My 71-year-old mother has been diagnosed with late onset psychosis . She has constant, frightening, auditory hallucinations that have been going on for a year. She had an MRI that came back as normal. She has had recurrent urinary tract infections that have been treated with antibiotics . She is on Zoloft and an anti-psychotic and her mental state is not improving. I don t know what to do for her. Each step we ve taken seems to lead to a dead end. Any suggestions on a new line of approach in detecting the cause and treatment? Any response is appreciated. Thank you.
Hello welcome to Chat Doctor There could be various causes of late onset psychosis-1) Organic brain injury/trauma/delirium (But visual hallucinations are prominent in that case)2) Dementia3) Depression4) Schizophrenia (very rare in this age) Zoloft contains sertraline which is an antidepressant. In old age one has to give the dosages somewhat lesser than the adult dosages due to less efficient metabolism.  But in any case, adequate dosage for adequate duration is required. I advise you to discuss all this in detail with the treating doctor for detailed assessment of causes of failure of the treatment. Increased dosage or changing of medicines is probably required.  Hope it helps Good Luck Regards