mom in icu, opened eyes and was showing signs of consciousness, but now cant open eyes and wont respond

[6hab]

Long story short my mom has been in the ICU for pneumonia for 2 weeks about, recently a couple of days ago she opened her eyes and was able to respond to us using blinking. She could not move but was moving her lips and wiggling her eyeballs a little.

the doctors have stopped sedating her with fentanyl and now they arent sure why she isnt waking up, they apparently didnt know she took antidepressant pills and antipsychotic medications. but it seems whenever they started giving her all of her medications again shes been getting worse as now she isnt responding to our voice and cant open her eyes.

its important to know that during her stay she did have kidney and liver problems but i think the doctors have taken care of them. along with she was able to make a gagging type noise along with choking and gagging which i believe is a sign she knows the ventilator is there.

ive been thinking since whenever they started her pills again thats when everything starting going back to how she was before she woke up. is there a chance that its her medications thats causing this or can it be something deeper and more serious.

please reply with any information i have as nothing ive looked up has helped, its all just the normal steps of leaving the coma which was opening eyes, replying to pain and touch, and being able to hear and respond to it. now its like those never happened

[Rhyl1 Partner Moderator ICUsteps]

Many drugs used in ICU are cleared from the body through the kidneys and liver. If her kidneys and liver are still not working fully then drugs can build up and are not fully cleared through treatments such as haemodialysis. I’m surprised that the ICU pharmacist has not suggested starting back on lower doses for her antidepressants and antipsychotic medications. Many antipsychotic medications cause sedation but not all of them have the same sedative effect. Sedation is related to the amount of medication reaching the central nervous system.

[Sepsur]

as Rhyl1 says 😊

I took along time to wake - I couldn’t tell you if that was a wilful act on my behalf or the effects of sedation or I didn’t want to wake because of the delirium I was experiencing - anyway - soon enough you will know what is the outcome for your loved one - wishing her a speedy recovery.