hospital for coming up to 5 months. A friend of mine who is slightly older and me thought I was really lucky.
My husband suffered dreadfully with delirium , he too kept thinking he was on holiday in different countries, some days he was really angry, he was on a ventilator for nearly 6 weeks, it took about 3 week for him to come back to us. The hospital did an MRI scan to check for any damage, it was clear .
it was a dark worrying time for us, but apart from not recalling any of it and some cognitive difficulties his mind is back to where it was .
It really is hard, my husband swore at some of the nurses and was aggressive, I was mortified, it was water off a ducks back to the nursing staff. When he came round and I told him what he had done , he made it a mission to say sorry . You will get there, just hang on tight . I recall seeing him like a zombie, we took in a memory board of photo's of F&F and he knew the names but couldn't connect the relationship, it was terrifying, he was just mumbling to himself some days .
It's normal and there's a very good chance your friend will not have brain damage.
I was ventilated for 3 weeks. In and out of sedation I was delirious and heavily hallucinating. After ICU I spent a week on the acute ward where I was hallucinating constantly for week.
The drugs we're given in ICU are enough to trigger delirium and hallucinations, add fever and lack of proper sleep and it's a heady cocktail!
I too have more of a 'don't care' attitude to life now, but I think that's also die to nearly dying as much as the drugs.
Friends who used to use recreational drugs have told me that these symptoms are very common!
My Dad was under sedation for 14 days and then he suffered an infection in July. He is now home He suffered from delirium, however not to the extent you are describing. He thought he was in hospital in England we live in Scotland, then he was thinking people he knew were in the hospital and imagining cars. He said it was very odd when it started to subside, as he then realised it was hallucinating at certain points but couldn’t stop it helping. It slowly just started to disappear.
Its scary to see, and sad when your loved one is scared or angry, but it passes in the majority of the situations.
I was in a coma and ventilated for nine days, and had some pretty wild hallucinations visions and dreams during that time, and for a bit of time after. The best thing my family did for me was stay calm, not try to talk me out of things, and listen kindly. I have come out of it fine although my body is slightly different due to multiple strokes because of my illness. But I returned to work and function quite the same.
I did have some PTSD off and on afterwards, but had supportive friends and enough information to not get freaked out by it.
Take care of yourself too...its a challenging time.
this sounds like delirium, and it is exactly what i went through (though i don’t remember all of it). my mother & sister came to visit me on the ward once (this was during COVID and they expected me to pass away hence the end-of-life exception) but i kept seeing my sister everywhere and like she was dressed up as a nurse to sneak in and see me; i kept thinking i was on holiday and had hit my head and was being flown around on a plane whilst in my hospital bed; i told my mum and sister i needed to come home because “my shift at the hospital has finished” (i’m not a nurse) and “the nurses were trying to kill me” (a hallucination that was actually my 2:1 staff). this does pass as the sedation leaves the body, but she may experience PTSD from the things she is seeing / experiencing.
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