@becsbuddy, this is what puzzled doctor - hubby has been on NO medications or even supplements for years. 'Cleanest' 73 year old I've seen or heard tell of with excellent kidney function. No food restrictions or medication conflicts to worry about. Labs drawn 5 or more times since August by both V.A. and 'outside' practitioner we were seeing. Frequent labs are a great way both to ascertain how the nutritional program is doing and monitor hydration levels. Hubby at increased risk of dehydration and nutritional deficiencies - he's missing about three feet of his colon due to a bout with Stage IIIa colon cancer ten years ago.
The facility doctors' first thought was drug effects..don't know if they did a tox screen to confirm my statement that he's not on anything. Hope they did.
All doctors he's seen lately have mentioned high blood pressure but no prescription given. Trying to improve this through diet adjustments, it seemed to be working till most recent labs. The facility he's now in have started blood pressure meds., Risperdal, and thyroid meds. They found low thyroid function in latest labs. Seems like a lot to juggle on short acquaintance as any of these could affect mood and behavior.
V.A. wasn't checking thyroid function but outside doc did in August and it was fine. I'm a little concerned about the low thyroid function as it seems inconsistent with his hyperactivity and voracious appetite. But that's why we take them doctoring right? (that's a joke..sort of). He's lost 5 pounds since August.
Protein levels and other indicators of nutrition/hydration have been good till recently. I made a mistake in original post - it was in Dec. that I called dr. about diarrhea. So we've been battling the thins since then. This wasn't resolved till early Feb. No wonder recent labs don't look so good.
I had to reschedule his Dec. V.A. appointment cause a massive house'n'hubby clean-up set us back too much to make it. He was to go in mid-Jan., a re-schedule with the V.A. brings at least a month and a half delay. The clinic has a two day turnaround on lab work, on Jan 13 I took him in for the draw, appointment was for the 15th. As we were walking out the door on the 15th the clinic called to cancel. Dr. out of office today. They didn't send me a copy of labs as they had in past. Appointment rescheduled for mid-March.
For what it's worth dept.-V.A. website says clinic is 39 miles from us. Odometer says 61.3 miles.