Question: We thought my Mom might a UTi and that is why she has been acting strange but the results from the lab came back negative. I am now thinking she has SSRi overload.

Thank you for your response. I would like to follow up with this additional comment or question to see if I am on the right track.....

My Mother was exhibiting the symptoms as described above.
Her Doctor wanted to stop the Trazadone and reduce the Paxil to 20MG FROM 30 MG the same Doctor wanted to introduce an atypical antipsychotic Zyprexa generic Olanzapine at 2.5 every night. I told the Doctor that I would like to check to make sure that she did not have a UTI.

I got the results back on the UTI this morning and the culture is negative.

It was me who started to think that my Mother actually might have SSRI overload or syndrome even though she was experiencing the same symptoms as someone who might need an antipsychotic. Over the weekend I stopped the Trazadone and reduced the Paxil to 20 mg and she has been doing so much better the past couple of days.

I think the Doctor misdiagnosed and should have considered SSRI Syndrome first, rule out the UTI, reduce the SSRI's in her system and wait and see how she does before introducing an antipsychotic. Am I right in thinking that my Mother might not need an antipsychotic?

My Mother (94 year old) has been diagnosed with Frontal Temporal Dementia with Aphasia that resulted from a minor stroke in 2012. She has not had a formal diagnosis because she would not get and MRI and CT scan. She might have even experienced other TIA's since 2012. Her dementia has progressively gotten worse. She specifically did not want to go into any kind of memory care facility or nursing home so I am managing her care at home with the help of experienced care givers.

Thank you for your help I will keep you appraised but at this moment I plan to take it day by day I will keep her on the 7.5 Remeron/Mirtazapine at night and 20 mg Paxil/Par in the am until her Dr. Appt this Thursday. She is doing good with the reductio in SSRI's and not experiencing withdrawl. On Thursday I will talk with the DR. about all that has transpired and why I decided to not follow her directions and administer the antipsychotic Zeprexa/Olanzapine. If she has trouble between now and Thursday adjusting I have Ativan/Lorazepam .5 MG Tab for an emergency and can use 1/2 to 1 tab.

Gosh I really appreciate this opportunity to have a second opinion from an M.D and to answer your question no I am not in the medical corps but I do think I might have missed my calling. Thank you for your help.

In follow up to our previous consultation. My Mother did NOT have a UTI. The Doctor agreed that Serotonin Symptom might be what my Mother was exhibiting and she agreed to stop the Zyprexa/Olanzapine and see how she does with the following reductions/increases in her Paxil and Remeron-

Paxil from 30mg to 20 mg (in the morning)
Remeron/Mirtzipine from 7.5mg to 15mg (evening)
She has been on an EXelon Patch 4.6mg/24 hr patch in the morning for the past two years I realize the efface is questionable after two years but we decided not to stop it yet. Might be the placebo effect that I notice.

Ativan/Lorazepam PRN as need half to full Tab of 0.5mg Tab am & pm (sun downing) if needed.
She is now almost seven days into this regime. All of us have tried not to administer the Ativan so we can see how the increase in Remeron is working. The getting to bed at night and staying asleep seems to be the biggest problem. Some nights she goes to sleep for just an hour or hour and half and then is up then back to bed. Other nights she is up a few times and back to bed. Some nights she has slept through the night. Supposedly the Remeron is supposed to fix this problem (put her to sleep and keep her asleep). Her normal sleeping pattern is 7 to 8 hours of sleep. I wonder how long the Remeron takes to work? I would like to know (in your opinion) if there is any other kind of sleeping aid that might work with her current medications? She has a night nurse that is with her at night so she never gets up alone. The Dr. did not want her to take Zolpidem.

You are absolutely right about letting the Remeron get into her system. She is doing better according to her night nurses. I plan to be with her for the next three days so I will have first hand experience with her sleeping pattern and will advise. Thank you.