Mom had severe dementia like symptoms including memory loss, aggression, confusion, as well as apraxia for a few months, which is now better but her mood swings are off the chart. These medicines are turning her into the devil. The steroid mood swings combined with the seething "Keppra rage" (seizure med effect), combined with the brain damage and cognitive decline have severely altered her personality to the point she is unrecognizable. My mom has told me over and over to go f*** myself, used lewd hand gestures, called me a b****, said I'm useless, told me to go die, told me multiple times she doesn't want to live, and other things that are too awful to write.. and it's still the middle of the day. It's even worse for my dad. She has gone completely crazy, it is really hurtful to hear and extremely sad to watch. As difficult as it is for us to hear these things, it must be a hundred times more painful in her head right now:( Her mood swings alternate between rage and crying spells. When we ask her why she is crying, usually she says she does not know. She has no control over herself. I became psychotic after steroids before, so I can only imagine. Brain cancer is so evil. When she calms down or is more lucid, she cries for how she has spoken to us. Or she apologizes profusely and says we will be better off if she dies. I will only be halfway through consoling her before she gets mad again. This goes on 24/7. I think we are all going crazy.
In some ways, it is good she is not more lucid and usually forgets these episodes, otherwise she would not forgive herself. And in some ways, her being nasty makes it easier to be more accepting of the overall situation. When she is her sweet funny self, I cannot handle what is happening to her.
Talking back during these episodes quickly escalates her rage, and the best thing is to stay silent, or have her smell her aromatherapy (boswellia oil). It's hard to hold our tongue... it's a big test in patience and overcoming ego. A lot of times, I fail. We are tapering her down on the seizure and steroid meds so I hope it gets better.
Dosing her with b6 has helped reduce the rage by maybe 50%, and made things more manageable: https://www.empr.com/aes-2017/levetiracetam-keppra-side-effects-pyridoxine-insomnia-agitation-irritability/article/710877/
April 2019 update: Mom was hospitalized for a week for seizures and a uti in feb. The good thing was they stopped Keppra and she became my sweet Mom again! Cognition cleared dramatically and personality became more normal. So it seems it was primarily the medications and not so much the brain tumor. Because her seizures were so bad, her dose was increased a few times, even though she is a tiny person. If you are seeing symptoms like this, ask your doctor to try a different seizure med.
Right when this improved, she became paralyzed on the right side. She is incontinent and her communication is severely impacted from brain tumor growth. She still makes us laugh so much though and talks nonstop sometimes. I wish I could understand her. Every tenth word or so gives us a clue as to what she is talking about. Her usual animated facial animations and hand gestures help. Sometimes she switches in and out of Telugu, and she will shock us because her Telugu makes sense! But we don't know how to tell her to speak more in Telugu, or if she can even choose that. It is unclear how much she understands us, but I think she understands more than we are able to tell, and we try to repeat things in both languages.
It has been difficult for her to swallow food or liquids. She will chew the food and then pocket it. It started last year when she was having trouble swallowing pills. She is not able to swallow or spit the food or water out. At first it was easier for her to swallow foods she liked but now everything is difficult. She does not want to eat much but also cries when she becomes too hungry. It is frustrating for her and tires her out. It is heartbreaking to watch, I imagine her jaw is getting tired. She is stuck. We have come up with all sorts of strategies. Sometimes if we exercise her paralyzed arm, she automatically swallows. It's like a lever.
When we brush her teeth, it is hard for her to spit out. She really wants to and it is tiring for her to keep that in her mouth, but she can't. Usually I will have to pry her mouth open and stick my finger in there to get it all out.